Getting something back on their songs
AARON BRUNO has a big problem: He and his Under the Influence of Giants bandmates will finish their set, but the audience isn’t done. “People are chanting ‘one more song!’ and we’ve played our entire catalog,” Bruno says, bemused. “We’ve got nothing left.”
But UTIOG is far too busy to even think about writing new songs right now.
After nearly five months on the road, the boys are back in town to wrap up their tour. They head to Europe in January. Tonight’s show at the Roxy is their first Los Angeles appearance since selling out the Key Club right after the August release of their self-titled debut on Island Records.
“There’s nothing better than coming home to end the tour,” Bruno says. “It’s a drag if you’re halfway through your tour and you see all your family and friends and loved ones and then you have to split.”
He acknowledges it is harder to play before some friends than others. “A year ago we played the Canyon Club,” says the Westlake High School graduate. “I hated playing for people that went to high school with me. Those are the people who are looking for flaws: ‘That guy’s not that! I know that guy!’ ”
Conversely, there are also the old friends “who are really proud of us,” he says.
The group’s debut swirls through several pop styles, from disco-era Bee Gees and Earth, Wind & Fire funk to Beatles balladry with a healthy dose of Prince thrown in.
The album is selling slowly but steadily, having moved 40,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. “It’s going to be a marathon,” Bruno says. “We didn’t explode at radio like some people at the label thought we would.”
The band’s first single, “Mama’s Room,” peaked at No. 33 on Billboard’s Top 40 chart. But if crowd reaction is any gauge, the second single, “In the Clouds,” could lead to the band’s breakthrough.
The first time Bruno heard an audience singing a song back to him in concert, “I almost started crying,” he says. Now it is happening regularly with “In the Clouds,” a peppy tune that crosses the Killers with the Scissor Sisters. “That’s the kind of stuff we dreamed of,” Bruno says. “When I write something that I think is really good, I think, ‘Damn, I can’t wait for a stadium audience to be singing it.’ ”
MUCH has happened with the Agoura Hills foursome since it last appeared in L.A. -- including a stadium gig. In November, Under the Influence played the halftime show at the Major League Soccer championship match. The event helped erase a lingering memory.
“My first experience [with soccer] was being on a team that didn’t score a goal the whole year. I was in third grade. I thought, ‘To hell with that sport,’ ” Bruno says. But the championship changed that.
“We had a great time. If you watch the first five seconds on YouTube, we’re all pretty much laughing.”
Although happy to be signed to Island, three of the band’s four members -- Bruno, Drew Stewart and Jamin Wilcox -- had run the major-label gauntlet in other groups before with disappointing results.
Therefore, when they formed UTIOG, along with bassist David Amezcua, the quartet decided to focus on touring instead of landing a record deal.
However, when Island came courting, Bruno says it made sense to sign. “They trusted our songwriting and all things creative,” he says, unabashedly admitting, “We want to reach the masses.”
If the audience hasn’t heard enough of UTIOG’s music, Bruno concedes that there are times he certainly has. Often, after the band has run through its entire set list in concert, it throws on “Under the Confluence of Giants,” a delectable mash-up created by DJ Earworm that takes “Mama’s Room” and stirs in material from Steely Dan, David Bowie, Queen, Steve Miller and Common.
“I love it,” Bruno says. “He actually picked artists that we have drawn influences from, which is the whole concept of this band. I prefer listening to that [version] because I’ve heard our songs 5 million times.”
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Under the Influence of Giants
What: Under the Influence of Giants, Big City Rock, As Fast As, Brothermandude
Where: The Roxy, 9009 W. Sunset Blvd, West Hollywood
When: 9 tonight
Price: $15
Info: (310) 278-9457; www.theroxyonsunset.com
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