News Givers

Signed to America’s Glassnote Records (home of Phoenix, Temper Trap, Kele, etc) and Island here in UK, Givers are Lafayette, Louisiana’s latest export. The 5-piece are currently touring the States before they head over to ol’ Blighty this summer in support of the release of ‘In Light’.

Who are you and what’s your role in the band?
My name is Tiffany and I sing and play percussion/ukulele in GIVERS.

How did you all meet and get together as a band?
We met through high school and college since we all grew up in the same area. A lot of musicians around Lafayette tend to play with multiple groups and within that musical circle we started meeting each other and even playing together here and there. I was in a band with Tay and Nick, Kirby played with Josh, Tay played with nick, etc and so forth until we had all eventually made music together in one way or another. Then one night I got asked to fill in for a spot at a local club that had a band drop out so Tay and I made some calls to the people who are now this entity. It ended up feeling so natural and getting such response that we did it again and thus continued to forming something solid.

You spent a lot of time in New Orleans before Hurricane Katrina. What was it like as a place to be inspired and make music?
Well a lot of us would take trips to New Orleans which was, and is still, a mecca for music in Louisiana. There’s such a variety of music there- funk, jazz, blues, soul, and various rock/experimental outfits that it was always a special occasion.. So many types of people and styles move through that area— it’s definitely an inspirational place. Taylor and I had moved there for college and were only there for a few weeks before the hurricane came. We spent a lot of time jamming in our kitchen- just drums and bass- and being in that moment of youthful jubilance of moving away from home. Music was all I remember thinking about back then. It’s a special place for sure.

Are there any concepts and topics that you like to revisit when writing music?
Mostly, I find when I write that I tend to let the song write itself through me. I try my best to almost stay out of it and be a witness. I end up always singing syllables and then going back to the recordings and deciphering them as microscopic concepts derived by being a vessel for a message I couldn’t have seen coming. It ends up being heartfelt and more real to me that way- and most the time I get more out of it because it’s something I needed to hear be said but possibly wasn’t ready to admit or digest. That’s the beauty of making music; you can be your own therapist.

Improvisation seems to have made up the basis of a lot of your earlier material, would you say that that’s still the case?
Yeah that’s true in a way…we all have backgrounds in playing improv music whether it was jazz/funk/rock-induced. Quite a few of our songs that made it to the full-length record were developed through that first and second improvised shows that I recorded. We listened back and then gave those ideas space to grow and be arranged into a much bigger thing. It’s our most natural way of writing songs together; just being a room and recording ourselves playing together as friends.. Special musical moments always come out of those recordings.

You all gave up your day jobs to focus on the band and it’s paid off. Was that a hard decision to make, and did you always know that it was a plan that was going to work?
It was very evident when the time came to make that decision- it wasn’t easy because most everyone grows up being conditioned there is only one way to live your life: go to school, get a job, get the house, get the family, etc. And none of those things are necessarily wrong- but if you aren’t doing something you love then you have rejected the greatest gift life has given you. Our paths were all ones geared towards making music our lives, careers and most importantly our service to share with others. We decided to see an opportunity as the sign to put it all in. That opportunity came from our friend (now also manager) Aaron Scruggs who books an amazing venue that strongly supports nationally and locally touring bands called the Spanish Moon in Baton Rouge. We had played a show there and he then asked us to open up for Dirty Projectors. They loved us and gave us, not only the benefit of the doubt since we hadn’t played more then 10 shows yet, but also a chance to open up for them for a stretch of their upcoming national tour. We didn’t just ignore the facts that this was a dream coming true. We took it very seriously and dropped everything else aside and brought all our paths together to focus on making this a lasting thing.

What was it like touring America with Dirty Projectors?
Like I said- a dream come true. It was almost an out-of-body experience because it was our first tour ever as this ‘band’ and also it was with one of our favourite bands in front of packed rooms. I still look back and almost get overwhelmed. We have a lot to thank them for.

Are you excited about the release of your album ‘In Light’? What can people expect from the record?
Well, the record is out now and it’s just been a surreal thing for us. It’s our first album- it’s our baby and we’ve invested all our hearts and time and hard work into it and knowing that it’s being heard outside of ourselves is huge for us. I would hope people don’t have expectations, it is what it is- a pure expression of the heart of something that we stand by. The listener is the only one that can take the true interpretation of it, which ends up being whatever you need to hear or feel from it wherever you are at in your own life.

You worked with Ben Allen on the new record, what was that like and what did he bring to your music?
Ben Allen is an amazing producer and engineer… He actually mixed the record with us. Along with also amazing engineer Chris Coady (Beach House, Grizzly Bear, etc.). It ended up being very collaborative. We highly respect both of their hard-work and artists they’ve worked for so we felt privileged to have them both on the team. Their strengths combined really pulled the record to become the best it could be.

Where can people see you this perform in the UK this summer?
Just reading this makes me happily anxious- we are still digesting the fact that we are getting to travel abroad to play our own music! We are definitely playing a gig at Shacklewell Arms on July 8th and other gigs are being announced shortly-check in at our website/blog/social-network,etc. We are in the van and just crossed the Canadian border so my hands are tied for exacts!
Oh, oh, yes and Field Day Festival in August; I’m especially stoked for that.

What’s next for the band?
Lots of touring, getting our music to all the corners of the earth; also making some new demos and really digging into enjoying the experience as a whole. We are so grateful to be in the position we are in and are inspired to no end.



‘Up Up Up’ is released on 4th July 2011