Holy personality. We have a lot of artists come through Studio 1A: brand new bands with only one single, age old veterans with lengthy discographies, crews in three-day old t-shirts and torn jeans, and full casts in sequined costumes. Today, Givers truly transformed the studio into their own, complete with foliage strapped to equipment, colored lights bouncing off guitars, and of course, a smoke machine.
It was a quick start for Givers. They went from touring with the likes of the Dirty Projectors and Ra Ra Riot to sitting comfortably at #12 on Billboard Top 100 for a full eight weeks. Now they’re busy working the music festival circuit and headlining their own American tour. This five-piece from Lafayette, Louisiana is almost unrecognizable from the baby-faced ukelele players they were just five years ago when they released their debut album, In Light. The group’s signature “island pop” is now a celestial body of post-apocalyptic funk. Their sophomore album, New Kingdom, trades the jangly guitar and tropical sounds for futuristic synths and a hell of a lot more bass. The single, Bermuda, is a haunting reflection of the groups radical transformation, showing a new modernism that carries through the entire length of the album. Givers just finished filming the music video for single, “Record High, Record Low” last week and it’s expected to drop later this summer.
Before they rocked out in new venue, Antones, Givers came into Studio 1A. You can listen and view the performance down below – foliage and all.
–Roxanne Zech
