SOURCE – Tell us a bit about the band. How did you come together and forge your sound?
Steff Fish (Vocals) – We’re all originally from Newcastle in the North East of England. After individually relocating 300 miles to study music, we coincidentally formed in the South, through a shared love for bands such as Karnivool, Soundgarden, Radiohead and Deftones. Despite us having a number of shared influences, we also all have our own individual inspirations, which I think all come together to create our sound!
SOURCE – Past The Peak is Giant Walker’s third single – can you discuss where you believe the major differences are between this release and previous Giant Walker singles?
Steff Fish (Vocals) – I think something that we always strive to do is give every song we write it’s own unique flavour. Past The Peak is pretty different from anything we’ve ever written, both in the ethereal soundscape of the verses and the pop-y hook of the chorus. In contrast to the other two singles, which are both a more upbeat.
SOURCE – Can you elaborate on the lyrical themes and messages you are looking to explore with The Fact in Fiction, Optophobia and Past The Peak?
Steff Fish (Vocals) – Sure! So, as The Fact In Fiction was written in the initial stages of the 2020 lockdown, it was very much inspired by our experience throughout that. It was a weird time, and so our experience and our feelings at the time very much influenced the lyrics. The title is drawn from the subtle truths and parallels that exist in dystopian fiction and the slippery slope to them becoming actuality. The song questions just how in control of your life you really are and the reality of being put at a disadvantage through other people’s actions and incompetence.
The initial inspiration behind Optophobia, was quite literally the word ‘Optophobia’, as it is a fear of opening your eyes. The lyrical concept is inspired, both by this, but also by the truth that our vision is merely our brain’s best guess of the world around us. One of my favourite quotes is from the TV series, Mr Robot, ‘It’s one thing to question your mind; it’s another to question your eyes and ears. But, then again, isn’t it all the same? Our senses just mediocre inputs to our brain? Sure, we rely on them, trust they accurately portray the real world around us, but what if the haunting truth is they can’t? That what we perceive isn’t the real world at all, but just our mind’s best guess? That all we really have is a garbled reality, a truly fuzzy picture we will never make out?’
Finally, Past The Peak explores the problems that are caused by being encouraged to do, not what we enjoy, but instead what is conventional. We medicate to cure our lifestyle choices, rather than confronting the cause, because it’s easier to bury our head than face our issues. ‘Past the Peak’ narrates the story of those who find themselves in a constant spiral of demotivating themselves out of their ambitions – because there’s no risk of failing if you never try.
SOURCE – As many bands in the rock industry appear to be releasing more and more EPs and singles rather than just albums, do you plan on going that route, as well?
Steff Fish (Vocals) – I think there’s a lot of pressure these days to be constantly releasing music and so singles obviously lend themselves more easily to that, but then we’re also lucky to be in the rock market, where albums obviously hold a lot of weight, too. We, personally, like the format of an album as then there’s more room to explore different sub styles and textures that might be less suited to a single, per say.
SOURCE – You have a video out for Past The Peak. Can you discuss some of the meaning behind the visuals?
Steff Fish (Vocals) – The video for Past The Peak was very much the brainchild of our good friend, Lee Tuck, who did all of the videography for the song! I like to think of the box in the video as a theoretical representation of something sinister within us, and how we, as humans, can be so easily manipulated and corrupted, but it’s very much open to your own interpretations!
SOURCE – In a time where streaming and digital consumption of music is more the norm than owning physical releases, do you believe that great artwork is still crucially important for albums?
Steff Fish (Vocals) – Yeah, I think the artwork helps to tie everything together and help people to understand your vision, especially as we live in such a visual world! I’ve always found myself drawn to art in all forms that makes you think and so this is something that we’ve tried to capture, both with our music, but also with the artwork, too.
SOURCE – Does it make things harder to reach that next level of success and popularity?
Steff Fish (Vocals) – I guess what makes it difficult is that because music is so easily created and consumed these days that the market is so much more saturated. Having said that, because it’s so easily distributed then that makes it easier to reach people too, so it’s all relative really!
SOURCE – What’s planned for Giant Walker this year?
Steff Fish (Vocals) – We have lots in the pipeline! More music and a UK headline tour in June 2022 – head to our website www.giantwalker.co.uk/live for tickets!
CONTACTS:
Giant Walker
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