In November of last year, CL hit the road to cover Electric Daisy Carnival Orlando and proffered that music festivals matter now more than ever given our divisive political and social climate.
Two months later, we’re itching for the 2018 festival season to get fired up again, and luckily (for some of us) that's just a mere few weeks away.
Such is the case for Okeechobee Music Festival, which kicks off during the first weekend of March with a lineup that'll bring music fans from around the world together on the shores of Florida’s Lake Okeechobee for an immersive escape from reality.
At the root of the unifying nature of festivals is their ability to bridge the generational gap in music with a unique blending of genres and a diverse assembling of lineups. This is one of the reasons Okeechobee Music Festival, located just a few hours south of Tampa Bay, has become so beloved in the festival scene. Okee is a place for bringing together people of all ages for a chance to enjoy different flavors of music all in one melting pot.
OKEECHOBEE 2018 LINEUP ANNOUNCEMENT
Arcade Fire, Khalid, Bassnectar, Halsey, Travis Scott and more headed to south Florida
In its inaugural year, the festival —fondly referred to as “Okee” by fans — hosted an assortment of genre icons from Skrillex to Kendrick Lamar to Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant, bringing together a wide variety of festival-goers who might not have done so without the diverse platform. The trend of genre-agnostic lineups has long been a fad of the festival industry, and the scene has rapidly evolved to meet the demand for new and exciting fusions between genres.
Now a decade since the group first formed, Big Gigantic has been a trailblazer in this evolution by blending live instruments into its recorded and live catalog, yielding both a sound and vibe that is appealing to just about anybody.
Comprised of members Dominic Lalli and Jeremy Salken, Big Gigantic has become a regular on the festival circuit due to the band's love of performing and magnetic amassment of fans. BG's growing popularity has brought it to the main stages of globally renowned festivals Coachella, Ultra, Electric Forest and Bonnaroo.
Aside from a diversified sound that implements tastes of neo-soul, jazz, electronica and hip-hop, Big Gigantic’s uniqueness comes from its improvisation and implementation of live vocals and instruments in its live sets. Lalli, who holds a master’s degree in jazz from the Manhattan School of Music, works as both a saxophonist and producer for the group, while Salken primarily handles percussion duties. The duo rounds out its live sets with live vocals, more instruments and electronic light production usually seen for main stage EDM-festival acts.
It is these traits that made Big Gigantic a popular choice to return to the Grove — the venue that houses Okeechobee— for the second time around (BG played in 2016, Okee's first year).
As a group that relentlessly travels the country on its own headlining tours and finds itself on numerous festival bills, many in the Okeechobee fan community were curious as to what variation BG has planned for its return set, the duo’s potential involvement with Snoop Dogg’s Powow! mashup, and if Okee attendees will be treated to a rare collaboration performance between Big Gigantic and Gramatik — who have previously joined forces with fellow instrument-based electronic act Griz to form the supergroup Big Grizmatik.
Big G’s Dominic Lalli was nice enough to check in with us and talk about playing Okeechobee, a place they feel "part of the family.”
Check out our Q&A below, and make sure not to miss out on all the fun at Okeechobee’s third annual festival weekend. If you can’t make this year’s festival, catch Big Gigantic on the road as it heads out on the You Got The Love tour. For more information and tickets, click here.
Okeechobee Music Festival
March 1-4, $230 and up.
The Grove, 12517 NE 91st Ave, Okeechobee FL 34972
More info: okeechobeefest.com
You guys just recently performed at Decadence for New Years. This show came following a short break in December after you wrapped up the West Coast tour. With the month of January off as well, what are you guys doing with the free time?
I’ve been hittin the studio super hard and also working on a brand new live show concept for us as well. Feeling super inspired right now!
Is there a spring mix in the works for this break? I know a bunch of people, like myself, that are still jamming to the Winter Chill 4 mix regularly.
Possibly! I haven’t really thought about it yet but either way, we’ll be releasing some new music coming up here in a few months most likely right before Okee.
Do you guys have anything special planned for this new tour?
YES! We’re just working on a new concept for our live show which is gonna feel fresh for fans who have seen us many times as well as first timers. Definitely trying to step up our performance game in terms of what we’re doing at our live show.
With the live instrument element of your show, do you prefer to go in with an improv approach vs. a pre-planned DJ set?
Just about everything, instrument wise, we’re doing live is either melodies of our tunes etc. or we’re improvising stuff. We have so much fun trying to find new ways every night to get from point A to point B and it’s something we thrive on. Also, at this point we’re really just playing our music every night, whether it’s originals, remixes or edits we’ve made. So these days were mostly just focusing on our stuff and creative ways to present it and jam through it.
It’s 2018, meaning its been a decade since Big Gigantic first formed. Are you guys sick of each other yet? How do you guys maintain such good chemistry and keep things fresh on stage and in the studio?
Yeah it’s crazy we’ve been doing this for 10 years and honestly we are still growing as a band in terms of our fan base, but also in terms of our musicality and musical ability. To me that’s what’s so special about Big Gigantic and it really keeps me inspired and keeps me working at it every day. Jeremy and I have a great relationship in and outside of Big G and we have an incredible team of friends and family who help us navigate through everything and it really is just an incredible experience all around.
Moving on to our main topic, how excited are you guys to be playing Okeechobee? You’ve previously said Okeechobee is one of your favorite festivals. What impression did it leave on you in 2016 when you played it, and how important was it for you guys to perform there again this year?
We love Okeechobee!!! Such a great festival and we’re so excited to be back, we really feel part of the family over there and just the whole experience there in general. Super stoked!!
Due to your guys history with live collaborations in the past, lots of people in the Okeechobee community are clamoring to see you do the same at this year’s festival. Do you guys have any planned collaborations for Okeechobee? Will we get a chance to see Big Gramatik unite?
🤷🏻
On the other end of the spectrum we have Snoop Dogg hosting the Powow! Mashup. Has Snoop hit you guys up yet and how game would you be?
We would 100-percent be down to throw it down you know this!!
You’ve labeled the tour Got the Love, which shares the name of the track off Brighter Future. Any significance to that?
Yeah for sure and this tour is just for all the fans who have been supporting and helping us to grow throughout this whole Brighter Future experience over the last couple years.
