Young the Giant is an American rock band from Irvine, California. Its current lineup consists of Sameer Gadhia as lead vocalist, Jacob Tilley and Eric Cannata as guitarists, Payam Doostzadeh on bass, and François Comtois on the drums. Curiously, all five of them are either immigrants or sons of immigrants.
The band began life in 2004 as The Jakes, with a lineup of Sameer and Jacob alongside Addam Farmer, Kevin Massoudi, and Ehson Hashemian. After a few personnel shake-ups, the band settled by 2008 as Sameer, Jacob, Ehson, Eric, François, and Jason Burger. While they had recorded an EP during this period, Shake My Hand, each member had to soon choose between schooling and music. There were further roster shuffles in this early period, where Jason and Ehson were swapped out for Payam, and in December of 2009, The Jakes had changed their name to Young the Giant.
Members
- Sameer Gadhia — lead vocals, percussion, keyboards, guitar (since 2004)
- Jacob Tilley — guitar, synthesizer, mellotron (since 2004)
- Eric Cannata — guitar, vocals, keyboards (since 2007)
- Payam Doostzadeh — bass guitar, synthesizer, vocals (since 2008)
- François Comtois — bass guitar (2004-2007); drums, percussion, vocals (since 2007)
Former members, as The Jakes
- Ehson Hashemian — keyboards, piano, synthesizers (2004-2009)
- Jason Burger — drums (2007)
- Sean Fischer — drums (2004-2007)
- Addam Farmer — unknown
Studio Discography
- 2008 — Shake My Hand (as The Jakes)
- 2010 — Young The Giant
- 2014 — Mind Over Matter
- 2016 — Home of the Strange
- 2018 — Mirror Master
- 2022 — American Bollywood
- Act I — Origins
- Act II — Exile
- Act III — Battle
- Act IV — Denoument
Tropes applying to Young The Giant include:
- Age-Progression Song:
- Each verse of Mirror Master's "You + I" describes the singer's life with another woman; when they first meet at a party, when they're adults wrangling housework, and when they're old and gray, helping each other down the stairs.
- The two verses of American Bollywood's "American Bollywood" cut between the protagonistnote being thirteen, and then twenty-four, years old.
- Book Ends: Their Self-Titled Album's "Apartment" begins and ends thus:After leaving my apartment,
I feel this cold inside me
...
After leaving your apartment,
I hear the coast! - Burn Baby Burn: The music video for "American Bollywood" features a dollhouse on a beach set ablaze, while Sameer kneels in front of it on the sand.
- Careful with That Axe: Downplayed with Mind Over Matter's "Crystallized", which begins with a brief shout.
- Colour-Coded Emotions: Mirror Master's "Darkest Shade of Blue" links depression and sadness to the color blue, while comforting a person in its throes, telling them that they're not alone.
- Fun with Acronyms: The band's previous name, The Jakes, was pulled from the first initials of Jacob, Addam, Kevin, Ehson, and Sameer.
- Multi-Part Episode: In an interview with 105.7: The Point, Gadhia states that American Bollywood is to be told in four acts: Origins, Exile, Battle, and Denoument.
- Shout-Out: From Mind Over Matter's "It's About Time":
- Siamese Twin Songs: Mind Over Matter's "Slow Dive" has no dialogue, and leads directly into "Anagram".
- Textless Album Cover: Two of their album covers have no wording on them:
- Home of the Strange has a procession of multicolored emigrants making a pilgrimage to a living mountain.
- Mirror Master has a crowd of multicolored figures looking up at a square-shaped void in the sky.
- Title Track: Their only album to avert this is their Self-Titled Album.
- Unplugged Version: The band produces an "In The Open" remix of many of their songs, using only acoustic instruments.