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The Jungle Giants Right tunes at the right moment
Courtesy of The Jungle GiantsAfter racking up hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube, Australian rockers The Jungle Giants recently made it to Jakarta
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Courtesy of The Jungle Giants
After racking up hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube, Australian rockers The Jungle Giants recently made it to Jakarta.
Offering upbeat and fun sounds, the alt-indie group is a band that just makes you want to dance.
'We have a bunch of different styles - and we kind of mix them up into our thing,' frontman Sam Hales said just before the band's debut gig in Jakarta.
On the band's name, don't look for enlightenment. 'It means nothing at all. We just thought it sounded good: The Jungle Giants,' said Hales, laughing.
The rockers were in town for 'G'day Mate!', a gathering for local alumni of Australian schools and their friends at Empirica in the Sudirman Central Business District, Central Jakarta.
Bassist Andrew Dooris said that he never thought the band would get such a chance. 'It's going to be interesting. We never thought to have such an opportunity to be the ambassadors of Australian youth.'
He continues, 'When we talked to the people in the embassy, I said, 'OK, my mom would be proud of me ['¦] It's going to be interesting to see the crowd in Indonesia. We probably will also have the chance to see the indie scene here. People tell us we do have a fan base here.'
Formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 2011, The Jungle Giants comprises Hales, Dooris, lead guitarist Cesira Aitken and drummer Keelan Bijker.
As the only girl in the band, Aitken said that she has no problems hanging out with the boys.
'Hanging out with these guys isn't too hard at all for me,' Aitken says. 'I'm a tomboy from birth ' I'm pretty much a daddy's girl, I hang out with my father a lot. I got used to the boys ' including their smell and all that stuff.'
The band first grabbed public attention after releasing its first single, 'Mr. Polite', which garnered more than 500,000 views on YouTube.
Meanwhile, follow-up videos 'She's A Riot' and 'I Am What You Want Me To Be' have booked more than 400,000 views each.
Learn to Exist, the band's debut album, is for the most part an auto-biographical collection of songs penned by Hales.
'A lot of the writing that went into this album was me trying to figure out relationships and how to translate a feeling honestly into song,' he says. 'These songs tell the story of what happened to me over the course of 2012. They reflect either something that meant a lot to me or changed me.'
The band is still amazed to have succeeded at a young age (none of them are older than 22) ' or within four years of jamming together.
'I think it's been real quick for us to get here,' said Bijker, referring to the band's 'She's A Riot Tour' in 2012, its 'Learn To Exist' tour in 2013, playing at the Big Day Out music festival in 2014 alongside Pearl Jam and Arcade Fire, plus overseas gigs in Jakarta and Singapore.
'I still feel weird, though. When we got here, I felt like, man, this is so cool. When we come to a country and meet new people, it's just awesome,' said Hales.
Young, fun and humble, The Jungle Giants are generous when it comes to giving tips to new bands. 'Just work on your songs, work on your sound,' said Hales, adding that drinking beer is the best booster before stage.
Echoing Hales, Dooris told aspiring bands to work really hard on their music and to show it to the right people at the right time.
'Just be really happy, really proud of what you've done,' Dooris says. 'A lot of bands tend to rush things. Just work on it. Make sure that you do your recording to whatever quality you want it to be. Make sure that your songs are right.'
