About
Young the Giant started out in 2004 as the Jakes, a band whose name was literally an acronym of its members' first names. They grew up together in Irvine, California, and spent years juggling rehearsals while scattered across different high schools and colleges before eventually betting on music full time. A name change to Young the Giant came in late 2009, inspired by what Sameer Gadhia described as the "stupid boldness" of youth, and it was Gadhia's idea to place "the" in the middle rather than the front, just to keep things a little unexpected. Their self titled debut, recorded live to tape at Sunset Sound Studios in Los Angeles with producer Joe Chiccarelli, came out in 2010 and put three singles on the US Alternative Songs chart: "My Body", "Cough Syrup", and "Apartment". "My Body" peaked at number five on that chart and got a significant boost after the band played the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, sending the album up to number 42 on the Billboard 200. Morrissey even flagged them as one of his favourite new bands on his fansite, which is not the kind of endorsement most guitar bands see coming.
