PLACE OF BIRTH: Laguna Beach / California

PERSONAL MOTTO: Don’t be a piece of shit...which I guess is short for “treat others as you would like to be treated” and always put the toilet seat down before you flush.

STYLE OF MUSIC (IN FIVE WORDS): Kitties, karate, pizza, blow pop.

DESCRIBE YOURSELF (IN FIVE WORDS): Irritable, lazy, tired, hungry, invisible.

It’s not every day that a new band is mentioned in the same breath as My Bloody Valentine, Pixies, Mazzy Star, PJ Harvey, the Beach Boys and Nirvana. It’s rarer still when that same band’s first recording was a Journey cover. But indeed, that is part of the story behind Los Angeles combo Giant Drag – guitarist/singer Annie Hardy and drummer Micah Calabrese. The germination of Giant Drag was down to a matchmaking parent, oddly enough, Annie’s mother and Micah worked together – with Mrs Hardy always prodding Micah, “my daughter is a musician, you should meet her!” meanwhile telling Annie, “this guy at my work is in a band, you should meet him!” Micah saw this as a recipe for disaster and fearing the worst hoped he would never be forced to meet this wannabe singer/songwriter. Annie, meanwhile, also dreading an awkward encounter, hoped she’d never be introduced to the young fellow. Through some quirk of fate, they actually met one another in 2001 through both of their best friends who just happened to be dating. Despite those initial reservations, the pair quickly became friends, having random jam sessions at Micah’s practice space. The formation of what would be Giant Drag came soon after when the two decided to record that Journey song – ‘Who’s Crying Now?’ – at Micah’s home studio, after which they got “serious” and recorded what would be their debut five track ‘Lemona’ EP which was released in the UK in October 2004. Following the release of their ‘Kevin is Gay’ single last October and their tour with Nine Black Alps, the dynamic duo have now released their debut album ‘Hearts & Unicorns’. Live favourites like the now infamous ‘You Fuck Like My Dad’ and the anthemic ‘This Isn’t It’ showcase Annie’s mischievous charm and killer pop hooks.

QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY ANNIE

Watch television in my hotel room while eating snacks.

Scoring 10,000 points on Ms. Pacman.

Neil Young, Eddie Murphy, Micah and Oprah.

I am considering making a solo album of cover songs with just me and a crappy Yamaha keyboard. ‘November Rain’ by Guns n’ Roses will be one of the tracks. This is if I ever have free time to do such a thing.

 

To finish this interview, go play this show here at Leeds University and finally get something to eat and go back to the hotel. After that, more of the same for days and days.

 

Kanye West, most definitely.

 

The Cribs playing upstairs.

 

I’d invite my friend Jonah because he would help me eat everything so I don’t have to dirty any of my tupperware with leftovers.

 

Same as brownies but add the word buttfuck.

 

Dogs wearing sweaters, my cat Oprah, cats in general and funny stuff.

 

Inconsiderate people, being lied to and being misquoted.

 

Lilys ‘The 3 Way’ which I bought off the internet. I’ve been trying to find this record for a while but it’s impossible. I finally found it on Amazon and I think it is the first record I actually bought in a long time.

 

’Sleepwalking’ by Santo and Johnny.

 

I do not understand this question. I am guessing this means if I wasn’t playing music what would I do? I would probably be a cook or one of those ladies that has a lot of cats and wears purple sweatpants ...hmm, I do have a cat and I am wearing purple sweatpants...

 

THE ALBUM ‘HEARTS & UNICORNS’ AND NEW SINGLE ‘THIS ISN’T IT’ ARE AVAILABLE NOW ON KICKBALL/INTERSCOPE.