It's the Supersound

First, I want to say that I have been following Big Gigantic for a couple of years now and I believe that they are one of the top up and coming electronic music acts to look out for. With that being said, the Colorado native masterminds behind the visionary project, Dominic Lalli (Production/Sax) & Jeremy Salken (Drums), have been refining their sound into a genuinely unique fusion of sultry saxophone melodies, acoustic drums, and bass-heavy electronic music production. Their style cannot be classified into a single genre, but an exceptional variety of glitch, dubstep, drum & bass, and hip-hop that combines to form the essence of Big Gigantic. I had the chance to see them for the first time back in September and I was thoroughly impressed by their live execution and strong stage presence. Being a hybrid of a live band and a DJ set, they had a dynamic that I wasn’t accustomed to, but I quickly embraced it and I now look back on it as an inspiration to my own music career. Big Gigantic shows are an awesome party atmosphere with nothing but good vibes.

We had the chance to chat with Dominic about several topics including inspiration, influences, and their new album. Check out the GDD™ exclusive interview and a video featuring the single from their new album, Nocturnal, due out January 11, 2012 after the jump.

 Interview:

GDD™: To start things off, we have a couple GDD™ interview traditions and the first is what your usual drink orders are.

Dominic: Patron on the rocks with a couple limes or Makers and ginger ale. Yea!

GDD™: What was the inspiration for your unique blend of organic and electronic sounds?

Dominic: Well, I’m a saxophone player turned electronic music fan/producer. So the blend of organic instruments and electronic music happened pretty naturally. I really like the fact that the saxophone and live drums really help to separate us from other electronic acts and at the same time we still rock heavy dubstep/drum and bass and hip hop bangers.

GDD™: When I saw you open for Bassnectar at the Hollywood Palladium, there was definitely a kind of jam-band vibe that I wouldn’t normally feel with typical electronic artists. Who are your greatest influences both electronic and non-electronic? Jam bands?

Dominic: Electronic influences range from a lot of the heavier dubstep/drum and bass producers like Flux, Doctor P, Pendulum, Bar 9, Datsik, Skrillex, etc. Non-electronic influences range from people like Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Miles Davis and a lot of the great jazz writers and improvisers. Also jam-bands like STS9 have been a huge influence as well as our whole scene in Colorado. Lots of amazing producers out here.

GDD™: As an innovative live act, how do you prepare for a set and how do you go about performing? Is there any on stage communication? To what extent do you improvise?

Dominic: Depending on how long our set is, I try to focus on the general flow of the set and try to make it flow smoothly and build up to certain songs and as a live act, we really try to emphasize the build-ups and drops and make them smash. Lots of communication on stage for sure! Always looking at each other and trying to link up on rhythms, phrasing and building. The communication is what makes it so fun live and I feel like the audiences pick up on that.

GDD™: You have been touring relentlessly recently with Bassnectar and Pretty Lights, as well as your own headlining shows. What has been your favorite show and why?

Dominic: Its so hard to pinpoint one show as the favorite because each show, whether we open for PL/Bassnectar or headline our own show has a different, awesome feel to it. With PL/Bassnectar we get to play for a TON of people. It feels like a festival every night. Our own shows are very fulfilling because they are our own and we are breaking our own little records each night and watching things grow little by little so that really amazing as well

GDD™: What do you guys like to do when you’re not performing or making music?

Dominic: That’s all we do! Haha. But…I like to go eat good food and hang with friends

GDD™: You have a brand new album coming out soon titled Nocturnal. What was the process for songwriting/production? How is the album different from other works in the past?

Dominic: I go in the studio and have ideas in my head and try to just get them out of my head and back out through the speakers. Our music is a little more ‘song’-oriented than just a track that a DJ might play. So I go in trying to write in more of a ‘song’ form. This album is in the same spirit as our other albums but I feel like my production skills are getting a little better so I think sonically it hits a little harder and the ideas are a little clearer. It’s very dancy through and through.

GDD™: Being from Colorado, you have seen the area grow to become a steadily rising electronic music hub. Where do you see the Colorado scene going in the next 5 years? More of a global influence?

Dominic: I honestly don’t see it slowing down at all right now. I feel like and I hope it keeps growing more and more. It feels great to be part of such a great community of fans/producers/musicians because I’m as much of a fan as I am a performer. Colorado has some of the most amazing fans I’ve ever seen, which makes it such a great place to call home.

GDD™: Finally, and in keeping with tradition, when you’re not performing on stage and you’re enjoying EDM from the dance floor, do you dance dirty?

Dominic: Soooooooo dirty!! Only the dirtiest dancing..

GDD™: Thank you Dominic!

Download the track featured in the video at THISSONGISSICK.

Check out the Big Gigantic website and follow them on Facebook!

Toks

As much as I could do without the drive there, the NOS Events Center is truly one of the best all-around venues for a massive dance event that I’ve ever seen. The fine people at Insomniac always manage to get the best out of any space they bring the beats and freaks to, but the combination of massive hangars, outdoor tents, trees and a beautiful lake to watch fireworks in and relax by really can’t be beat in my eyes. Of course, the wise Friedrich Nietzsche once pointed out that “without music, life would be a mistake” and it holds true that the venue would be nothing without the incomparable lineup that Insomniac once again rolled out, stacked top to bottom with heavy hitters and game changers in every genre.

GDD™ sent out solo astronauts into the abyss each day, and ///Bones and myself will be giving you our respective takes on the events of both Friday and Saturday.

FRIDAY – BONES
Coming off a huge success @ last years festival, Nocturnal Wonderland expanded its schedule to become a 2-day showcase. Friday although being the shortened lineup having only 3 of 5 stages open, still proved to bring the masses with big guns Avicii, Dirty South, Fedde Le Grande and 12th Planet. I got there in time for the end of Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano on the main stage, which surprisingly blew me away with (clearly) their big room experience. Followed by back to back sets from Dirty South and Avicii, Alice’s House (main stage) was erupting in a wave of energy. The monstrous construction of the main stage was overwhelming, but in any case only fitting for what was being heard from its towering sound system.

Best Performance – 12th Planet

Our main man John Dadzie (yes rockin’ our Invert.Tut shirt) knew he had to prove why he was closing the dubstep/dnb stage, and the 10,000 that flocked for his set were not in disbelief. With a such an high energy-packed performance and a stage presence that’s unmatched, 12th Planet absolutely set the place on fire. What made this set more mind blowing was that he was mixing bouncy electro house in with the big bassy selections, giving his set a real festival feel. When I asked him afterwards why he was now playing out up-tempo tunes, he told me that “True Pseudo (his former project with Flinch) is about to be coming back in a big way.”

SATURDAY – Burn Unit
I had every intention of getting up and getting my day started bright and early, but we showed up much closer to 6PM as the sun was starting to fade to the west. Undaunted, it was off to Layo & Bushwhacka straight away. The London duo did a great job of getting me in the right state of mind but feeling a bit antsy and eager to explore it was time to go meet some more party animals over at the main stage.

After a quick stop at Sigma, and being disappointed after not hearing a shred of Drum N’ Bass, it was time for some Big Room Haus! The structure that Insomniac now regularly brings in for the Main Stage is absolutely monstrous, and if you feel like getting ravey it’s definitely the place to be. Before I knew it Sebastian Ingrosso was standing behind the decks and the crowd below me was positively exuberant.

Best Performance – PeaceTreaty

This being their last performance as a trio, you could say this was sort of a sentimental pick for ‘Best Performance.’ Fact of the matter though is that the fellas absolutely crushed it to an enthusiastic crowd who passed on the likes of Kaskade and Mark Knight to party with PeaceTreaty.

As much as I could do without the drive there, the NOS Events Center is truly one of the best all-around venues for a massive dance event that I’ve ever seen. The fine people at Insomniac always manage to get the best out of any space they bring the beats and freaks to, but the combination of massive hangars, outdoor tents, trees and a beautiful lake to watch fireworks in and relax by really can’t be beat in my eyes. Of course, the wise Friedrich Nietzsche once pointed out that “without music, life would be a mistake” and it holds true that the venue would be nothing without the incomparable lineup that Insomniac once again rolled out, stacked top to bottom with heavy hitters and game changers in every genre.

GDD™ sent out solo astronauts into the abyss each day, and ///Bones and myself will be giving you our respective takes on the events of both Friday and Saturday.

FRIDAY – BONES
Coming off a huge success @ last years festival, Nocturnal Wonderland expanded its schedule to become a 2-day showcase. Friday, although being the shortened lineup of the two having only 3 of 5 stages open, still brought out the big guns with Avicii, Dirty South, Fedde Le Grande and 12th Planet. I got there in time for the end of Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano on the Main Stage, who surprisingly blew me away with (clearly) their big room experience. Followed by back-to-back sets from Dirty South and Avicii, Alice’s House (Main Stage) was erupting in a wave of energy. The monstrous structure that was the Main Stage was overwhelming, but in any case only fitting for what was being heard from its towering sound system.

Best Performance – 12th Planet

Our main man John Dadzie (Yes, rockin’ our Invert.Tut shirt) knew he had to prove why he was closing the Dubstep/DnB stage, and the 10,000 that flocked to his set were not disappointed. With such a high energy performance and a stage presence that’s unmatched, 12th Planet absolutely set the place on fire. What made this set more mind blowing was that he was mixing bouncy electro house in with the big bassy selections, giving his set a real festival feel. When I asked him afterwards why he was now playing out up-tempo tunes, he told me that “True Pseudo (his former project with Flinch) is about to be coming back in a big way.”

SATURDAY – Burn Unit
I had every intention of getting up and getting my day started bright and early, but we showed up much closer to 6PM as the sun was starting to fade to the west. Undaunted, it was off to Layo & Bushwhacka straight away. The London duo did a great job of getting me in the right state of mind, but feeling a bit antsy and eager to explore it was time to go meet some more party animals over in Alice’s House.

After a quick stop at Sigma, and being disappointed after not hearing a shred of Drum N’ Bass, it was time for some Big Room Haus! The structure that Insomniac now regularly brings in for the Main Stage is absolutely monstrous, and if you feel like getting ravey it’s definitely the place to be. Before I knew it Sebastian Ingrosso was standing behind the decks and the crowd below me was positively exuberant.

Best Performance – PeaceTreaty

This being their last performance as a trio, you could say this was sort of a sentimental pick for ‘Best Performance.’ Fact of the matter though is that the fellas absolutely crushed it to an enthusiastic crowd who passed on the likes of Kaskade and Mark Knight to party with PeaceTreaty.

All in all, Insomniac did a fantastic job as per usual. The comprehensive and detailed approach to party throwing is what got them to the top of the game in the States, and it’s what is going to keep them expanding around the globe in the future. Party on, Wayne.

It’s almost that time of year again- the time to venture down the rabbit hole and discover the energy that awaits. We hope this sneak peek sparks your excitement for the enchanted weekend to come. See you on the other side of the looking glass…

Next weekend, The NOS Events center will host the fall Insomniac Events massive 2011 Nocturnal Wonderland, which this year has expanded to become a 2 day event, with many of the best names in dance music showcasing over 5 massive stages. The Lineup and set times are below, along with a link to create your own custom schedule!

SET TIMES + LINEUP + WONDERLAND PASS after the jump…..

*CREATE YOUR OWN CUSTOM SCHEDULE HERE!
* MORE INFO (FACEBOOK) HERE

THE WONDERLAND PASS
If you’re planning on going to Nocturnal Wonderland and as well to the first ever Escape From Wonderland Halloween event, look no further than this package. By purchasing the Wonderland Pass, you get tickets to both festivals at a discounted rate and gain access to both days of Nocturnal Wonderland and our debut Halloween festival, Escape from Wonderland.
*PURCHASE HERE