The term supergroup gets thrown around a lot, but Giraffe Tongue Orchestra fit that description, and then some. The all-star collaboration unites Alice in Chains singer William DuVall, Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds, Dillinger Escape Plan guitarist Ben Weinman, Dethklok bassist Pete Griffin, and former Mars Volta drummer Thomas Pridgen.
Hinds, Weinman, Griffin, and Pridgen first came together last year to work on a full-length album. Early on in the sessions they were joined by Juliette Lewis, but ultimately they settled on DuVall to serve as their lead singer. Nevertheless, some of Lewis’ vocals will be featured on the forthcoming LP.
Weinmann explained the group’s origins during a recent appearance on Australian journalist Christina Rowatt’s new podcast Riffing with Christina (via Loudwire).
“[Juliette] is actually not our main singer. She guested … Yeah like everybody kinda takes an Instagram picture and makes their own press around it. But me and her have been working on songs, some of which are for Giraffe Tongue, some of which were just jams that we were working on or whatever. And she did some cool vocals on some of the GTO stuff. Actually, William [DuVall] from Alice In Chains is who has been singing with us.
“Most of the music was written before [William] got involved … But everybody is definitely in this band, it’s a real democracy … You know, it’s a little different for me, it’s been great. Because Dillinger has obviously been my baby since the beginning. You know while everyone contributes, it has always been … it was my vision and baby. So with GTO it’s really a combination of all the elements, all the pieces. So it’s really interesting, it’s been great for me to collaborate like that … And I think when you hear it, it really does sound like all of us in one band somehow.”
Weinman did not give a timetable for the album’s release, and representative for the band’s various members did not respond to our requests for more information. Update – Wednesday, February 24th at 9:30 a.m. CT: A representative for DuVall confirms his involvement in the project.
Below, watch a few Instagram videos of the band in the studio.
