With 5 Grammy nominations and 2 wins; Golden Gods, Kerrang! And VH1 awards; headlining slots in many major festivals and countless Top 10 albums and singles, the members of Giraffe Tongue Orchestra are ready to re-write the rules of the successful rock ‘super-group.’
Comprised of William DuVall of Alice In Chains, Ben Weinman of Dillinger Escape Plan, Brent Hinds of Mastodon, Pete Griffin of Dethklok and Thomas Pridgen of The Mars Volta, Giraffe Tongue Orchestra has created an album akin to classic cinema. Their innovative debut record, BROKEN LINES is out today via Party Smasher Inc/Cooking Vinyl.
The name itself represents strength and ingenuity per guitarist, Brent Hinds, “During the time Mastadon was there for Soundwave, I was at the zoo in Sydney, Australia and was checking out the giraffes. They are amazing animals – one just grabbed a bunch of bananas from my hand with its tongue and peeled them with it as well – by the time the bananas got to its mouth, they were ready to be eaten. I saw Ben who was at Soundwave too and said ‘Man I think I found the name for our band,’ and told him the story.” Ben adds “That giraffe made it happen… like us, he figured it out.”
When asked about the genesis of BROKEN LINES DuVall shared, “Writing lyrics for these songs was somewhat like writing for film – the mood shifts rapidly and drastically within a song … sometimes the whole scene changes. There were a lot of times where, if you were trying to impose conventional rock songwriting standards on this, you’d be in a whole world of trouble.” As unconventional as the creation process was, what brought the core of the band together was simple – mutual admiration and friendship.
“Brent, William, and myself have all been friends for a long time,” says Weinman. “Finishing the GTO record with William completes the puzzle. He is a man of diverse talents, and this band gives him the opportunity to spread his wings.” Previously rumored to be fronting the band, Juliette Lewis contributed backing vocals to several tracks. Also appearing on 2 tracks is Queens of the Stone Age’s Jon Theodore