With 10 years of rock, joy and chaos behind them, Naked Giants will hit the Fox Cabaret on November 14th
Lily Rosen (she/her) // Crew Writer
Lauren Howard (she/her) // Illustrator
Seattle’s Naked Giants have been making noise for over a decade, blending garage rock, punk, and punchy energy into an indie sound that’s distinctly their own. Formed in 2014, this trio—composed of Gianni Aiello (bassist/vocalist), Henry LaVallee (drummer) and Grant Mullen (guitarist/vocalist)—grew up playing music together. Ahead of their highly anticipated show on November 14th at the Fox Cabaret, Aiello and LaVallee talked about their 10-year adventure as a team, Seattle’s influence on their music, collaboration and their fervent love for all things fun.
Naked Giants’ picture book begins like many rock band tales: in a garage. Or, not quite. As LaVallee says, “It all started back when Grant and I were in preschool. We were wee little fellas, and we got together. Over time, we learned to play, and we learned to rhyme.” Case in point. Reminiscing, he continues, “In high school, we jammed in garages as a two-piece, and then we met Gianni right when we graduated.”
Enter Aiello, stage left, ready to jam away the summer of 2014. He jumps in, “We didn’t have jobs right after high school; we were just living at our parents’ houses, nothing better to do but jam. And that was the start of Naked Giants as we know it.” This carefree, exploratory spirit created the band’s core, which resonates just as clearly for the trio in 2024.
Growing up in Seattle, a city synonymous with music legends like Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix and Alice in Chains, Naked Giants was shaped by their environment. While the city’s iconic sound is part of their DNA, their formative experiences came from the vibrant local scene in the University District.
“We were living near the University of Washington, and all the kids up there would throw house shows all the time,” Aiello reflects. “And, you know, people aren’t necessarily coming to these shows to see Naked Giants, but we were providing a fun vibe for people to party to.” Here, the band honed a safe-but-totally-rocking crowd environment and stage presence, which Aiello notes as foundational. “I took those little shows for granted. It was really, really important for how we got our footing as Naked Giants.”
Fast forward 10 years, and the band has toured with indie-rock royalty Car Seat Headrest, played in theaters across the globe and evolved as friends, musicians and human beings. But even as they’ve “grown old” (LaVallee jokes about “30-year-olds telling them to shut up,”) Naked Giants still hold onto the spontaneity of their teenage selves. “Spiritually, I still go to that place as an 18-year-old when I play music with Gianni and Grant,” LaVallee says. “It’s like going to a park you remember as a kid. And now, you’re at the park as a ‘bigger kid,’ so the perspective has changed. But you still come back to that same place with the same joy.”
That sense of joy is at the heart of Naked Giants’ musical ethos. Aiello describes how each member brings a song idea—a “seed,” as he calls it—into the practice space where the others nurture it. “Naked Giants is the garden in which all these little seeds grow,” Aiello explains, “Sometimes that’s like, ‘Oh, I found this little chord progression that makes me feel some type of way. And I want to explore what that type of way is.’ And we just kind of jam, and it flourishes.”
LaVallee adds to the picture, comparing their collaborative process to, “three ballroom dancers freestyling.” Everyone takes turns leading, and the resulting tracks swing, tango and grow organically with each person’s contribution.
After all is said and done, Naked Giants’ approach to music remains refreshingly simple: it’s all about fun. “The music thing hasn’t changed so much in its inspiration. Or maybe I should say that it’s come back around full circle,” Aiello says, emphasizing the trio’s return to the playfulness of early Naked Giants. “I think we all went through some kind of reckoning where it was like, ‘This is becoming a job.’ But I feel like these days, we’re coming around the corner again and really focusing on just having fun. Because that’s what we need.”
As Aiello, LaVallee and Mullen prepare to light up the Fox Cabaret on November 14th, fans can expect a night of eclectic electricity as they bring diverse sounds with high-energy performances. Their journey from garage jams to headlining shows has been fueled by their connection with each other and the audiences they’ve grown along the way. Whether in a packed theatre or an intimate club, one thing remains constant: Naked Giants always bring the party. Don’t miss it.