to move up and down
Young the Giant covered R. Kelly’s “Ignition (Remix)”
Such a good one.
Young the Giant after our shoot for West Virginia
Sameer playing West Virginia at the Recording Studio in LA
In the Open presents
Young the Giant - West Virginia
The long wait is over, and here is our latest session with Young the Giant for their unreleased song “West Virginia”.
The first time I ever heard the song was in the recording studio while they were tracking their first album. Sameer and I were sitting in the lounge and he wanted to show me some new songs he had been working on, and one of them was West Virginia. I was always a fan of their acoustic work, and ever since hearing West Virginia I wanted to record it. When we made the decision to shoot West Virginia for In the Open I was glad, because I knew just the spot to do it and it meant that there would be a recording of it.
Young the Giant
This shot is from the very first In the Open session that I ever did with Young the Giant out in the Bonneville Salt Flats.
In the Open presents Young the Giant performing Every Little Thing
As we near the end of the videos with Young the Giant, I have to look back at this past year and be thankful for how much they have helped with the growth of In the Open. In the Open started in the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah while on tour with Young the Giant. We were driving along the highway and I asked if we could stop to take photos. We got out and played some soccer and decided that we should film something. I had done some minor filming work with them before, but I had no real knowledge about diving into live performances especially in terms of recording audio. I remember finishing the video and being excited to look at the footage, and that feeling is still there every time I shoot another band. As I have mentioned before, the guys are like brothers to me and I am extremely thankful for them, for putting up with my requests to shoot in places even when we were all tired and just wanted to do nothing.
Thank you Payam, Sameer, Jake, François, and Eric for all your time and work for In the Open. I consider In the Open just as much yours as it is mine, because without you guys there would be no In the Open.
Track of the Day
Young the Giant - Empire Ants (Gorillaz Cover)
In the Open presents Young the Giant - Typhoon
Being that all of us are originally from Southern California we found it fitting to spend a day filming down there since the rest of our sessions were elsewhere. Earlier in the day we had filmed Your Side and Islands, so it was only fitting to go down to Dana Point for Typhoon. When we were doing the soundcheck I started getting the chills as Sameer’s voice filled the tunnel. The reverb just carried all the way out of the tunnel, and it was the perfect way to end a long day of shooting.
(Source: intheopen.tv)
In the Open presents Young the Giant - Islands (In the Studio)
Last year I was in the recording studio with Young the Giant for about a week while they recorded their debut album. Each day was pretty much the same routine of waking up around 9, walking to the studio around 10, and then eating a quick breakfast which consisted of fruit, noah’s bagels, and snapple iced tea. I had heard most of the songs being recorded before they went to the studio, but I had no idea that islands even existed. I had never heard them practice it, or even mention it. I remember setting up in the lounge room, while the guys started playing. Once I was all set I walked into the recording room, where I saw Sameer holding a bass. He was working on a bass line for Islands, while Payam waited. Once Sameer had it figured out, him and Payam talked about it and Sameer showed Payam what he came up with. As soon as they started playing I knew I had to film it. It happened to be St. Patrick’s Day as well, which is why if you look closely you’ll notice Sameer is drinking a guinness.
See more behind the scenes photos from when they were in the studio here
In the Open presents Young the Giant - I Got
To help push off two sites with one stone here is a new video for you all. As some of you might know, the Young the Giant guys and I are close friends, I’d even consider them brothers. I went on tour with them for a few months last year and during that time I started up In the Open while we were driving between Utah and San Francisco. In the Open started as soon as I started shooting “I Got”. We shot almost all their songs over the past year in-between the other In the Open shoots. Here is Your Side, and make sure to go check out the site we worked on with the guys so you can see all their sessions in one place, as well as get more info about each shoot from Sameer and I.
