{"id":6858,"date":"2013-05-03T17:38:13","date_gmt":"2013-05-03T17:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stylusmagazine.ca\/?p=6858"},"modified":"2013-05-03T17:38:13","modified_gmt":"2013-05-03T17:38:13","slug":"an-interview-with-from-giants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2013\/05\/03\/an-interview-with-from-giants\/","title":{"rendered":"An Interview with From Giants"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FromGiants2013\"<\/a><\/p>\n

by Victoria King<\/strong><\/p>\n

Good people eat good food. It\u2019s a simple fact of life. Those who are miserable munch on things like “low-cal waffles” and “fructose-free popsicles.” After grabbing some dinner with three quarters of the local folk outfit From Giants, their plates said it all: One order of pad thai, one veggie burger, and a mango smoothie later, (which ended up coming out purple, so let\u2019s hope it was just an accidental “Very Berry”) I had a good feeling about the music they were making.<\/p>\n

Unlike the purpled mango smoothie, one thing that is definitely no accident is the release of their new EP, This Burden is Light<\/em>, due out on May 9. In mulling over that title several times, you may arrive at the very same question that I did: what\u2019s the intended version? Lead Singer Jayme Friesen uncomplicated matters for me in explaining that the title is up for interpretation. \u201cIt’s both . . . in the end, we though it was important that, \u2018burden-IS-light\u2019 that way it can be as in something that shines, or light as in a feather. It’s open for interpretation that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Giants began as the solo project of Jayme Friesen, now the lead singer and lyricist of the group. She released Oh Sleeper<\/em> under the From Giants nomer in June of 2010. Jayme spent a year in Cambodia, which served as the base for most of her song writing on that album. As the pattern follows, \u201cwatching difficult realities sparks poetry in me and that gets turned into lyrics.” This album explores related concepts of wanting to be healed and wanting to be whole, although there\u2019s no specific overarching theme.<\/p>\n

As Jayme puts it, she\u2019s ever questioning the beliefs and messages of her upbringing and society, and exploring those answers and discoveries in her songwriting which (she admits) doesn\u2019t always come out the first time. \u201cSometimes only a year later I\u2019ll understand what my song is about . . . but I don\u2019t see our music as religious, at all.\u201d Nathan points out, \u201cNo one in the band preaches . . . We take a song in Jayme\u2019s framework and works as hard as we can on it.\u201d It\u2019s an ambitious album that touches on some tough stuff, and incorporates interesting and intricate instrumental parts.<\/p>\n

As a band, From Giants began to take form after Jayme moved in with Gabriella Neufeld and the two began regular jam sessions in their living room . A short time later, friends Nathan Krahn (now the cellist of the group), and Charles Enns, (banjo player), joined the band in what is now the four-piece folk fit that\u2019s got a burning, and bright sound.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ve gone through a lot together, from long days in the recording studio to wild road trips. The group had a true bonding experience (to put it mildly) after discovering the cooling effects of Goldbond on one particularly hot and sweaty trip to a music festival in Illinois several summers ago. Or on another account, Nathan recalls having a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and showering down the rest of the group in, what Gabi jokingly describes as, a sexualized prison experience. \u201cRemember how we smelled?\u201d Gabi laughs.<\/p>\n

In listening to their stories together, it\u2019s easy to tell that these folks get along really well and have their own groove. As Jaymie herself puts it, experiences like those were how she knew, \u201cthese guys are awesome\u201d and they should all make music together. When asked to describe their recording experience, the word agreed upon being intense.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were there so early and so late … you just get restless, it’s like cabin fever. I did anyway. I just wanted to go bike ride … We went for walks, Jayme was dancing,\u201d Gabi recalls. Recorded both at CMU\u2019s MCM Studio and Private Ear, the group all agrees that it is time to release it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has taken so damn long, I\u2019m just excited. Let it out. Set it free,\u201d Gabi replies.<\/p>\n

This Burden is Light is set to be released on May 9, with a show at the Park Theatre with special guest, Keri Latimer. While they\u2019re not giving any specifics, it is highly recommended that you keep your eyes peeled for From Giants to appear around Manitoba this summer at any number of music festivals.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Victoria King Good people eat good food. It\u2019s a simple fact of life. Those who are miserable munch on things like “low-cal waffles” and “fructose-free popsicles.” After grabbing some dinner with three quarters of the local folk outfit From Giants, their plates said it all: One order of pad thai, one veggie burger, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[360,378,563],"class_list":["post-6858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-folk","tag-from-giants","tag-local"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6858\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}