ahr Daily (Tor Hrrl
BY BRYAN REED
DIVERSIONS EDITOR
There’s a sense of epic urgency
that spills from Giant's music.
Guitars clash, surging against
each other as they propel melodies
to soaring heights.
Powerful drum hits fill the space,
nailing shut the lid as Isaac Jones’
gruff vocals battle against churn
ing waves of sound exasperated,
desperate.
But when the fury recedes
even if only for a moment it
leaves a raw, vulnerable haze of
gorgeous melody and melancholic
atmosphere.
As the opening band at Cat’s
Cradle tonight, Giant should prove
a tough act to follow.
The Greensboro-based band has
been on a far-reaching tour with
Between The Buried And Me, per
haps N.C.'s best known metal band,
which Jones says has been “awe
some," except for being unable to
play dates in Canada.
But now, the band is bringing
its massive music back home, in
a tour that started Wednesday in
Greensboro and continues with
tonight’s show and a set Friday in
Charlotte.
Musically, Giant is a dynamic,
brooding beast, but after talking
to vocalist/guitarist Jones, who
founded the band with his brother.
Zac, it all makes sense.
“We just wanted to create music
that had some weight to it," he
said.
It's a dark, heavy sound indebted
to the brothers’ days spent listening
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GIANT: MUSIC FOR MUSIC'S SAKE
to hardcore and metal, but equally
important is the group's tenacity
when it comes to composition and
experimentation.
“Whatever emotions we're trying
to display with the music, we want
that to translate," Jones said. "That’s
why we've become so turned on to
soundtracks, just because the more
visual we can make it, the better."
Their sound's unrelenting
dynamic only
augments the
urgency in
Giant's music.
Much of the
band’s philoso
phy stems from
radical politics
and social dis
content: the
search for posi
tive change in
“We just wanted to
create music that
had some weight
to it”
ISAAC JONES, GUITARIST/VOCAUST.
GIANT
what can seem to be a harsh
world.
“For me and my brother, when
we first started Giant, a lot of that
stuff was really relevant," Jones
said of the band members' leftist
sentiments.
“We kind of latch on to the
things that are more movement
oriented," he continues. “I don’t
like to tell people how to live, but
it’s how we live... Giant, musically,
was an expression of a lot of the
anger we were feeling."
But he's also quick to note that
politics don’t dominate Giant's
songwriting.
“A lot of the lyrics do talk about
that sort of thing, but a lot of them
don’t, you know? When you write
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music it’s a really personal thing."
Personal enough that it plays
into the band's business practices.
“We love music for the sake of
music," Jones said. “I don’t even
know if we actually own any of our
music."
He doesn't fault music being
sold as a commodity; it’s when it's
made for the sake of being sold,
rather than for the sake of express-
ing something
important,
that he sees a
problem.
“Essentially,
business put to
music is what
makes peo
ple f—k with
other people's
music," he
said.
“The motives are essential."
As the band continues its tour
with BTBAM. the notions of com
mercial success blending with
musical progression become appar
ent. In contrast to Giant's relatively
small-scale operations, BTBAM
can celebrate a huge fanbase, a
big-time record deal with Victory
Records and much wider renown
—and the commercial success that
comes with it.
But Jones sees a balance.
“It’s just one of those things
that Between The Buried And Me
is just so talented that you had to
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SEE THE SHOW
Time: 7:30 p.m. today
Location: Cat's Cradle. 300 E Mam
St., Carrbofo
Info: www.catscradie.com
pay attention.
“There's bands that evade that
commercial ideal. You have to pay
attention to it because it is what it
is. We knew Between The Buried
And Me would either he cult
famous, or, well, famous.
“Those dudes really know what
they're doing."
The same easily can be said of
Giant, who with this tour finish
ing up and anew recording in the
works, finally might see a dawning
horizon where the music the band
makes is greeted with a reception
as huge as its sound.
And it would make a fitting
story for the band whose songs
express a deep, heavy turmoil but
at the same time bring a sound of
hopefulness always looking for
ward, always pushing on, always
progressing.
Art can't exist in stasis. The hand
will continue to push its boundar
ies, constantly evolving and mak
ing music for the sake of making
music.
It's a quest befitting a Giant.
Contact the Diversions Editor
at dive (a unc.edu.
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COURTESY Of THE END RECORD'
Giant, a quartet from Greensboro, will bring its heavy, dynamics-laden
sound to Cat's Cradle as a supporting act for Between The Buried And Me
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