“I’d like to open for The Flaming Lips – if you can open for that band, you can open for any band”: Alan Harrod on Giant Party and debut album Blue Hymn

Giant Party is an indie pop band consisting of Harrod brothers Al and Tim, alongside their two friends Hugh Fox and Oliver Brown. Conjuring images of hazy dreams and cloud-like musings, their music evokes a sense of reconciliation with thoughts long buried and the rediscovery of the self. After a series of losses, including their estranged father, Al went into therapy and used that time to unearth feelings he had yet to come to terms with. During the isolation of the pandemic, he wrote music to help cycle through a series of varying thoughts and emotions. Thus, Blue Hymn was born.

Named after a throwaway line from Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book The BFG, Giant Party’s debut album is set to be released on 3^rd March this year. It features the single Beyond Dreaming and much-anticipated tracks like Rebirth, in which typically keyboardist Tim sings lead. While most of the songs were written by Al based on his time in therapy, he credits the rest of the band for their input and collaboration. The Upcoming caught up with the frontman and songwriter ahead of the record’s release to talk about his songwriting process, film soundtracks and bands he’d love to tour with.

Could you first introduce yourself and give us a brief overview of the band? What kind of music should people expect from your upcoming album, Blue Hymn?

My name is Alan and I’m the singer of Giant Party. I suppose a songwriter is probably the best way to describe me. In terms of the music – I mean this record – in terms of sound and the subject of it: this is a very serious subject, actually. My brother and I are in the band, as well as two of our friends. Basically, our estranged father whom we hadn’t seen in 20 years, we found out he passed away. It was one of those weird moments where I personally hit a point where I thought, “Oh, this is a big subject that I’ve not really addressed for the majority of my life”. I started going to therapy and from that, I started writing because I just had all this stuff floating around in my head. It was a culmination of that, mixed with general feelings I’ve had about my life over the last 20 years. It kind of became the record that probably we should’ve always made, I should’ve always written. It was like unearthing something that I should’ve probably unearthed years before. A nice little heading to it [could be]: “Therapy Sessions the Musical”. But it’s not like the “woe is me” kind of therapy situation as it sounds. It’s obviously all embedded in the middle of it. Musically, I suppose it was a lot of stuff that we grew up on. I just found that it hit a point where I was not only writing about things that I felt years before, I also kind of [incorporated] the music that went with that time as well. There are loads of artists – I remember being really into the Cocteau Twins for example, or being into The National or Animal Collective. There are all sorts of artists that just blew my mind when I was younger. It was this amalgamation of everything combined. It coincided obviously with when we had the pandemic, so I had even more time to work on it. Then from that point onwards, it started really turning into something big. It was great fun to make, so that was good. I feel like I still haven’t explained what it’s like musically but it’s one of those weird situations where it’s really hard to say what it is! How I feel about it and how other people in the world feel about it probably are different things.

You mentioned it’s you, your brother and your friends in the band. How did that come about? How did you decide this was something you wanted to do together?

Hugh, the drummer, and I, we’ve been friends since we were about 18 – well, I’m 35 now, [so] a long time actually. We’ve been friends forever, we’ve been playing in bands together forever as well. We’ve always been kind of musical partners. He’s the first person I think of when I’m thinking of drum parts. Then Ollie – who has only recently joined – I know in terms of his guitar work: [he’s] an amazing guitar player. There’s Tim, my brother, who I’ve known his whole life. It’s one of those weird things where we weren’t in a band together for a long time because I always had that kind of older brother thing where I didn’t want him to just follow what I do. I introduced him to a lot of music but I wanted him to have his own feelings and opinion on things and explore his own artistic style, which he very much did. I wanted him to form his own identities and opinions. We weren’t in a band together for a very long time, and then around about 2014/2015 time, we just went, “Well, we’ve kind of got the same record collection anyway, and you have your opinions and I have mine, let’s just make something we both love,” and it just started there really. That combined with Hugh and Ollie, and all these things – it just began that way, really. I feel like the way we formed the band – it almost feels more like we’re all siblings in a weird way. It feels like it all just happened to fall in line. You know when you’re younger, and you do that thing where you’re like, “I don’t want to be anything like this kid” and you just kind of [push them away] forever? But, within 10 years, you kind of go, “Actually, we are the same; we’re from the same space, we do the same things, we have a similar upbringing [and] outlook on life”. It just became that really. I love these guys, basically.

You mentioned how Blue Hymn is based on your experiences with therapy and feelings you’re trying to reconcile with. Did any of the other members have input into the music you were writing?

Yeah, big time! To be honest with you, the initial demo [and] beginning process was mine. But from that point onwards, it was ours; it was kind of all everyone’s, [with] everybody putting in all their time. I think, as well, when you’re in a position like that, it’s important to have people around you. Because it can become quite self-indulgent if you’re not careful. You can get to a point where you think, “Okay, I’m just writing about all myself really, it’s hardly objective”. I suppose you don’t really know what’s good or not good, so it’s great to have people around you. Sometimes, there would be things where I’d write and I’d think, “Ah, this is really how I feel about things” and actually, when I send it to everyone, they’re kind of a bit “meh” about it. And then it comes back to me and I listen to it and I go, “Yeah, maybe this is a little bit self-indulgent”. Obviously, the guys all played on it as well; they all put in their own parts, thoughts and feelings. I think that’s my favourite thing about being in a band: something Tim will come up with is nothing like I would, but actually, I love it. I think that’s really cool; it keeps it incredibly interesting and very forward-moving. Definitely, it was fully a band situation, it just started with me having to deal with some stuff.

What’s the meaning behind the band name “Giant Party”? Is there some kind of ironic twist to it because you did say it’s music based on therapy?

It doesn’t sound much like [the same] vibe, doesn’t it?! Actually, it’s a The BFG reference. Do you know the Roald Dahl book? There’s a line in The BFG where it says, “We mustn’t make a sound as we sneak past the giant party”. It’s the party of giants that they’re sneaking past. Everybody always thinks there’s going to be a big celebration, a “giant party”. But actually, it’s a “party of giants”. I liked the idea of the boy and the BFG sneaking [around], there was just something about it that I thought was imaginative. I didn’t think too hard about it, I just thought this was a cool name. I also was like, “I’m going to search this and see if anyone – obviously, there’s got to be a band called Giant Party”, and there wasn’t. I was like, “Oh wow, that landed on my lap a little bit, that was great”. Everybody always thinks it’s about [how] we’re going to set up a disco, but it’s actually about sneaking past giants.

Talk us through your writing process: do you come up with the lyrics first or the melody?

It depends on the time. I do this thing where normally, I will be midway through doing something really mundane and I find something kind of catches me a little in my head. I genuinely would say I’m a lyricist second. But I spend a lot of time on lyrics because I always think that if I’m going to capture a situation and a mood, I want to make sure it’s correct. As you can tell, I’m a bit of a mumbling idiot sometimes; I’m one of those people that takes a while to get something across well. Sometimes, I’ll have this melodic situation going on, or I have a groove, and I would sit on things quite a lot for a long time. I will record music and then I will listen to it forever. I will just keep listening and listening and listening until I’m just in the mood almost, and I’m in the right space. Sometimes, it happens on the spot. For example, Loving Arms, one of the singles that we released: I did that in a day and it was only because everything was right. It was just in the right mood, right zone, it felt right. I didn’t really think too hard about it. Actually, I wasn’t even sure whether I liked it or not when I was done but I just put it away and then waited a couple of days. Then I sent it to Tim and he was like, “This is great”, and I was like “Thanks, thanks a lot”, and then we started working [from] there. That’s kind of how it works. But again, sometimes I come up with a line and I’m just like, “This line is cool, I like this line”. So, it’s a mix of things.

Which new songs from Blue Hymn are you most excited for people to hear?

Nearly all of them, to be honest with you. There’s a song called Broken Balloons which I was jumping up and down with happiness when it was done and I thought, “This is just so right”, [it was a] “Yes, this is great!” kind of moment. I was quite caffeinated at the same time as well, I’d had a lot of coffee. There’s Find a Feeling to Share, and there’s a song called Rebirth which I love, especially because Tim sings lead on it. Maybe it’s older brother pride, but I love it. I just think it sounds great and it’s even more where I can be like, “I’m a real big fan of this, I could really like this”. There’s a song called Nothing Short of Insanity which is a remake of an old part that I had for the longest time. Basically, I told you when my father died and – I’ve never really spoken about this, this is the first time I’ve ever spoken about this – I also had two friends who were in their mid-40s and they both passed away as well. It was a moment where it’s not really specific about them but I was just in the right space. There’s a couple of references and little nods to it lyrically. I remember recording it – I think I did three takes – and I just had to go outside and that was me done. We were in the studio and I was just like, “No more, no more, I’m happy with – I’m just going to leave that sitting there”. Now, when I listen to it, I think, “Okay, this was just me probably being a lot more vulnerable than I was even comfortable with”. But then, I’m also happy I did [it].

Speaking of music being the soundtrack of specific memories and moments in your life, if Blue Hymn were to be a soundtrack for a film, what story would that film tell?

I think it will be the soundtrack of someone coming of age later in life. It’s always the 21-year-old who comes of age, but mine’s like someone who almost goes through a second puberty at 40. That’s how it feels like to me; it feels like someone who’s older who goes, “Wow, I’ve been living my life this one way and I’ve been doing it backward this whole time”. It’d be a coming-of-age film but the main character would be in their mid-30s to mid-40s and they would be working it all out. That’s a weird way to put it but it’s true. Even now when I’m a little older, I also find older people more interesting. You always want to be the 21-year-old cool kid in the movie, but actually, to me, you want to be the 45-year-old who’s got character and charisma and [is] great. Those people are cool. I always think of – was it Tom Waits? He always says, “I was born too old” and I kind of get that, I understand that ideology. He’s like, “I always should’ve been 40 even though I’m 15”. I think I agree with him. That’s how I feel.

A new album equals touring. Which cities would you like to visit the most?

I would love to tour America – that would be great fun. I think as well, it’s because a lot of music I really love is from America. I’d say [it’s] more influential on a lot of music that I make. I just really want to go to Chicago, I always wanted to go to San Francisco, I always wanted to go visit lots of cities. Europe would be amazing. Obviously, all of Europe is really interesting. When we’ve played Europe in the past, it’s been such a fun time and we’ve been treated so well. I think it’s funny because in recent years, especially because of the pandemic, you start really understanding that these things are genuinely pretty amazing, you know? People couldn’t do this 150 years ago, and actually, for two years, we couldn’t do it again, and it makes you go, “Okay, actually, this is really cool, I would like to do that again – that’s great fun”. You see it more as a small privilege than it is a standard of living almost. Also, I’m obsessed with food, so I probably would go to places where the food’s really good. I should probably tour Italy and Spain, all these great countries where their food is amazing. The food here is just as good; UK culture – we’ve kind of cherry-picked things from people, so it’s great.

Are there any bands you’d love to tour with and learn from?

That’s an endless list. Right now, today, the first band that came to mind, just right in my gut feeling – I’d like to open for The Flaming Lips. One, because I think that would be the most difficult job in the world, because they are literally like – Wayne Coyne is walking on the crowd in a big bubble and fireworks are going off. I think if you can open for that band, you can open for any band. Also, on top of that, you’d probably learn a lot because you’d know how to bring the party to the situation, as they say. I think that would be fun. There are classic artists that I’m just a big admirer of, bands like The National. I’ve been through a very obsessive phase with Rosalia. I really like her but I also feel like opening for her would be quite difficult because I imagine we don’t give Rosalia vibes generally from our sound. I’ve always been a Beach House fan – I’d like to open for them. I’m such a fan of music, I’d play with anyone really.

Mae Trumata

Blue Hymn is released on 3^rd March 2023. For further information or to order the album visit Giant Party’s website here.

Listen to brand new single Find a Feeling to Share here: