Giant Drag

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Giant Drag
Annie Hardy (left) and Micah Calabrese performing as Giant Drag in 2006.
Annie Hardy (left) and Micah Calabrese performing as Giant Drag in 2006.
Background information
Origin Flag of the United States California, USA
Genre(s) Alternative rock
Years active 2003–present
Label(s) Kickball Records
Website http://www.giantdrag.com
Members
Annie Hardy
Former members
Eli Smith
Micah Calabrese

Giant Drag is a band currently consisting of singer/guitarist/composer Annie Hardy. For the majority of Giant Drag's history the band consisted of Hardy and drummer/synth-player, Micah Calabrese from 2003 through to 2006.

Giant Drag has released an EP, Lemona, in 2005 and their debut album, Hearts and Unicorns, which was released in the United States on September 13, 2005, and February 27, 2006 in the UK. There were plans for another album, but Hardy reported on the Giant Drag online forum in November 2007 that the album had not even been started, and that Giant Drag is in the process of being dropped from Kickball/Interscope. Hardy also said she plans to continue making the album on her own. Manimal Vinyl have reported they will be releasing a Giant Drag EP in spring 2008. Plans for Manimal Vinyl to release it have since been scrapped, but Hardy is planning to release the Swan Song EP independently.

Contents

[edit] History

Calabrese originally had a job working alongside Hardy's mother, and after repeated failed attempts by Hardy's mother to get the two future bandmates to meet, the two ended up meeting through mutual friends anyway and began playing and recording music together.[1] Giant Drag played their first show on June 4, 2003 at The Scene in Los Angeles, eventually getting residencies at area clubs Silverlake Lounge and Spaceland.[2]

The pair considered recruiting a bassist, but Hardy recalls: "Just as a joke Micah started playing the bass parts on a synthesizer with his left hand and the drums with his right hand. We laughed. We said, 'Wait, it's funny, but it works.'"[2] Calabrese described his unusual technique of playing drums and synth simultaneously in an interview: "Usually it's a long sustain on the notes. Hit a note and play the drums and then hit another note. Unless it's a bass line that doesn't lend itself to sustaining; then I'll just have to keep one hand on the keyboard and one hand on the drums."[3]

Giant Drag have played live shows supporting The Jesus and Mary Chain, Scissor Sisters, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Nine Black Alps, The Lemonheads and The Cribs, and were tipped by the NME for "big things in 2006". They also performed in the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2006. Annie Hardy can also be heard on the song "Pink Cellphone" from the 2006 Deftones album entitled "Saturday Night Wrist".

In late 2004 Calabrese left the band and was replaced by new drummer/synth-player Eli Smith who played through the band's first UK tour, CMJ festival, New York and some West coast dates. The band signed to Kickball records (a branch of Interscope Records) during this period. Eli Smith quit the band in 2005 and Calabrese returned. On 5th December 2006 it was reported that Micah had left the band for a second time.[4]

In April 2007, Annie announced she was writing her second LP, and performed some summer shows in California backed by members of The Adored. She confirmed that Calabrese had left the band for his own reasons and that he hadn't quit because of a stint in rehab.[5].

On June 5, 2008, mixing and mastering for the Swan Song EP was completed, and a completed version of the song Stuff To Live For was uploaded to the band's MySpace page. Calabrese played drums on the EP, but is not understood to have rejoined the band.

[edit] Music

Giant Drag's sound has been described by several music publications as "nü-grunge" (known as post-grunge in the United States). The band have also been compared to bands such as My Bloody Valentine, The Breeders, PJ Harvey, and Mazzy Star[6] although the band does not completely agree with some of the comparisons and Hardy has shown herself to be especially confused by Breeders comparisons.[7][2] It is suggested by Hardy[2] and another journalist[8] that most articles that have been written about Giant Drag are re-wordings of their press pack (which compared them to such bands).

Their song titles, which are known for their bluntness and black humour, include "Kevin Is Gay," "My Dick Sux," "High Friends in Places," and "YFLMD" - an acronym for "You Fuck Like My Dad". Live performances have been notable for Hardy's monologues in-between songs while Calabrese set up his synthesizer[2], as well as hecklers in the audience asking Hardy to show her breasts to which Annie often says something back.[1] During performances in 2006 the duo covered Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game." Hardy jokingly introduced the song by telling a variation on the basic story that she wrote the song for Chris Isaak when she was 8, and that he stole it from her after a love affair, and that she saw him years later on MTV singing "her" song "rolling around in the sand with some hooker."[9][10] In the summer of 2007, this cover was used in the promos for Season 5 of the FX Networks TV show Nip/Tuck.

[edit] Discography

Albums and compilations

Lemona
(2003)
Wichita Recordings
Hearts and Unicorns
(2005)
Kickball Records

[edit] Videography

  • "This Isn't It" (directed by G.J. Echternkamp)
  • "Kevin Is Gay" (directed by G.J. Echternkamp)

[edit] Other appearances

  • The song "YFLMD" was featured in the television series The L Word, in the season three episode "Lifeline".
  • The song "Blunt Picket Fence" was featured on a Nylon/Filter magazine compilation.
  • The song "Smashing" was featured on the Filter/Urban Outfitters Katrina benefit CD.
  • The song "Wicked Game" was featured as a promotion for the F/X series Nip/Tuck.[11]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Redemption TV interview (YouTube) with Giant Drag
  2. ^ a b c d e Summer 2005 SFburning.com interview with Annie Hardy
  3. ^ Popgurls.com interview with Micah Calabrese
  4. ^ Pitchfork Media news report
  5. ^ LA Weekly article
  6. ^ Giant Drag biography at the All Music Guide
  7. ^ the red alert interview with Annie Hardy
  8. ^ Drowned in Sound interview with Giant Drag
  9. ^ Wicked Game live introduction
  10. ^ Wicked Game live performance
  11. ^ Copy of Nip/Tuck Promo

[edit] External links

[edit] Interviews

Languages