The Jungle Giants' frontman, Sam Hales, talks about the band’s upcoming album and what it’s like being neighbours with a bunch of Brisbane bands.
After the stomping success of their debut album ‘Learn To Exist’, The Jungle Giants have been busy during the summer months recording record number two. “We started recording it two months ago and now it's all done,” Sam beams.
“I'm really pumped actually. I think this will be the kind of album where people are going to hear it and think, ‘I didn't think Jungle Giants could do that?’. People used to come up to us after the gigs and go: 'oh man, you guys actually rock out a bit and make some noise on stage'. People in the past were surprised that we could do that; because when we started we had these little pop songs. At this point, I think the [new] songs will pop and pump live in a 'rocky way'.”
The second album will also see the band incorporate a wide range of influences. “I still love pop music [but] what we have done is throw in all the flavours and the bands we've been enjoying over the past two years.”
When asked what artists the lead singer listened to during recording, he name-dropped some inspired choices. “A shitload of Beck for one. A whole bunch of Caribou. Nancy Sinatra I've been getting into. I've been getting into Eddy Current Suppression Ring. They are all really different spectrums of music.
“A lot of my favourite bands have gone into what I'm writing. So if you hear a band and think they do a fucking really cool thing, you just want to do it yourself and work it out. There is going to be a lot more flavours on this album.”
When reflecting on the success they’ve had, Sam attributes much of it to the Queensland Music Awards in helping them get recognised; they took home the Courier-Mail's ‘Most Popular Group’ award at the last QMAs held in 2013. “That award put us on the map in Brisbane and got us a shitload of gigs. To be voted the 'Most Popular Group' just seemed really strange. QMusic has done a shitload for us. It convinced us that people liked us in Brisbane, which was really nice.” After a hiatus last year, the Queensland Music Awards will return in 2015.
It was also in 2013 that The Jungle Giant’s lead guitarist, Cesira Aitken, won the title of Pedestrian TV’s ‘Bachelorette Of The Year’. “It was strange. It was cool,” Sam says. “But at the same time, she got screwed over. She didn't win the prize. It was really weird. I think the runner-up got a trip to Japan and the winner got a Mini Cooper, which Cesira was supposed to have won. At the end of ceremony, they gave her some flowers and told her she couldn't have the car because she was under 21. It was strange but we were like 'whatever then; we'll take the flowers'.”
When asked whether the title attracted any would-be suitors for Cesira, Sam can’t help but laugh. “No, she is not really a girly girl. To some extent, she is a girly girl, but she is a tomboy. I think she was more embarrassed than anything because she was picked on by people who were like 'oh hey bachelorette'. I think it was cool though because she was shy and she really enjoyed all of that.”
When at home, Sam is surrounded by a number of musicians; either as his neighbours or as housemates. “I've been sharing [a house] with seven people, including Cesira, and living in this street where there is at least six bands. The Creases live four doors down from me and I live with the Moses Gunn Collective. It's a fucking awesome scene. I think it's more connected than Sydney or Melbourne because Brisbane is so interlocked and incestuous. You can't help going to a party and ending up with all the bands from Brisbane.”
Once the album is released, The Jungle Giants want to get back to what their passionate about. “We are just going to tour a shitload. It puts you more in touch with people listening to your music and the whole thing; it really makes you feel busy. When you're writing and recording, you feel your time is really taken up, but when you're touring, it's manic and I like that.”
Queensland Music Award finalists will be announced on Monday 16 February, along with the details of this year's event and line-up. The Jungle Giants also play Mountain Sounds, Central Coast, on 21 February.
