Interview: Giants At Large

>> It's always unfortunate when a good local band splits up. In this case, however, the demise of 2 bands actually led to the creation of Giants At Large, one of the newest bands here on Long Island. I was able to see their first show last weekend, and although they have yet to release more than a 20 second song clip, the crowd went wild. This is a group of guys who have virtually mastered the art of having great stage presence, and having had such a great start, I can see this band really taking off.

Introduce yourself.
My name is Matt Lagattuta, I am 20 years old, and I sing and play guitar in the band Giants At Large.

What are some of your earliest influences that made you want to get into music?
The first two albums I ever bought were Blink-182's Enema of the State, and Sr-71's Now you see Inside. After hearing those albums I knew I wanted to be in a band.

How have your experiences in other bands helped you with this one?
From previous bands we learned to work hard and no matter what other people say, if you love what you're doing who cares what other people think. People are always going to be critics.

How did you guys get together to form this band?
Travis, CJ, and I played in another band that broke up this summer. When that ended the three of us knew we wanted to stick together. Within the first couple days of getting this band started Brian got in touch with Travis wanting to get involved, so he jammed with us and hung out, and it's been going really well since.

You played your first show as Giants At Large last weekend at Patent Pending's CD/DVD release show. How was that experience?
It was probably one of the best experiences I've ever had. All we have released music-wise is a 20 second clip of a song and the only words are "I don't wanna write sad songs anymore", and to see people crowd surfing to the stage singing that was such a good feeling.

Do you have any other shows coming up?
Were playing October 14th at the Vibe Lounge with You Me and Everyone We Know, Man Overboard, Take Cover, and our friends in This Condition. We're also playing November 20th at Vibe again, it's our best friends in the band Casari's last show, and if it's ready it'll be our EP release too.

What would you say to make someone want to listen to your music?
We make honest pop-punk music with some indie influence. Everything that could have went wrong, went wrong for us this summer and we wrote a really positive record about keeping your head up even when everything sucks. We're not one of those bands that fake our instruments or use live auto tune, everything about our music is real.

What do you think about the music scene here on Long Island?
It's tough, I used to say it was just okay, but the LI music scene has been nothing but great to us. A brand new awesome venue just opened up in Patchogue called Karma so that's a plus. Kids just need to keep supporting local bands, every band starts small and needs the support from people who enjoy their music.

You guys have been working on an EP. Tell us about it.
We're actually almost done with our EP. We recorded everything but the vocals in my basement ourselves and we've been recording vocals in the city. We're going to post a song within a week or so. It's got an intro, 5 songs, and 2 interludes. If everything is finished on time we're looking to release it at our show at the Vibe Lounge on November 20th.

How do you guys find new music to listen to?
The internet is great, I'm always at the Vibe Lounge watching bands seeing what's out there.

What have you been listening to a lot lately?
The two bands I was listening to A LOT when writing this EP were two defunct Long Island bands, Latterman and Lux Couragous. If you've never heard of them I seriously suggest checking them out.

What are some goals you want to accomplish with the band?
We want to take the band as far as it can possibly go, and were willing to work as hard as we can to get there.

How can fans contact you, or hear your music?
I think were making a facebook page? Not sure, but I do know were on twitter @giantsatlarge, or get in touch with us on our personal facebooks or twitters (@mattlags, @sxetravis, @savesthebrian, @cjthehero). Myspace is cool too, www.myspace.com/giantsatlarge.

Is there anything else you want to say?
We're going to be posting a song from our right now untitled EP very very soon so keep an eye out for that. Thank you to anyone who has helped promote, came to either of the shows, bought merch, or anything! Hopefully we'll see you 10/14 or 11/20 and hopefully we'll be seeing everyone else off the island this winter, thanks!

Bonus Round:

Favorite:
Album(s)? The Lawrence Arms - The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Ataris - Song Long Astoria, Brand New - Your Favorite Weapon.
Thing to do on a Friday night? Go to/play a show!
Place on Long Island? Travis' place. We hang out, listen to vinyl records, and watch netflix. I know, were kind of lame.

This or that:
Karma or The Vibe Lounge? Even though I hate the stairs, The Vibe Lounge.
Moe's or Taco Bell? This is so tough. My taste buds say Moe's, but my wallet says Taco Bell. Gonna have to go with Taco Bell here.
Angelina or Snooki (from Jersey Shore)? Angelina!!! The rest of the guys in the band all pick Snooki, they're a bunch of stupid pizones.

Members Only: In the band, who is
Strangest? Cj, once he licked a mosquito off a wall.
Most organized? Travis, he has a Murse (Male Purse).
The biggest flirt? Cj, just talk to him, you'll see what I mean.
Most creative? This one time I made Cj a funnel out of a lamp shade, garbage bag, and a plastic bottle, sorry guys gotta give this one to me. (Proof)
Toughest? None of us are tough, but Travis has tattoos so he looks the toughest.

Get Connected with Giants At Large:

myspace.com/giantsatlarge
twitter.com/giantsatlarge
twitter.com/mattlags
twitter.com/sxetravis
twitter.com/savesthebrian
twitter.com/cjthehero