Lasting impressions are hard to come by in electronic music. Most artists suffer one of two fates: they arrive to the scene with a bang, producing one acclaimed track or album before drifting into the shadows, or they remain, but only as machines, programmed by their record labels and management teams. Fortunately there are some musicians whose talent, integrity and thoughtful navigation of the scene earns them an enduring spot in an industry which survives on fanfare. Those who are able to swim against the current usually resist the pressure to produce within genre boundaries, and instead, create a unique, intangible identity through their sound. By producing music that leaves people itching to place it in a figurative box, Big Gigantic has reaped the kind of devotion which is as honest as it is rare.
We sat down with Dominic Lalli and Jeremy Salken at Mysteryland USA, where they played among a slew of EDM juggernauts. Reviewing the festival lineup was reminiscent of playing the “which of these items does not belong” game. The sentiment felt familiar; any time Big Gigantic is lumped into the EDM category, heads are scratched. When asked how they resist conformity, musician-minded Lalli gave an unexpected reply.
LALLI: We don’t even think about it too much, or too hard, we just do the things we love to do. But at the same time, and I think especially in this world, you have to be current. It’s like, you can’t tell jokes that were funny 20 years ago, jokes are funny because they have to do with things that are happening now, things you can relate to now, and I feel like music is like that, especially electronic music. So I think the fact that we keep it current. It’s the same thing with the new album, it’s all about being current and putting your sound in a current situation. So I think that’s the way we do it, we play some heavy stuff but we sneak the music in, a little bit of this and that.
Their fifth studio album, The Night is Young, delivers the signature Big G electro-funk sound, but also incorporates some unfamiliar elements. Lalli and Salken experimented with varied tempos, vocal tracks, and new genres, creating an album that satisfies both tenderfoot fans and die-hard fanatics. The album’s nu-disco title track, featuring the electro-pop duo Cherub, is probably the biggest departure from their usual sound, save for Lalli’s dynamic saxophone playing, a Big G trademark. Champions of the balancing act, Big Gigantic’s music evolves but never changes, keeping their brand relevant while never forsaking integrity.
Recognizing that his fans expect a specific type of music from Big Gigantic, Lalli began sporadically releasing disparate tracks on SoundCloud under the solo moniker DOM. His chill trap remix of Miami Horror’s “Real Slow” sounds like nothing you would expect from the brains behind Big Gigantic, but for Lalli, making music of any kind is integral to his progression as an artist.
LALLI: I just like to make music. I make tons of different stuff; I make crazy hard stuff too. It’s all part of my process in terms of getting better as a producer. I love that song, and I was actually trying to make it into a Big G thing and it didn’t work, but I was like ‘oh it’s good,’ so I put it up.
SALKEN: You should hear his jazz album that no one has ever heard! It’s fucking amazing!
LALLI: Everything that I do, one hand washes the other. The things that I learn when I do something like that, when I go to make a Big G song, it makes it that much better, because of the process you go through making stuff. Even when you go through making really intense, crazy, noisy shit that’s really heavy, you learn so much. Then when you come make something for Big Gigantic, it’s so much clearer, how to do it and what I want to do.
Listening to Lalli wax poetically about the necessity of his own creative journey brought to mind a tweet I read in which he addressed the controversial act of ghost producing.
I dunno why anyone would want a ghost writer. Writing the song itself and the journey involved is really the most rewarding part of it all..
It was clear that neither Lalli or Salken supported ghost production of their own work, but I was curious how their opinions might shift if the rolls were reversed.
WRR: You recently tweeted that you couldn’t believe people ghost produce since the process of writing music is so important. I was wondering, would you ever ghost produce for someone else?
SALKEN: I mean people have been doing that forever, whether it’s somebody writing a piece for somebody else in general, whether it’s a movie, or a book, literally anything. I don’t know, it’s all art in a different way…
LALLI: Some people are writers, some are performers…
SALKEN: If you look at 90 percent of the pop music out there, it’s not written by Justin Timberlake or whoever, it’s written by fucking Pharrel honestly, or whoever. Your favorite songs probably!
LALLI: Michael Jackson tunes!
SALKEN: Oh for sure! The person that is producing that is usually producing it in the vein that they know they are writing a tune for Michael and have to make it for him, and that’s a challenge in itself.
WRR: But they don’t get credit.
SALKEN: That’s kind of the thing — whether it’s ghost writing or ghost producing or whatever — maybe you’re doing it to just get by and pay your bills, or maybe you just feel like you’re better in the background, helping these people to express themselves in a way that they couldn’t. But it’s whatever, I think it’s flattering to be asked to be a producer for somebody but at the same time, that shit has been going on for so long.
LALLI: I said that because, you know, I’m a writer. I am a writer. I’m a performer too, but I love writing as much as I love performing. For me, the shit that I learn from here to here is priceless, it’s the best part. But that’s just me.
WRR: So would you do it for someone else?
LALLI: Yeah, I would do it. I love writing music, I would write music for anyone. If I wrote a song that turned into a big pop hit that was sung by someone, I would be like ‘dude, that’s amazing.’ I’d be so stoked.
SALKEN: Yeah, that shit ain’t easy. It’s not like anyone can do it. It’s definitely a certain level of talent and thinking in a different way. You’re not serving yourself as much as your trying to help somebody else, and I’m sure in that process you grow a lot too. Might as well stay open to everything, but it does suck that people don’t get credit necessarily. It’s kind of part of the deal, you can’t bitch about it after the fact.
LALLI: They still get paid!
SALKEN: They get that quiet credit.
LALLI: They might not even want that credit. They get the Grammy, they just don’t have to deal with all the stress of being in the spotlight.
SALKEN: It kind of goes back to what Dom was saying about making different tracks that would not necessarily be good for Big G. If we put it out through Big G, people would be like ‘woah! they’ve changed.’ Whereas if he just puts it out [on SoundCloud], it’s okay all of the sudden, even though the shit comes from him anyway! What if he wants to write a bubble gum pop track just because he can? If we put it out as Big G they’d be like ‘fuck that,’ but if somehow Miley Cyrus got it they’d be like ‘this is the best song I’ve ever heard!’ It’s all a different challenge.
For Lalli, the road less traveled lead him to the place he’s in now. Like so few electronic musicians today, Lalli is classically trained, having studied jazz and earned a master’s degree at the Manhattan School of Music. While playing with the Motet, a group whose afro-beat, funk discography sounds eerily like a stripped-down version of Big Gigantic, Salken and Lalli’s worlds collided. A graphic designer slash musician at the time, Salken began touring with the Motet to sell merchandise and set up drums. As a roadie, Salken had several responsibilities, but one was quickly revoked.
SALKEN: The first time I went on tour with them – they have two vans, there’s a passenger van with the dudes in it and another van with the gear – it was the first time I drove the passenger van with the band members in it, and I was all nervous because I loved these guys, and I was the new guy on the road. We were at a gas station in Utah and it was my turn to drive. So the gas filled up and I get in the driver’s seat and turn the car on and drive off with the thing in, not even thinking about it! And they were like ‘you’re done!’
The friendship between them grew, and soon Lalli became interested in electronic music. He recruited Salken, his roommate at the time, to partner with him on a new project. The duo began booking gigs, specifically a couple of opening acts for Sound Tribe Sector 9. After that, their musical careers exploded. Since the group’s inception five years ago, they have headlined major festivals, released five beloved albums, and toured the world, proving that, sometimes, the most effective path to success is also the most obvious one. Hard work, true talent, and a love for their craft is what drives the unstoppable force that is Big Gigantic, and Dom’s answer to my final question was a testament to this fact.
WRR: You recently tweeted, ‘if you take care of the music, the music will take care of you.’ I was wondering what you meant by that.
If you take care of the music, the music will take care of you.
— Lil’ Big Gigantic (@BigGigantic) May 14, 2014
LALLI: That’s what my old mentor from way back in the day, this guy Joel DiBartolo, used to say. He was an upright bass player who used to play with the Tonight Show Band with Johnny Carson way back in the day. He actually passed, so he’s not around anymore, but he always told me, ‘man, if you take care of the music, it’s gonna take care of you.’ If you practice, and you work on your shit, well then you don’t have anything to worry about, because if you take care of the music, you’re learning it and knowing it internally, well then it will take care of you.
WRR would like to thank Jeremy Salken and Dominic Lalli for this wonderful opportunity.
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