Big Gigantic
by Andrew Frey
February 2014
Big Gigantic
photo by Ryan Patrick
Big Gigantic is an electronic dance party ready to happen at any moment. Their music is a relentless body gyrating, mood pulsing, can’t sit down, blast off of beats, drops, and jazzy rhythms. Since they formed in 2008, the Boulder, Colorado-based duo which consists of saxophonist/producer Dominic Lalli and drummer Jeremy Salken, has banged it out at and left their mark at various sold-out headlining tours, including Red Rocks and played some of the biggest festivals, from Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Ultra, and?Austin?City Limits to Hangout, Summer Set, Electric Forest, and Outside Lands, among many others.
It all began when Lalli relocated to Boulder after graduating with a master’s degree in jazz at the Manhattan School of Music and began performing with Salken. Their idea of experimenting with and reinterpreting traditional DJ-based music with live instruments payed off, ultimately climaxing for their debut album ‘Fire It Up’ in May of 2009, which propelled them into embarking on a full US tour. Since then they have released ‘Wide Awake’ in October of 2009 followed by ‘A Place Behind The Moon’ which came out in 2010 and the landmark ‘Nocturnal’ released in 2012, all which are available for free download at biggigantic.net. To date, ‘Nocturnal’ has garnered over 750,000 downloads! All this sets the stage for their amazing new album out on Feb 11 called ‘The Night Is Young.’
“This album is by far our greatest album we’ve put together. It feels very fresh and funky but also really heavy and super fun in general,” emphasizes Lalli in a recent email interview. “We have so much to be excited about! It’s been a couple years since our last release so in the mean time we’ve been poppin’ around the world playing a ton of shows and raging with our friends all around the world.”
What sets Big Gigantic apart from others is their diverse setup of instrumentation onstage, especially for an act that can be dubbed as primarily electronic. However, since Dominic grew up playing sax and Jeremy the drums, the natural progression was to play those instruments while incorporating electronic music. But they are always evolving and pushing their own limits. Lalli notes, “We play music because we love music and we connect with other people who love music.”
I’ve seen Big G at several festivals over the years and live saxophone and live drums really help to separate them from other electronic acts. Their transcendent live shows which showcase brilliant nonstop improvisation and their signature futuristic wall of sound really keep the crowds bouncing. I had to wonder if they preferred the outdoor setting or indoor. “Both are amazing and special in their own way,” says Lalli. “We love rockin’ packed, sweaty indoor shows just as much as we love being in the open air playing at a festival. But we love playing all over really. From big cities to small towns all across the world. We feel blessed!”
And who dreams up their fantastic live show designs? Lalli enlightens us, “We work with our lighting designer to come up with fresh video concepts and video content for all of our live shows.”
After checking out their new album on Feb 11, make sure to come see them at the Orpheum Theater in Madison on Feb 13 or catch them on Feb 14 in Minneapolis at the Skyway Theater and Feb 15 in Milwaukee at The Rave to see what the new album tour will bring. If you are lucky, they might even bust out live renditions of their infamous remixes like the current favorite of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Can’t Hold Us” or their classic versions of Wiz Khalifa’s “Black and Yellow,” and Aloe Blacc’s “I Need a Dollar.”
Winding it up, Dominic notes, “We have a new album out so we’ll be rockin’ a bunch of new music and bringing our usual massive show to a ton of cities across the US. Thanks for reading, we love you guys! “
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