Interviews

Jaws of a Giant

Simon Hadley 24/05/2010

GIITTV's Simon Hadley caught up with emerging post-punk rock band Jaws of a Giant from Bristol, for a brief introductory chat.

Who are the “Jaws of a Giant” and how long have you been together?

Jaws of a Giant are a post-punk/rock band from Bristol. We have been practicing together for around a year and a half now...so quite a while! We practiced for quite a while initially before putting ourselves 'out there', as we felt we wanted to be musically tight and mentally ready for live shows and recording.

Whose idea was it to put the band together and how did you first meet?

At first, Owen, Sophie and Jack practiced with a friend - Ben Welch on guitar. Sophie and Ben were at Bristol Uni together and Owen and Jack both went to UWE. In late 2008, George (also at UWE) replaced Ben as he needed to give time to other commitments. Really, it has been a mutual affair...we all really enjoy playing music and playing music together, and so it was not really a dream of just one person, but 4 people.

Who are your main musical influences?

Main influences...all our tastes put together make for quite an eclectic mix really. However, the main ones we all agree on would be At The Drive In, Future Of The Left, Them Crooked Vultures, Hot Snakes, Pulled Apart By Horses and Monotonix...amongst others!

What do you like best about the band's sound and music and what things are you still working on to improve or what things aren't fully conveyed yet?

I think the best thing about our sound is that the songs are quite diverse...each song has something different about it but we still seem to keep an over-arching post-punk style. Some tracks are more experimental whereas others are just plain crazy! We still feel like some songs need work...we are a fairly new band so we definitely can improve. Also...we really want to make sure we convey our energy in our live shows...we feel this will be what really draws people in to the music that we love playing so much.



How did the first gig nerves hold up?

We were all pretty nervous for the first gig...quite a few of our friends came and that is almost worse than playing to strangers! However...we had a band huddle, did some shouting, did some jumping around...did some more shouting when we got on stage...and then we felt ok haha! The sound check went really well though and that always helps.

What do like about playing live? What's the best part about it? What's difficult?

The best thing about playing live...well speaking personally - there's 2 things for me. The first is where you are really nervous before you start...but as soon as you hit that first note, the nerves turn into adrenaline and then you just enjoy it from then on. The second thing is to see the crowd enjoying your music - it's one thing for you to enjoy what you have created, but when others really get into it, it's an amazing feeling.

What sort of responses have you been getting after playing live in and around Bristol?

We have only played 2 gigs so far but have quite a few lined up...from the 2 gigs we have done - people seem to really enjoy the music, and the live show. It's really nice to hear good feedback from friends, but even better to get a positive response from people we don't know and those putting on the shows.

What are Jaws of a Giant's hopes for the future?

We don't necessarily want the whole 'fame and fortune' thing...we just enjoy creating and playing music. We hope to get more gigs in Bristol, and across the UK. We will carry on to creating new songs and hope to keep up the energetic live shows to keep people entertained! Ultimately, it is about the music for us - so if we don't make it to the charts, we don't see that as a failure necessarily!