Our Blog [Tumblr]

• House Show - March 29th

  It’s the second house show I’ve had here in Gainesville, and this one was just as fun as the first. Austin Miller hitchhiked (yes, hitchhiked) from Orlando to join us.

  I didn’t manage to get a picture of it, but someone brought a skunk to the show. Who knew that you can buy pet skunks?

  Austin is perpetually on tour, so I recommend trying to catch him whenever he makes it to your town (http://austinmillermusic.com/). He’s really fantastic. 

  Thanks to everyone who came out and made the night special. 

  -Nick

  

  04/08/13

• Going to Los Angeles

  Plane tickets are expensive. 

  We’re heading out to California in May to visit a friend and to shoot a new music video. We’ll again be working with Harrison Sanborn. We’ll post some photo updates from the trip and while we’re out there.

  If you didn’t see the first music video he shot for us, you can check it out below. We can’t wait to share it with you. 

  In the meantime, we have some surprises to announce in the coming weeks.

  -Nick(ATG)

  04/03/13

• And the Giraffe Q&A

  You asked us questions. We answered them. 

  What’s the best way to balance school and music?
  

  Nick: I wish I could find a healthy balance. School dominates most of my time, and will until graduation in May. It’s tough to stay focused on music when there are so many other real-world things going on. Sometimes I just say fuck it and play guitar instead though.

  Josh: I’m with Nick. I don’t know that I have a balance. I just play whenever I can find the time and energy.

  
  Wenz ur next muzic video cumin outtt?
  

  Nick: When you make it for us.

  Josh: yeah

  
  What are your major influences (artist in general and type of music?)
  

  Nick: Changes all the time. I grew up listening to a lot of heavier bands and that definitely shaped the way I wrote songs and right now I’m really digging the Jayhawks and Jeff Tweedy. Ask me next week and I’ll give you another answer.

  Josh: I love the Beatles. I’m also a really big fan of Elliott Smith, Modest Mouse, Dr. Dog and Spoon as far as more current artists. I’m always getting into songwriters. Harry Nilsson has been in seriously heavy rotation for as of late. I’m also a huge Dylan fan. Like Nick, it’s always changing though.

  
  How do you come with a song?
  

  Nick: Different every time. Sometimes lyrical ideas, sometimes chord progressions, sometimes I find things in my spaghetti-o’s.

  Josh: A lot of the time it starts with a chord progression for me. Though it really does vary. I think it depends on how much I have to say whether a song turns out or not.

  
  What’s the difference between your first and second album? (Did you change the way of thinking, composing, was your approach different?)
  

  Nick: For sure. Our first record was just Josh and I in my apartment trying to figure out what the hell we were doing. We had these songs that we wanted to record and went for it. The second time around, things felt a lot more purposeful, at least from my point of view, and with the addition of Robert and Malcolm, we were able to really feel like a band. Also, we tried to record our songs live as much as we could instead of recording piece by piece like we did the first time around. Our friends in Nashville really helped make that happen for us.

  Josh: Ya, the second record is a much more live record to me. It also feels like we matured some. We definitely attacked it with the experience of the first record under our belt. All our friends that helped out with this record also made a big difference.

  
  What are your plans for the future?
  

  Nick: Keep making music! I’m moving to Nashville in August with Josh and we’re going to turn And the Giraffe into a full time thing. It’s nuts.

  Josh: We hope to have another record out within a year from now and touring!

  
  Josh: why don’t you cover Feist songs anymore?
  
  Josh: I just don’t have the time to do covers like I used to. I do like Feist though!
  
  Nick: Why is Summertime Kids plural? isn’t it just you?
  

  Nick: It is just me. When I named the project, I had no idea what it was going to be. I recorded Table Manners about 6 months before there was even talk of And the Giraffe making our first album. At the time, Josh had just moved to Nashville to go to school up there and I wasn’t sure what my future in music was going to be, so I named the “band” thinking it’d be a musical collective or something down the line. The name came from a song named “Summertime Kids” I was toying around with at the time that was about innocence and childhood memories and the name was kind of a reference to my desire to be back to a place and time when I didn’t have to worry about stuff as often.

  How/why did you choose And the Giraffe to be the name of your band?
  This was the original name of the band. We shortened it and moved things around: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giraffe_and_the_Pelly_and_Me
  
  What is the most challenging part of working in a multi-city collaboration?
  

  Nick: Trying to find the time to share musical ideas with each other. We used to use Dropbox quite a bit to record ideas and get our shit together, but since we filled that up, we’re back to waiting for holidays to roll around so one of us is rolling through town and we can show each other what we’re working on.

  Josh: Ya, the lack of immediacy is certainly frustrating. It’s cool to see what Nick has in the works, but we always want to start working on songs sooner than the distance allows.

  
  
  

  01/28/13

• Time

  Human beings are the only creatures that keep track of time, and as a consequence, are the only things worrying that time is running out.

  12/10/12

• I fucking curse too much.

  11/30/12

• Followers

  Thanks to all 1,000 of you who follow us! You rock

  11/29/12

• Thank You

  It’s absolutely insane to us that so many people find our music every day and help spread the word. Thank you to all of you who have ever downloaded one of our albums, listened to our songs, or supported us in any way. You all truly rock and we can’t thank you enough. 

  -ATG

  11/22/12

• Music Recommendations?

  What have you been digging lately?

  11/17/12

• The Origin of Hugs and Kisses

  Ya know the X and O we put at the end of letters? In medieval legal practices, it was required that you put the cross of St. Andrew at the end of your signature. It was a sign of good faith. Because the cross was signed quickly, it eventually turned sideways and was replaced with an “X” when the history of the tradition was lost. In addition to the X, each signature was kissed as a “seal” and once the custom became more commonplace, an X and O were placed at the end of letters as kisses and a show of loyalty.

  11/12/12

• If I had my way, you’d have a birthday every week.

  11/12/12