The Simpsons Q & A: Jacque & Zachary from ‘House Of Giants’
Brisbane instrumental funk lords House Of Giants (HOG) have just released their highly anticipated EP ‘Through The Trees’. With their launch at Brisbane’s The Foundry this week we decided to find out how the recording process for the EP went down and how HOG would cope if they were trapped inside the TV series The Simpsons!
If House Of Giants were stuck inside the TV series The Simpsons which character would you each be?
Jacque: I would be Duff Man. Zac would be Homer in his morbidly obese moo-moo wearing phase. Dylan would be Santa’s Little Helper. Tim would be Patty and Selma at the same time. Dan would be Maggie’s nemesis baby, the one with the mono-brow.
Zachary: Everyone else seems like a Marge, I am probably more of an Edna Krabappel.
What would be your catch phrase?
Jacque: I would chug a bucket of coffee and then go “Yep aaahhhhhhhhhhhh”
Zachary: Can I get a pint of milk please? (This will be my only line in the show)
Who would you pick as your TV bestie?
Jacque: Millhouse a.k.a Thrillhouse a.k.a Millpool.
Zachary: Probably Butters from South Park.
What would be your Moe’s Tavern prank call line?
Jacque: I’d probably just crumble under the pressure and start crying on the floor.
Zachary: Heavy breathing.
Where would you live?
Jacque: Shelbyville
Zachary: Hopefully in a normal house but probably at the tire yard.
Favourite musical guest throughout the series?
Jacque: Sonic Youth in the Lollapalooza episode. Or maybe The Ramones when they play happy birthday for Mr. Burns in one of the really early seasons.
Zachary: Definitely Baha Men with Who left the milk out?
If you got your hands stuck inside two vending machines who would you call?
Jacque: Hank Scorpio, that guy knows what’s up.
Zachary: In this scenario, both my hands are stuck in separate vending machines and my phone is in my right pocket. I would probably yell out “MUM” until someone walked by.
You guys just released your EP ‘Through The Trees’, how are you feeling?
Jacque: Relieved, but also really nervous.
Zachary: We recorded it at the end of 2014 and have been sitting on the finished product for so long. I am glad it is out there, I still like these songs as much as when we recorded them.
How long was the recording process?
Jacque: The physical act of recording took about 3 months I think? In reality it was only a couple of days stretched over that time frame though.
Zachary: We tracked most of it in a few days but went back a couple times to change things.
What feedback have you received so far from fans?
Jacque: Someone told me one of the guitar solos in Big Sun reminded them of the Law & Order theme song, which was pretty tight.
Zachary: The response has been pretty good so far. There doesn’t seem to be an obvious favourite track between all the people listening.
Who would you say if your biggest musical influence as a band?
Jacque: That’s such a hard question to answer because I don’t think there is one artist that we all consciously listen to and think “yep that’s it, that’s what we’re going for”. We just kind of mash all our own influences together and hope for the best.
Zachary: This is a hard question. I don’t think there is one band that every member of HOG listens to actively. We all want to write big grooves though.
What do you think is the hardest part of producing instrumental music?
Jacque: The hardest part of making instrumental music is dealing with the people that insist your music would “sound better with a singer”.
Zachary: When we started playing together, no one held back. It was all instruments playing for the entire song. That didn’t work very well with 3 guitars, so we try to keep that in mind when we write new stuff.
Any surprises planned for the EP launch show?
Jacque: We’re hoping to premiere a cheeky new banger that’s never been heard outside of the rehearsal room. If you’re lucky you might even be able to get your hands on a rare physical copy of ‘Through The Trees’.
Zachary: Backup dancers, plasma screens (are plasma screens still a thing?), fireworks.
Do you have any support acts lined up?
Jacque: Only the best! We’re so amped to have our friends Big Dead and Magenta Voyeur share the night with us, hopefully they don’t melt everyone’s faces too much. Tim also plays in another band called Goodbye Moon who will be opening the night, they are two seriously talented dudes on the come up who are going to leave you wanting more, definitely don’t miss them!
Zachary: All the bands play different styles of music but are similar enough that it won’t be off putting to the audience. These are some of my favourite Brisbane bands.
