Big Gigantic played The Governors Ball on Saturday just after 2pm. They are out in full force on festival-tour this summer and are in support of their latest release Nocturnal. As they took stage, Dominic (production/sax) welcomed everyone…”Thank you all for coming! We are happy to be here and are ready to do a little day-time raging!” I won’t lie. I knew little of the band going into the weekend but at first listen was very happy to hear. Dominic infuses the sax into the electronic funk that he and Jeremy (drums) create. They played under the bright sun and happy clouds to a pretty healthy sized mid-afternoon festival crowd.
I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with the boys a few hours before their set. SIDE BAR: Due to a technological fail, I will paraphrase a chunk of this interview below with notes I took from our encounter and that I stored in my handy old memory.
LMB: So, how did you two link up? Tell me how it all began out in Boulder, Colorado…
Dominic: We lived together and started out like anyone else… playing the local scene.
Jeremy: Pretty much once Dom bought a computer and I realized he could make beats, we joined forces…
LMB: And the rest is history?
Jeremy: Well, not history yet… but…
LMB: Well you gents are making your way through a very solid festival tour. How the hell was Bonnaroo?
Dominic: Oh! It was awesome! We had a great end of the night slot that started close to midnight and we closed out the first night under “That Tent”. Everyone was raging. It has always been a dream to play there and it was an awesome opportunity.
LMB: Those evenings are the best! They set a great pace for the rest of the long weekend. I agree, Bonnaroo is amazing. Of the fests you have had lined up and that are down the road, are there any that you like more than the others?
Dominic: Tough to say. They are all pretty great. This will be our second year at Gathering of the Vibes and we are really looking forward to returning. We really liked being a part of Wakarusa. Both very friendly and family-friendly gatherings. You get a different feeling all around from something like those as opposed to something like Bonnaroo, which is just a monster. This was our first year at Hangout and we really enjoyed it.
LMB: When exposed to that many people, who do you find comes over and checks you out?
Dominic: Um, really everyone.
LMB: Is there a certain age bracket you find is more in tune?
Dominic: No. I mean, really the age range of our fan base, I would say is anywhere from 15 to say 60? (…as he looks at Jeremy.)
Jeremy: Well my mom is a fan, and she is in her 60s. And 13 is probably the youngest if you count my sister. She is a fan.
Dominic: The scene in general seems to be getting a lot younger and younger. As more electronica fuses with pop, the more it appeals to the high school and college kids.
LMB: I am noticing that here today with all of the electronic-pop-bands and DJs The Ball lined up for us. What was the first festival you boys ever played?
Dominic: Rothbury 2009 was actually our first festival. They called us up last minute and asked if we wanted to play the last slot of the festival and we said “FUCK YES!” We were the last to play the whole festival. It was amazing.
LMB: Killer! It will be nice to return to the grounds next weekend for Electric Forest then! How many days is the festival? Four? And what day are you guys playing?
Dominic: Sunday night. We close out the festival again.
LMB: So is that your thing? You close out festivals?
Dominic: Well not really. But this is the second time we have.
Jeremy: Well Electric Forest in particular we have. It’s kind of fun to do that!
Dominic: It is gonna be nice. We play right after Bassnectar Sunday so it’s gonna be a big night. Lorin always brings a huge crowd in.
Jeremy: I think we play from 12a to 2a…
Dominic: …which means we can play for however long we want.
Jeremy: We are literally the last band playing. So it’s going to be awesome! Then it is cool cause all of our friends that are working are usually off at that point, so usually everyone just comes and hangs and rages. And shot-guns beers.
LMB: Nicely done! Well you are playing during the day today. Do you find a difference between day-time sets and night-time sets? Energy-wise?
Dominic: Yeah…yeah. Definitely. I mean, not on our end but ya know….it’s just different. It’s day and night. (…he did not intend that pun.) ::chuckles, chuckles:: It is though…literally. I mean, I feel completely different during the day than I do at night.
LMB: Point taken. But when you play during the day is it a different feel for you, as the artist?
Jeremy: We’ve raged some daytime sets before. It’s fun.
Dominic: I looove day-time sets. They are amazing. I love night-time sets too.
LMB: You don’t have a preference of one over the other?
Jeremy: We just like playing music. And are just excited to play!
Dominic: No! Day-time is great because it is all sunny and nice out! Everyone is here havin’ a good time. I love it!
We ended the conversation with talks on how weird (and awesome) Austin TX is. This summer will be their first appearance down at the city’s famous Austin City Limits–which they had forgotten had already been announced! They confirmed the rest of the 2012 dates are announced, pretty much, except for “ole New Years Eve”.
Jeremy: It will be somewhere… in the middle… of the country. Midwest.
LMB: Ah, well I will have to look forward to the announcement. It was nice to meet you! Looking forward to the set! Now get out there and rage! Rage in the sun!
Jeremy: Sun rage!!
