Young the Giant

Biography

Young the Giant is an American rock band that formed in Irvine, California, in 2004. The band's line-up consists of Sameer Gadhia (lead vocals), Jacob Tilley (guitar), Eric Cannata (guitar), Payam Doostzadeh (bass guitar), and Francois Comtois (drums). Formerly known as the Jakes, Young the Giant was signed by Roadrunner Records in 2009, and they released their eponymous debut album in 2010. The band's first three singles, "My Body×My Body28 September 2010 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1My Body4:04", "Cough Syrup×Cough Syrup19 August 2011 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Cough Syrup3:54", and "Apartment", all charted on the US Alternative Songs chart.

Formation (2004–2009)

The Jakes formed in 2004 in Irvine, California. Consisting of Jacob Tilley, Addam Farmer, Kevin Massoudi, Ehson Hashemian, and Sameer Gadhia, the band's name was an acronym of the members' first names. After several personnel changes, the group's lineup by 2008 included Gadhia, Tilley, Hashemian, Eric Cannata, Francois Comtois, and Jason Burger. Initial coordination of musical contributions was difficult because the members all attended different schools. With two members still in high school and the others each attending different colleges, the Jakes recorded an EP, Shake My Hand, with producer Ian Kirkpatrick. Band members then individually decided whether or not to put their schooling on hold to focus on music. Burger left the band to pursue an education at Manhattan School of Music in New York City, and Comtois took over as the drummer. Shortly thereafter, longtime friend and collaborator Payam Doostzadeh (Persian: پیام دوستزده) joined as bassist. In 2009, the band played four shows at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin, Texas. The band's song "Garands At Normandie" was played during an episode of MTV's The Real World: Brooklyn, and "Paid the Piper" was featured on A&E's The Beast. Another song, "Cough Syrup×Cough Syrup19 August 2011 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Cough Syrup3:54", received airplay on the Los Angeles radio station KROQ. Shortly before signing to Roadrunner Records in August, keyboardist Ehson Hashemian left the band. In December 2009, the band announced they had changed their name to Young the Giant.

Young the Giant (2010–2013)

The Jakes officially changed their name to Young the Giant in January 2010 during the production of their eponymous album. The group chose to name themselves after the "stupid boldness" of their youth that motivated their commitment to music; Gadhia was the one to suggest having the definite article "the" in the middle of the name rather than at the beginning, believing it to be novel and unique.
Young the Giant spent 2010 opening for Minus the Bear and Steel Train while working on their debut album with Joe Chiccarelli at Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles. They took an old-school approach to recording the album. All the tracks were performed live which resulted in a lot of “chopping” during production. The band was very vigilant of their tracks but trusted the decisions of Joe Chiccarelli who had previously produced albums for The Shins, The Strokes, and Saints of Valory. The band believed in transparency; they only wanted to record what they could reproduce in front of an audience at a live show.
After the band finished recording in early June, they played additional shows with Marina and the Diamonds, The Futureheads, Neon Trees, and New Politics. Several songs—including "My Body×My Body28 September 2010 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1My Body4:04", "I Got", and "Strings"—were leaked online in advance of the album's release. On October 26, Roadrunner Records digitally released the eponymous Young the Giant album, which Amazon.com hailed the third best rock album of 2010. The album was released physically in the U.S. on January 25, 2011 and in the UK on May 2.
The band's first single "My Body" was released to U.S. radio in January and went on to peak at number five on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart. iTunes offered the song as a weekly free download beginning January 9, and it was featured on an episode of American Idol. The band performed the song that month on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! and Fuel TV's The Daily Habit. The official video for the single, which features actor Bryan James, was directed by Justin Francis.
In March, Young the Giant headlined the Billboard Showcase at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. In May, the band played the Sasquatch! Music Festival, the BBC's Later... with Jools Holland, and The Great Escape Festival in Brighton. English singer Morrissey, on the fansite True to You, declared Young The Giant as one of his favorite new bands. The music video for the group's second single, "Cough Syrup×Cough Syrup19 August 2011 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Cough Syrup3:54", premiered in June. The band was named MTV's PUSH Artist of the Week on July 4.
An extended play (EP) featuring remixes by such artists as Two Door Cinema Club, Tokyo Police Club, and Ra Ra Riot was made available in September for free through Young the Giant's Facebook page. Fans were invited to create their own remixes with the opportunity for their entry to be featured on the EP. In August, the band played on the main stage at Lollapalooza.
Young the Giant performed during the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards on August 28. The band began a tour with Incubus two days later.
The exposure from the VMA performance propelled Young the Giant onto the Billboard 200 albums chart, where it eventually peaked at number 42.
Sales for "My Body" climbed 220 percent on iTunes, helping the single reach number 65 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Young the Giant played at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in September, and a month later they performed songs from their debut album for an episode of MTV Unplugged which debuted online in November.
"Apartment", the band's third single, was released in February 2011 and peaked at number 26 on the US Alternative Songs chart.
The music video for the song premiered in April 2012.
The group performed "Apartment" and "Cough Syrup" on a May episode of NBC's Today, and CNN Newsroom profiled the band a month later.
The band released a music video for non-album track "West Virginia" in January 2012 and started their first major headlining tour in February.
They also headlined mtvU's first-ever Woodies Tour which began later that month.
Darren Criss' character Blaine Anderson covered "Cough Syrup" on the season three episode of Glee titled "On My Way". The song featured during the attempted suicide scene with Max Adler's character Dave Karofsky.
In October 2020, the band announced the celebration of their ten-year anniversary of their self-titled album with a virtual concert, a special digital release, and a new vinyl release.

Mind over Matter (2013–2015)

On October 28, 2013, Young the Giant released "It's About Time", the lead single from the band's second album, Mind over Matter×Mind Over Matter21 January 2014 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 13 tracks1Slow Dive0:482Anagram4:543It's About Time3:464Crystallized4:015Mind Over Matter4:056Daydreamer3:597Firelight5:348Camera5:139In My Home3:4010Eros4:1111Teachers3:4112Waves4:3913Paralysis4:36. On December 9, 2013, Young the Giant also released "Crystallized", another single from the band's second album. The album was released on January 21, 2014 via Fueled by Ramen. The band enlisted Grammy-nominated producer Justin Meldal-Johnsen to produce the album for the Southern California group.
The New York Times called the album "a sharp, electric album that has the cool reserve of the Cure matched with the arena mind-set of, say, Muse (though without that group’s mechanical air)."
The next fall the band embarked on a North American Tour starting in South Burlington, Vermont, and ending in Boulder, Colorado. The band was opened by the band Wildling who Gadhia helped in their search for a drummer.
Following the release of their second album, the group released another set of videos for their In the Open series on YouTube.
In 2015, the band released two songs named "Mirrorball×Mirrorball18 April 2015 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube MusicTracklist · 2 tracks1Mirrorball3:552Mind Over Matter (Evolution Tour version)3:50" and "Mind Over Matter (Reprise)" exclusively on vinyl for Record Store Day of that year. The songs were later released online July 28, 2017.

Home of the Strange (2016–2017)

On April 15, 2016, the band released a new track, "Amerika", taken from their third studio album, Home of the Strange×Home of the Strange12 August 2016 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Amerika4:002Something to Believe In3:483Elsewhere3:444Mr. Know‐It‐All3:125Jungle Youth3:416Titus Was Born4:037Repeat3:058Silvertongue3:179Art Exhibit4:0410Nothing’s Over4:2411Home of the Strange2:37, released on August 12, 2016. The first official single on the record is "Something to Believe In", which was sent to alternative radio on May 10, 2016. Another track from the album, "Titus Was Born", was released with an accompanying music video on June 17, 2016.
Young the Giant's tour for the album began August 13, 2016, starting from the west coast of the United States. Two additional tracks from the album, "Jungle Youth" and "Silvertongue", were released in the weeks before the release of the album.

Mirror Master (2018)

The band released the first single, "Simplify×Simplify14 June 2018 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Simplify3:32", from their upcoming album on June 14, 2018. The album's second single, "Superposition×Superposition12 April 2019 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 3 tracks1Superposition (Reflection)3:302Superposition3:503Superposition (reprise)3:46", was released on August 23, 2018, along with an announcement that Mirror Master would be released on October 12, 2018, by Elektra Records. The band released the third single, "Heat of the Summer×Heat of the Summer21 September 2018 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Heat of the Summer3:31", on September 21, 2018. "Call Me Back", the fourth single and last before the album's release, was released on October 5, 2018.

American Bollywood (2022–2025)

The band announced the release of their fifth studio album titled American Bollywood×American Bollywood16 November 2022 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 16 tracks1American Bollywood4:442Wake Up3:363Tomorrow3:084Guardian Angel2:525My Way3:346Insomnia3:507Tonight3:588The Walk Home3:169Dollar $tore3:2410Cult of Personality3:2411I Bite5:0212Dancing in the Rain4:0913Happy3:2914Commotion3:1915Otherside3:4216Same Folk3:19 on June 15, 2022, accompanied by the release of its first single, "Wake Up×Wake Up15 June 2022 · SingleSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Wake Up3:37". It marks their first project as an independent artist, having created Jungle Youth Records and partnering with AWAL for distribution in an effort to retain ownership of their masters.
The album is structured around the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian mythology and religious text, and is divided into four acts with four songs each: "I: Origins", "II: Exile", "III: Battle", and "IV: Denouement". Though it stays true to the collective immigrant roots of the entire band, more focus is given to Gadhia's personal experience and connection to his culture, specifically telling the story of his parents' immigration from India to the United States. The band took inspiration from Bollywood media, psychedelic surf rock, and spaghetti western film scores to build the album's sonic landscape, blending eastern instruments (e.g. tabla, harmonium, and sitar) with western musical conventions.
"Act I: Origins×ACT I: ORIGINS15 July 2022 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1American Bollywood4:442Wake Up3:373Tomorrow3:094Guardian Angel2:53", was released on July 15, 2022 alongside a music video for the album's title song, "American Bollywood". "Act II: Exile×ACT II: EXILE12 August 2022 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1My Way3:352Insomnia3:503Tonight3:594The Walk Home3:17" was released on August 12 with music videos for "The Walk Home" and "My Way". "Act III: Battle×ACT III: BATTLE7 October 2022 · EPSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 4 tracks1Dollar $tore3:242Cult of Personality3:243I Bite5:024Dancing in the Rain4:09" was released on October 7 with a music video for "Dollar Store". The full album with the last act, "IV: Denouement", was released on November 16, 2022 with an accompanying music video for "Otherside". The American Bollywood tour began on October 12, 2022 at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado.

Victory Garden (2026–present)

On February 5, 2026, the band announced their sixth studio album, Victory Garden×Victory Garden24 April 2026 · Studio albumSpotifyYouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 11 tracks1Evergreen3:412Different Kind Of Love3:403Bitter Fruit3:174Already There3:515Ships Passing3:176This Too Shall Pass3:417Mona Lisa2:508God as Witness3:289Are You With Me?2:5610The Garden3:2211Life Is a Long Goodbye1:48, alongside the release of its first single, "Different Kind of Love×Different Kind of Love6 February 2026 · SingleSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 1 track1Different Kind of Love3:39", and an accompanying music video. A headline tour was also announced to begin later in the year. The album version of its second single "Bitter Fruit" was released on March 19, though an acoustic version was released the previous year as a part of In the Open, Volume 1, an EP of the band's popular "In the Open" acoustic arrangements of their discography.
The album is described as an ode to "radical empathy", which Cannata describes as coming from a yearning for community from both within the band and in society. In explaining the meaning behind its title, Gadhia references the victory gardens of the World Wars and their attempts to rally together the civilians of the Allied Powers during times of unrest and uncertainty, while also using the bandmembers' children as inspiration for a childlike perspective of the world. The band collaborated with producer Brendan O'Brien, who previously worked with artists such as AC/DC and Bruce Springsteen.

Band members

Current members

Sameer Gadhia – lead vocals, percussion, keyboards, rhythm guitar (2004–present)
Jacob Tilley – lead guitar, keyboards, synthesizer (2004–present)
Francois Comtois – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2007–present); bass guitar (2004–2007)
Eric Cannata – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, keyboards, tenor ukulele (2007–present)
Payam Doostzadeh – bass guitar, keyboards, synthesizer (2008–present)
Former members

Ehson Hashemian – keyboards, piano, synthesizer (2004–2009)
Jason Burger – drums, percussion (2007)
Sean Fischer – drums, percussion (2004–2007)