Subgiant Profile
by Nick Haines
Imagine that Edgar Froese had been born in Southampton and that Tangerine Dream were the Bader Meinhof gang. Mix in a little Orb & Future Sound of London and ladies and gentleman I give you Subgiant. Subgiant is a fusion of trance and bass so deep you’ll need to have speakers sturdier than the Kursk to cope with them. Subgiant’s a good name because much of what the band do is gigantic and sub-sonic. You feel as much as hear what they do. Perhaps unusually for a band so immersed in ‘beats, bleeps & beeps, effects, subsonic dub bass, ambience echoes and general audio trippery’, but Subgiant still maintain that the live environment is where their sound makes the most sense. In the band’s own words: “Subgiant is about sound, it's about being on stage and feeling that push of energy from the PA, it's about the cavernous depth of a bassline.” How very rock & roll, except they’re not of course, even though they claim that they’re the trance you can listen to without ruining your appetite for guitars. With an incept date of 2000, the original four members slimmed down to two; Olly on samplers, synthesisers, electronics, guitar and bass, and Dan on decks, scratching, effects and samplers. “Advances in Twig Technology”, the band’s 12 track debut cd was released in May and hints at the aural collage the band manufactures, but even the guys seem to feel that it only paints half the picture. If the live show is better than the recorded, they’re well worth checking out. Just make sure your fillings are firmly attached.
Imagine that Edgar Froese had been born in Southampton and that Tangerine Dream were the Bader Meinhof gang. Mix in a little Orb & Future Sound of London and ladies and gentleman I give you Subgiant. Subgiant is a fusion of trance and bass so deep you’ll need to have speakers sturdier than the Kursk to cope with them. Subgiant’s a good name because much of what the band do is gigantic and sub-sonic. You feel as much as hear what they do. Perhaps unusually for a band so immersed in ‘beats, bleeps & beeps, effects, subsonic dub bass, ambience echoes and general audio trippery’, but Subgiant still maintain that the live environment is where their sound makes the most sense. In the band’s own words: “Subgiant is about sound, it's about being on stage and feeling that push of energy from the PA, it's about the cavernous depth of a bassline.” How very rock & roll, except they’re not of course, even though they claim that they’re the trance you can listen to without ruining your appetite for guitars. With an incept date of 2000, the original four members slimmed down to two; Olly on samplers, synthesisers, electronics, guitar and bass, and Dan on decks, scratching, effects and samplers. “Advances in Twig Technology”, the band’s 12 track debut cd was released in May and hints at the aural collage the band manufactures, but even the guys seem to feel that it only paints half the picture. If the live show is better than the recorded, they’re well worth checking out. Just make sure your fillings are firmly attached.
