I had to chance to talk with The Saturday Giant and before the one-man band's performance at the Player's Pub on May 29
JY: How would you describe your music?
TSG: I put fresh trimmings of rock, folk and hip hop into a blender, add a dash of introspective, off-beat lyricism, and pour out a delicious pop smoothie
JY: When did the band form?
TSG: I released my first EP under the name The Saturday Giant in 2010, played a short run of shows with a band composed of friends from the Columbus music scene, and then performed my first solo show in June of 2010.
JY: How did you come up with the name “The Saturday Giant?”
TSG: It’s a bastardized translation of “Sabado Gigante” which is the name of a popular Spanish-language variety show. The show incorporates lots of different genres of television (it’s really a pretty amazing program) and so when I was starting this project, I thought naming it after the program made sense since I wanted to incorporate many different genres of music. I screwed up the translation on purpose because I think “The Saturday Giant” sounds cooler than “Gigantic Saturday.
JY: What bands/musicians inspire you the most?
TSG: I really love a lot of post-rock bands (Sigur Ros, Explosions in the Sky, Do Make Say Think, etc.) and actually some of the music that gets me most excited is metal (lately stuff like Cloudkicker and Deafheaven). I listen to all sorts of stuff though, and I think the diversity of my musical taste is reflected in the songs I write.
JY: Where has been your favorite place to play? Why?
TSG: That’s a really tough question to answer. I did about 150 shows last year and I’ve already played almost 60 this year, so things tend to kind of blur together. I just do my best to be present at every show and give the best performance I can.
JY: What makes the Saturday Giant different than other indie bands?
Well, it’s a one-man band! So my entire approach to shows is very different, since I’m performing all the parts myself (with the aid of a device called a loop pedal). It’s a performance technique a lot of people haven’t seen before, and it requires a lot of precision and concentration, so I think it’s a unique experience for audiences
JY: If you could share a stage with any musician, dead or alive, who would you choose?
TSG: It would be the bees knees to open for Radiohead.
JY: Are you recording any new music?
TSG: Yes! Or rather, trying to. My touring schedule keeps me very busy. My debut full length is in the works though and I’m looking forward to that quite a bit. With everything I’ve learned about songwriting and production since this project began I’m optimistic about the end result
