Young the Giant Guitarist Explains Band Name

2011-10-11

Story by Anne Erickson

Young the Giant’s Jacob Tilley opens up about band’s kooky name

“My Body” hitmakers Young the Giant are hardly a one-hit wonder, as the West Coast boys’ second single off their 2011 self-titled debut, “Cough Syrup,” is climbing up the alternative rock chart and currently at No. 8. Whether it’s the radio-friendly eclectic alt-pop singles or album cuts such as “I Got” and “String,” there’s an undeniably alluring flow about Young the Giant’s musical clips that appeal to a mass of alternative fans trying to define their genre outside of post-grunge.

Of course, Young the Giant’s band name is an interesting talking point, and guitarist Jacob Tilley insists the term isn’t reflective of an inflated ego. “… It’s called Young the Giant. Why? I don’t know. It means nothing, it’s not pretentious, it’s not because we think we’re huge,” he told the College News. “Sameer [Gadhia, lead vocals] just blurted it out.”

Tilley added that Giant wanted “something young,” but Young Turks was already taken. “Young the Giant, he just like said it and we lived in Hollywood, we all lived together and upstairs we had a loft which was a studio as well as Jake and Francois’ bedroom,” he said. “And once he said Young the Giant we were all like, “yeah, that’s cool—let’s work on that.” We went upstairs and we jammed out like three or four songs under the guise of Young the Giant and it just worked. Everything seemed really good.”

Young the Giant brought their sturdy-but-hooky rock to Lollapalooza and Sasquatch this year. Then, there was also the guys’ explosive performance at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, which garnered much, “Who’s that?” buzz. As a result of the MTV gig, the group saw a spike in its iTunes sales of over 200 per cent for, “My Body.” Not too shabby. Young the Giant are currently wrapping up a string of supporting shows with alternative rockers Incubus, before headlining their own set of shows. Visit the band’s website for tour details.

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Anne Erickson

Meet the expert - Author, writer and editor Anne Erickson is a Detroit-based reporter and radio host. She has written for the USA Today Network, Consequence.net, Blabbermouth.net, and many more. Anne holds a master's degree from Michigan State University. Contact Anne at anne@audioinkradio.com.

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