By | Teri Briggs

Portland’s Playlist welcomed Love Gigantic into the studio at Portland Radio Project Wednesday night for a two hour session that flew by in a matter of seconds, or so it seemed. This is a relatively new band, (formed in 2012) yet the group of six seem like they’ve known each other and played together since forever. They have an easy camaraderie and jovial spirit that made for a really fun session for Luke and Teri.

DSC_0082

Photo by Teri Briggs

Love Gigantic was formed after lead singer, Sarah King, decided “it was high time to put together a project of her own. It didn’t take long for her to decide who the dream team would include. She asked those musicians to come out and play and naturally, they all said yes.” The “they” are five artists with an impressive background: Chet Lyster – guitar (eels, Lucinda Williams, Casey Neill & the Norway Rats); David Langenes – guitar (The Stolen Sweets, Pete Krebs & the Portland Playboys); Lara Michell – keys (The Stolen Sweets, Dirty Martini, a simple colony); Arthur Parker – bass (Chris Robley & the Fear of Heights, Trashcan Joe); and Ryan Moore – drums (March Fourth Marching Band, Titans of Oblivion). Joining Sarah in the studio were Chet, David, Arthur, and Lara. We found out what the band does in their down time, songwriting methods, that Chet and Lara share the same first album (you’ll have to listen to the podcast to find out what THAT album was), that David is not only a master guitar tuner, but also a darned good chef, Sarah has an interior design business of vintage collectibles, salvaged and industrial furniture, Chet grooms his Weiner dogs, Lara teaches guitar and piano to children, and Arthur is great with all things technical.

DSC_0081

Photo by Teri Briggs

The first hour was spent listening to their individual musical influences and they were a bit surprised to discover that their collective playlist was deeply rooted in the 70’s. We heard some great tracks from The Cars, XTC, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” from Stevie Nicks & Tom Petty, Van Morrison/Mark Knopfler’s, “Aryan Mist,” AC/DC, Big Star, Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, and Lorraine Ellison.

The second hour focused on music from the band’s self-titled album, “Love Gigantic,” released in 2014. This is a masterfully produced album that showcases Sarah’s passion-filled voice and sometimes haunting lyrics, backing vocals from the entire band, and instrumentation that is a testament to each individual’s impressive resume of previous works. Crafting their music, Lara might come to Sarah with a guitar piece, Sarah will add the lyrics, and the rest of the band fleshes it out until it’s a body of work which they then might test out on their audience.

In summation, if you are looking for a band that rocks it as hard as they play, this is the band for you. While you couldn’t see their final photo session, the playful nature they took in getting a group shot, spoke volumes to the love and fun they have together.

You can find Love Gigantic at: https://www.lovegigantic.com/about/

https://www.facebook.com/LoveGigantic/?fref=ts&ref=br_tf

https://twitter.com/LoveGigantic

https://www.instagram.com/lovegigantic/

https://soundcloud.com/lovegigantic

PRP
Latest posts by PRP (see all)