Young the Giant: Off to the Grammys

Zooey Magazine March 14, 2012

California’s new golden boys Young the Giant embody everything that is cool about their golden state. Their col- orful, uplifting, indie alt rock sound in- vokes long playful summer afternoons and warm endless nights. While their tracks are being played everywhere, their self titled first album is still going strong, and with a fast selling headline tour to boot, its safe to say that Young the Giant are going places. We spoke with drummer, François Comtois about California, cooking, and the communal laundry basket.

You started 2012 with an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel. That was great! It was our second time on Kimmel so we were a little more prepared. Last time it was a last min- ute thing, so everyone was a little bit nervous, but this time around we knew what to expect, and I thought it went pretty well.

Your tour schedule already lists over 25 sold out shows... All the time we spent before it helps, working away at it, feeling like ev- erything was coming from everything that we were putting in to it. We did a headline tour last year around the same time, and it was a lot of fun but we were driving ourselves everywhere in the van, it was freezing cold, most of the shows we were playing were to 200 to 500 people. So sometimes when 500 people sells out, you feel really good, you feel like there’s meaning to what you do.

You guys have all known each other for a long time, and it seems there’s been big interest on the internet over you all sharing clothes - are you really that close? Haha! I guess it really does happen that we wear each other’s clothes! The same thing happened when I was grow- ing up with my brothers, when I was going to school and I didn’t have any clean shirts, I would just take one of my brothers’. I think that still happens with us, we’re not blood related, but we live together, we do everything together, so we do behave like brothers.

To read the full interview, get your copy of Zooey today!

Interviewed by Francesca Nicol

Photographer: Derek Wood Assistant: Alex Levine

Note: Interview was shortened and reorganized for online.

Angela Trimbur: Tights and Jazz Shoes

Zooey Magazine March 11, 2012

An adorable blonde, from Philadelphia, Angela Trimbur claims that “socially, [she is] very excitable.” Having been raised with a secluded childhood and home schooled until her senior year of high school, “[she] still feel[s] like a foreign exchange student at times.” We got together at a local coffee shop to discuss the raging success of her YouTube Laundromat dance video, her goals, and her unique quirkiness.

After meeting about being a contributor to the female driven website, HelloGiggles.com, Angela found herself stumped on a way to participate. “I was super distracted from just coming out of a terrible breakup, and so I decided to make something with all those tears and brain knots,” says the girl commonly found in black tights and jazz shoes. She took the opportunity to create an inspirational video. “I put my headphones on, and I just started dancing,” she says of the making of her infamous HelloGiggles Laundromat video with over a million views in just one months time. Aside from her multiple film and television appearances, Angela is also a member of the alternative comedy theater Upright Citizens Brigade, a place she calls home, and is honored to perform on a stage “where [she] admire[s] everyone [she] share[s] it with.”

When asked of future plans and goals, she tells me that “there’s another [dance video] coming” which I am so anxious to see! She also has been working on new sketches with the popular comedy website, Funnyordie.com, developing her first feature film, and recently started doing stand-up. Her quirkiness shines through when asked what kind of things inspire her; “The other day I saw a lady riding a skateboard while pushing a baby stroller. So...definitely that.” When asked what something she loved about herself was, after a solid minute of "hmmms" and "ummms", she finally said "I finally decided to just embrace my 'mess'. Like, instead of pushing off all the clothes and hangers off my bed, I consider it more of a 'nest' and just sleep on top of it. Is that considered an answer?"

We talked about our mutual love for the classic show "Friends", and she told me that being a series regular on a sitcom, “to really have fun diving into that character every day for a whole bunch of years” is her ultimate goal. She is looking forward to a long career ahead of her!

Her words to live by: “it’s necessary to surround yourself with people you always want to high five."