2014 was a huge year for Boulder-based livetronica outfit Big Gigantic, between gigging across the globe, releasing their full-length album, The Night is Young, and sharing the stage with the likes of Skrillex, Diplo and Dillon Francis. Decompressing from their tour, they took a moment to talk with DJOYbeat about what’s next on their horizons – not the least of which is their upcoming two-day Red Rocks show, Rowdytown III.
You guys just got done with a pretty aggressive leg of touring to promote the album. What were some high points of your tour?
Dominic: There were a ton of high points; the whole tour that we did supporting that album was one of the best tours we ever had. And then we got to play a ton of festivals this Summer, which was really sweet too… We started it with Coachella, then we did Bonnaroo with Skrillex, then we did Summer Set Festival – which is a really cool festival outside Minneapolis – and then we did Mystik Sanctuary last weekend, so we’ve kinda’ been doing a bunch of cool stuff since the album came out. Its been quite a ride.
Jeremy: Yeah, that pretty much encompasses it. We had a pretty crazy year. Right before the album dropped we were in Australia, and that was, like, insane. We’d never been out there before, but we had a great response playing festivals over there. We came back and did our tour, and this Summer’s just been crazy. We’ve just been bouncing around doing shows all over the country. We’re really psyched to kind of have a break right now, like we’re just doing the weekend stuff.
Tell me in particular about some of the most surreal moments so far.
Jeremy: There were like twenty at Bonnaroo. That was big. We were playing with Robby Krieger from the Doors, Janelle Monáe, Lauryn Hill, Damien Marley, – that was just like, “Is this real? is this really friggin’ happening?” It’s just crazy, we never thought we’d be doing stuff like that and we’re just really psyched.
You collaborated with another Colorado artist, Griz, earlier in the year. Do you have any plans to collaborate with out-of-towners?
Jeremy: We actually got the homie Flux Pavilion coming into the studio which should be really cool, so we’re always looking to work with different people but we don’t have anything solid in the works.
Dominic, it’s not a stretch to suggest that your sax is a big part of the Big Gigantic sound – and meanwhile, a lot of the deep house that’s popular right now is pretty sax heavy. Do you have any interest in branching out into deep house, or are you more content sticking to your own sound?
Dominic: Well, we put out a deep house remix like [a few] weeks ago. We’re all about all of that, and we’re all about all kinds of different music. I think that doing the saxophone-drums-electronic sound, but putting that into different other sounds like deep house, dubstep, trap – and sort of putting our own signature thing on it – I mean, we love house music and I think it works really well for what we do. So yeah, this guy Zhu had this huge hit called “Faded” and it’s the number one electronic song in Europe. So anyways I really loved the tune, so I remixed it and sent it to him and he loved it. We kinda’ released it and put it out together. We’re big fans of a lot of that kind of music for sure.
How excited are you to be done with your tour and be back in Colorado to take a break?
Jeremy: I mean we live here, so we’re just back here working on [the] Red Rocks [show], kinda’ gettin’ it done. Prepping for tour, just a million things at once. So yeah, we flew back from Oklahoma the day after the last festival and we’ve just been working our asses off. I just rehearsed with the drummer from the Motet, we’re gonna have them on our Red Rocks gig. They’re gonna be doing both nights with us at Red Rocks so we’re super psyched to have them. We’re just constantly working towards putting on a badass show for everybody.
Boulder, Colorado is a pretty big party town – and that’s where you guys cut your teeth. What were the craziest times you had living there?
Jeremy Salken and Dominic Lalli of Big Gigantic during their set at Rowdytown II last year.
Jeremy: I dunno, it’s all been kinda’ crazy. (laughs) When we were first coming up, we played house parties up in the mountains at like Four Mile Canyon, and stuff like that. Dominic and I used to live together a while ago and threw parties at the house, and play gigs around town at the Pearl Street Pub and the Mountain Sun. We were just gigging every night between Boulder, Denver and Fort Collins, playing all over.
While new acts are looking for new ways to make their stage presence more theatrical, livetronica – and instrumentals in general – are becoming more of a staple. With more artists incorporating instruments into their sets, how do you plan on staying fresh and relevant?
Dominic: Well, we brought out a marching band at Coachella. That kind of thing. At Red Rocks we’ll be bringing out a live band – like, a full live band – for a bunch of the night. So we’ll keep doing stuff like that and branching out for the live show, and keep making music that really resonates with people. At the end of the day I think that’s the bottom line, and what’s gonna change the game.
What are some of your favorite artists with whom you’ve been able to tour?
Jeremy: There’s such a broad range of that, from Skrillex to Diplo, to Dillon Francis. We’ve been doing the Mad Decent Block Parties and we got to hang with them, and they’re always constantly working on new stuff, teaming up with different people, trying to think outside the box. We’ve had a good time getting inspired by all those guys and partying with them. But I could go on forever with all the dudes out there who are doing crazy stuff.
Well those are pretty big names; which ones do you feel are underrated and deserve more exposure?
Jeremy: Well I think they’ve been getting a good name right now, but the Floozies are doing some really cool stuff right now and they’re opening up for us at Red Rocks. They’ve been touring with us for years and it’s cool to see them really catching on. And also, there’s this record producer I love out in London. His name’s Troyboy. He makes the coolest, most innovative beats. One of my favorite guys I’ve been listening to right now.
What were some of the hard times you had to go through on this journey?
Dominic: I’ll tell you what, I went to theatre school in New York, and I got my bachelors degree there and stuff, and there were definitely times where I was definitely almost homeless and eating pizza every day for months on end. Some of those times really fucking sucked, real bad. You just fight through that shit, every day. Thankfully we’re here today, and it’s just absolutely insane, ’cause never did I think I’d be sitting where I’m sitting today. It keeps you grounded, and humble, and working super hard every day.
Jeremy: I mean I think that because we were struggling and working it – like I was a delivery guy for Dominos – it’s great and really amazing that we do what we love to pay our bills. We don’t have to work in coffee shops or [be] delivery boys; it’s cool. Red Rocks is almost like a pinnacle of that. It’s great to get the kind of positive feedback that we’re getting.
What else would you like to say to your fans?
Dominic: We’re stoked to see everyone at Red Rocks. It’s our biggest show of the year and we can’t wait!
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