Giant Steps - Interview

The trio from Reading had been hotly tipped to be the band to watch in 2011, and so far they‘ve been building a solid fan base and living up to expectations.

You were Beggars a few years back, just so people know what’s actually changed with the band?

James: Well it‘s er, hello, 1 2 testing…1 2 hello hello hello. What about if I just hold it here? 1 2 1 2 hey hey hey hey, green green. Orange is good… Well it’s a different band really. After we finished Beggars we formed Giant Steps and it was a new band, new sound, new songs its kind of like a completely different project really. We started a new project and it ended up being a couple of people from Beggars but it’s a new thing really.

Dan S: I agree

Why did you decide to change your name Beggars to Giant Steps?

James: As I just said, it’s a new band so we though we would go for a new name. Beggars kind of ended. My brother was in the band, left the band.

Why did he leave?

James: He wanted to become a lap dancer in Thailand.

Dan S: Yeah that failed.

James: It failed miserably and he ended up getting into Thai kick boxing.

Dan W: Is this going on YouTube?

Dan S: It’s like one of them stories where you start and I have to do the middle and you do the end.

James: So yeah it‘s not really the same thing really. After my brother left we didn’t feel like we could carry on Beggars without him. A small hole in the band.

Will you ever play any Beggars song again, or is that completely gone?

James: Ahh your big on the Beggars aren’t you!? Beggars is dead get over it!!

Damn!

Dan W: I‘ll send you the album its fine.

You’ve released Tolerate which is a brilliant single, what’s next with releases, like are you doing an album or?

James: We‘re hoping to do an album at some point. But we just put out a single. We weren‘t planning on putting out a single but it sounded really good so we put it out.

Dan S: Yeah we did. Yeah it sounded really good so we put it out! It did really well…

James: It did really well!!!??

Dan S: it got to number

Dan W: It got to number 8 in the charts.

James: Behind ‘ I wanna know your name name name name’… the Estonian charts.

Will there be a tour later on in the year?

Dan S: You‘re looking at it!

James: Yes

Good, where will you be playing?

James: Ermm where do you live?

Grace: Leicester

James: We‘re playing Leicester

Wicked. So I saw you play with Babyshambles in 2008 on the NME tour, where you were actually Beggars… what was it like to play such a big venue with such a big band?

James: Well being such a big fan of Pete Doherty, as you are, it was very enjoyable to play with him.

Do you actually like him?!

James: Yeah very much so. I love the Libertines.

Dan W: He used to be Pete Doherty…

James: yeah pretty much. Just shorter and blonde. No we really enjoyed playing with Babyshambles. They‘re such nice guys. They have a really nice crew and we ended up with their guitar tech as our tour manager for a lot of our own tour with the Courteeners. So yeah they‘re really nice guys. Pete just got out of jail. He was literally just out of jail, so there was lots of people who wanted to see him, particularly his family…!

So how did you lot all meet?

James: Nick was working in, you know popcorn you get at the cinema, you think they make in the cinema but they don’t. They make it in Scunthorpe and Nick was working there.

Nick: I was working in Scunthorpe, at a popcorn factory, and then I moved to London…

James: so yeah then Nick joined the band

James: Basically we started the band as a three piece but a lot of the songs were written on keys and we didn’t have a keys player. Stargatt plays the keys, but he wanted to play bass live. Cause he said he looked sexier on the bass than on the keys.

Dan S: I agree. I do.

James: Which is fair. So we thought we would get a keys player and then we got introduced to Nick, and he stunk of popcorn! And now the rest is history.

Great. Who’s been your inspiration over the years?

James: Just in general?

Yeah. Or you can all give an answer.

James: Lots of different people. Stevie wonder.

Dan S: Stevie Wonder for me.

James: He’s a massive influence, we love Stevie Wonder.

I saw him at Glastonbury last year.

James: Awesome!

Were you there?

James: Yeah. He opened with, what did he open with I can’t even remember now. He was awesome.

He was very good.

James: No he’s amazing. He’s so good. Then, I love Neil Young, Leonard Cohen.

Dan W: Definitely Cole Porter, he’s got to be the biggest

James: That was weird when you said that, it was a bit awkward.

What music are you listening to at the minute?

James: I really like the new Bill Callahan record. And also Aloe Blacc, I really like the Aloe Blacc album, I think that’s great. He looks a bit naff on stage but the album‘s good.

Dan S: I don’t really know a lot of new bands at the moment. Stevie Wonder.

Have you got an answer?

Nick: Erm no

James: what about Grease, you like Grease?

Nick: Abba Gold.

Dan W: Do you ever go to HMV and forget what you want and you just walk out. It‘s like when you go in the fridge and you open the door and you look and

Don’t get anything.

Dan W: just shut it again

I do that a lot.

Dan W: yeah

So yeah the last question, are you going to play anywhere else after today?

James: Probably!!

No like tomorrow or something.

James: Tomorrow. We‘re not playing tomorrow. Me and Dan are going to have a bath all day.

Dan W: I’m gonna come out a bit earlier than you because I hate getting wrinkly.

James: Yeah he gets wrinkly fingers. Anyway I think our next gig is BBC Radio 2. We‘re doing a session for Janice Long who’s a bit of a legend. Did anybody see the bird on the wild documentary about Annie Nightingale? That was good, she’s another legend. Over to you.

Well that’s all the questions, so thank you!

- Interview by Grace