To win yourself a copy of Giant Hand’s Coming Home please see the contest details at the end of this post.
Kirk Ramsay has certainly had one heck of a whirl wind year. As the only man behind the moniker Giant Hand, he’s got a lot to handle on his own. So far, so great. As 2009 ramps up to an end, there will certainly be more than a few year-end lists featuring Coming Home, Giant Hand’s debut. Before things get really hectic for Ramsay (he’s got some live dates coming up in the next few weeks–check here for more details) he agreed to sit down with pen and paper and subject himself to a little QBiM cross-examination. Here’s what’s in the head of Giant Hand:
(photo: Ming Wu)
QBiM: State your name for the record, and mention your record while you’re at it.
Kirk Ramsay: I’m Giant Hand (Kirk Ramsay), and my album is called Coming Home.
QBiM: Where are you from, how did you get here, and where are you going next?
KR: I’m from Ottawa, Canada. I’m not 100% sure how I got here. Everything’s happened so fast, since it was less than two years ago when I picked up a guitar for the first time. We will see where things take me. I’m in no rush to go anywhere just yet.
QBiM: What compelled you to pick up a guitar and start writing music in the first place? Did you have any other creative outlets before you started making music?
KR: Honestly, I watched the Devil and Daniel Johnston in January of ‘08. It was like a week or two later when I decided to get a guitar and make some music. I’ve always wanted to be in a band, but no one would want to play music with me. Mainly due to the fact that I didn’t know how to play an instrument. After seeing the documentary I realized I don’t need anyone to make music but myself, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Dan’s lyrics. So I figured out the basics of guitar and went for it.
Before music, I really wanted to be a film maker. I made a short film that got into the Kingston Film Festival, and then got a film grant to make another short film. I finished filming that short film last year, but never had the urge to edit it yet. I hope to edit it soon though.
QBiM: Who’s hanging out with you (who else is in the band or working with you)?
KR: I am not hanging out with anybody sadly. I make all my music alone in my apartment.
QBiM: You’ve just been named one of Canada’s hottest musical acts in the 5th annual Hottest Bands in Canada poll on i (heart) music: your reaction?
KR: I really can’t believe I’m on that list with so many great acts, let alone not even being last place. That must be some kind of mistake.
QBiM: Is Ottawa becoming the new musical capital of Canada? What’s going on there?
KR: Ottawa seems to have taken a pretty big leap this past year in terms of a music scene. There are a lot of really great bands forming, and there are those bands and musicians who really set the stage for how great the music can be. We have some nice venues, and we’ve got a few great promoters who actually want to help out the local bands. So Ottawa may not be the new musical capital. But it’s getting pretty close.
QBiM: What’s the greatest invention of all time?
KR: Sliced bread.
QBiM: What’s the one sound that drives you crazy?
KR: Car horns.
QBiM: What is the one album you can go back and listen to over and over again, and what is it that brings you back to it?
KR: I have yet to stop listening to Funeral by Arcade Fire. Every once in a while, I just need to hear the opening to that first song. I think it’s a piano. And well, then I just listen to the whole album because each song is so perfect in every way.
QBiM: What’s the one song you wish you’d have written?
KR: “(Antichrist Television Blues)” by Arcade Fire.
QBiM: What would be the one moment in time you’d go back and relive or experience?
KR: I don’t remember the year. Maybe 1992. I was around 5 years old. I remember this time when my friend, my brother, and I thought this light at the corner of my street was a light from a pirate ship, and we kept running around the house trying to hide because the pirates were coming to eat/kill us. I just remember we weren’t actually scared, but we had created this huge storyline that seemed so real at our age.
QBiM: What was the first concert you went to see?
KR: The first concert I can remember was Great Big Sea with my parents. I think I was around 10 years old.
QBiM: What’s the last good book/movie/record you read/saw/heard?
KR: Book: A Moveable Feast by Hemmingway; Movie: Faust (1926 version) at the Mayfair Theater; Record: All Is Well by Samamidon.
QBiM: Define “pain”.
KR: Pain is real, and it hurts.
QBiM: Any vices?
KR: Picking at the calluses on my fingers when I’m nervous.
QBiM: Favourite breakfast food?
KR: Eggs and bacon with some beans and poutine (aka: the hangover breakfast at the Elgin Street Diner”).
QBiM: When was the last time you got in a fight?
KR: Never been in a fight.
QBiM: Do you sing in the shower?
KR: No.
QBiM: Is there anything left to explore?
YES! There is always something to explore, or see. If there wasn’t, what would people do with their lives?
QBiM: When was the last time you cried?
Last week?
QBiM: What’s the one thing our world could with less of and why?
KR: We could certainly do with less pavement.
QBiM: Anything to declare?
KR: If I say “no” will you look through my bags?
~~~
CONTEST DETAILS
I’ve got a copy of Coming Home for any loyal QBiM reader who drops me some electronic postage at CONTESTS [at] QUICKBEFOREITMELTS [dot] COM with “Giant Hand is Coming Home to me” in the subject line, your snail mail address in the body, along with a future QBiM Q&A question suggestion. Who knows, I may just take your question and pose it to an unsuspecting band sometime soon, and you may get one of 2009’s best CDs to boot. This contest will close at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, November 20, 2009. That’s when we’ll be getting ready to bring you more Q&A from next week’s victim participant, Jon Janes (aka The Mountains & The Trees).
MP3: Giant Hand “Coming Down from the Mountains”
Myspace: Giant Hand
No Comments so far
Leave a comment
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>