“How Have You Been?” – A question that gets asked way too often, but most of the time isn’t really meant by the person asking but rather asked simply out of politeness. But not with Giant Rooks, who released their sophomore album called How Have You Been? on February 2nd. With over a hundred songs written for the album, the German-based band told us about 40 songs were finished. “There are enough for a third or a fourth album”, lead singer Fred Rabe teased, as he and guitarist Finn Schwieters took us into a deep dive into the new album, the process of creating and the meaning behind it during a press conference with °1824, making it clear that the oh so polite question is more than just a conversation starter.
Photo Credit: Timothy Schaumburg
When it comes to their songwriting skills, Giant Rooks have evolved with their new record. “When we started this band, we absolutely had no idea how to write a song”, the two confessed. During the early days, songwriting had just been “try and error”, it took the five-piece about two years to write and finish their first-ever song. Nowadays, they have “an idea how to approach songwriting” and consider working on music as a “nice adventure”. Still, one of the songs they’re most proud of is ‘What I Know Is All Quicksand’ from their 2020 debut album Rookery.
Giant Rooks are currently touring America, “getting inspired by daily life” for new music, and fans across the States can experience how the band has gotten more confident within their music and themselves. Though, some days “imposter syndrome is kicking in, where I’m feeling like I have no idea what I’m doing”, Fred admitted. A feeling the band members were also experiencing during the creation of How Have You Been? “After the release of Rookery, we felt the urge to change everything, to find new recipes (on) how to write a song”, the duo explained. During the creative process of their debut album, Giant Rooks weren’t listening to indie rock – the genre that they focused on with their first record – but instead, they were into RnB, Soul and Jazz. Therefore, the plan for the new album was to do a record within those genres as well, but for them, “it never felt natural”. “We kind of got lost in the process of wanting something that you’re not able to do, but you feel forced to do it. It was weird and we felt insecure about it, because we kind of lost our identity for a second”, they admitted. “It just didn’t work for us. After a year of trial and error, we realised that when we are in the room together with five instruments and it’s just the five of us jamming and playing music together that is enough and that is some kind of DNA of the band and what feels the most natural.” It was then that the switch was flipped and as a result, with How Have You Been? they wrote what they described as “a classic band album”.
With an idea in which direction to go, the approach to the band’s sophomore record was “to write timeless music and songs that can still be relevant in ten or twenty years”. The idea for How Have You Been? was for the album to not feel outdated. Giant Rooks got inspired by all the different styles of music they’re listening to themselves, to explore a new direction on the album. “We aren’t the biggest fans of repeating ourselves, if we found one recipe for a song that worked well, it would have been easy to say, ‘let’s copy and paste it’, but we don’t really like that”, Fred explained. Instead, they’re trying to “seek adventures” and try new things.
After a period of getting lost, finally getting a clear idea made them realise that they don’t have to try to be somebody else, that they’re just as good as they are. Giant Rooks are trying to embrace that, being themselves. Because “nowadays, bands are rare, most artists are solo artists. It’s quite special that we’re a band, so we try to embrace it.” With all those realisations also came a new work ethic: “We got more professional”, Fred grinned.
Another factor that helped with getting more professional was opening for Louis Tomlinson on the American leg of his ‘Faith in the Future World Tour’. The learning process on how to tour such big audiences and venues showed the band a whole new side of the touring and music industry. But not only the venues, especially the audiences and fans were a new experience. “Louis was super nice, his whole crew (was), but the fans as well, they were very lovely and they gave us the most wonderful feeling when we were on stage”, the two agreed. Especially Tomlinson’s bond with his fans and their passion for the singer is what stood out to them, as Fred explained: “The fan community around Louis Tomlinson is something we have never experienced before. It was so passionate, something you’d see in a Beatles documentary, but for Louis Tomlinson. These people are so dedicated, it’s very inspiring and we felt very welcomed.” As a bonus, Giant Rooks have gotten exposure to a new demographic of music enthusiasts, with a lot of people who saw them opening for Tomlinson now attending their headline shows.
With Giant Rooks being in their 20s, they’re changing all the time, trying to find out who they are as both, people, and musicians. It would be too early to answer the question of what their role is in this world and how they have grown with How Have You Been? But there’s one thing or two that they have learned on their journey as a band so far. Especially over the last two years, they’ve gotten more confident, more relaxed, and have learnt from their mistakes. Looking back on the past now, they reflected: “We toured way too much without any breaks, just from one tour to another and tried to finish an album at the same time.” The five-piece used to say, ‘yes’ to everything, according to Finn and Fred, “We never said ‘no’ in the last six years”. After all the experiences they were able to make, Giant Rooks are now more confident with saying no – something they are now aware of how important that is. “It’s the most important thing, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re becoming more successful, or a bigger artist or better songwriter if you say yes, all the time. Saying no can help to increase and get better, to improve, become more successful.”
With the five of them reflecting constantly on that aspect, they have now found a new long-term goal as a band. Back in the day, the goal for Giant Rooks as a band used to be more of a ‘we want to play that festival and go on tour there’. Now, they have set their eyes on a new goal for the future: “The most important thing is that the five of us are happy in what we’re doing and that we are still able to write music we like and be on tour, having fun. And if we can keep that, then that is the biggest goal and aim for the future. It shouldn’t be about achieving this and that, it should come naturally.”
Written by: Svenja Nowak
Edited by: Ilse Muis
