Interview with Andre Pettipas and The Giants: ‘This album feels like the one where we’re putting all the chips in the middle of the table, going for broke’

Nova Scotia-based rock band Andre Pettipas and The Giants will release their third album Under Control tomorrow (7 July), which encapsulates their no holds barred, riffed up work ethic, telling stories of coping in the pandemic and holding on to what matters.

The band consists of Andre Pettipas (guitar and lead vocals), his brother Travis (bass and backing vocals), Mark Cosh (drums and backing vocals) and John MacDonald (guitar and backing vocals). Their name is a reference to former French wrestler André The Giant, ‘The Eighth Wonder of the World,’ who, as the story goes, once drank 160 beers and lived to tell the tale.

The brothers formed the band seven years ago after Andre Pettipas’ six month battle with encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain: ‘I didn’t know if I’d make it through, I knew I had to seize the day, he said to me last year. ‘We met our drummer at a local bar, we played on some shows together in different bands as kids. I thought he could really play and after the show I invited him into the studio. We had our first jam/rehearsal on a Monday and started recording our debut album the next day.’

‘It was a different world, we felt like caged animals’

Under Control takes them on a different kind of journey: ‘We had to get all of these feelings out, most of the songs were written in 2020,’ Pettipas said. ‘We had all these emotions: how do we stay together when we’re so far apart? It was a different world, we felt like caged animals – we were saying: “Let us out of the gate!” We close our shows with ‘Slingshot’, it’s a song that feels dark but which leaves you feeling good, it felt like a good way to end the album. I needed to get that energy out of my body, it’s our signature sound, but there’s many ways we could do it. In places it sounds like a Franz Ferdinand bop (laughs) but in other places, it’s metal. We thought: “Let’s not limit ourselves”.’

The opener ‘Sin City’ opens with a fuzzed up, Springsteen-like riff and harks back to life before the pandemic, with Pettipas singing imploringly about a time that vanished: ‘This is where it started,’ he said. ‘I wrote it about a time in Vegas a week before the world shut down. We were in this bar, Hogs & Heifers, a real Coyote Ugly kinda bar (a chain of bars in the US famous for their bartenders dancing on the bar). I had my leather jacket on, my wife hopped up on the bar and danced with them (laughs). We’re saying: “Come on in, it’s gonna be a fun ride!”‘

It certainly is and the lyrics pull you right into the story: “It was half past noon in the middle of the week. We found a coyote ugly bar on Fremont Street. It looked inviting, so we stepped inside. Bartender said: ‘Hop up, you look like our kind.’”

‘We walk a thin line between a showboat and a shipwreck and we wanted that portrayed on the record’

They deftly manage to create a 13 track album that is sonically upbeat, joyous and defiant whilst not shying away from difficult messages about alcohol dependency, love, loss and taking accountability: ‘Inspiring growth through perseverance, Under Control ebbs and flows bending the rock and pop influences from generations before us combined with our personal flair to create a product that is uniquely ours,’ he said. ‘We didn’t shy away from the messages, topics and production throughout the album. We walk a thin line between a showboat and a shipwreck and we wanted that portrayed on the record. This album is straight from the heart. It’s about reflection; looking in the mirror, digging deep and telling the stories about some of the most influential ups and downs of the last decade.’

The first half of the album centres around life during the pandemic but the second half delves into more personal territory: ‘The mid-to-late album songs are more personal, we’re building all these emotions. It’s gotta come out as anger, passion, how to remain under control and stay calm,’ he said. ‘I’m eight months sober, we’re in it for the long haul. Our drummer is six years sober. I’ve been solely a musician for a year, I gave up my day job. This journey to follow our dream takes a toll on our mental health.’

‘I wanted it to be something you feel musically, vocally and lyrically’

‘Monumental Health’, the third track on the album, neatly encapsulates all of that. It’s a Foo Fighters’ stye track with heavy drumming and Pettipas doing double duty on layered backing vocals: ‘It’s funny you mention Foo Fighters, I started learning a Foo Fighters song that had a similar chord progression on The Colour and The Shape album. It’s all about keeping up momentum meanwhile being in control of your mental health. It’s got a 2000’s pop punk feel, that aggression, trying to keep yourself from breaking down. In a small town here, you don’t get many opportunities. The lyrics are about the years where you’re constantly grinding. At the bridge, you feel you’ve had enough, you need a pick-me-up (laughs). That part’s got a Fleetwood Mac meets the Eye of the Tiger feel to it. What is originality? Taking your influences and making them your own. I want to command those songs as they are. I wanted it to be something you feel musically, vocally and lyrically.’

As the track kicks off: “Infected by your bullshit. In-depth and unassuming. A cold stare, your heart’s bare. You went and weaselled your way in. Two shows a year, while we’re constantly grinding our gears to find out how…”

Pettipas already owns his dream guitar and it makes a star appearance on the new album: ‘My wife gifted me a Gretsch White Penguin about a year into the pandemic. I had seen the guitar come up on a local “Buy and Sell.” At the time, I was strapped for cash as I had fronted the money for the production, promo etc. for our previous album, No Fools No Fun. For my 30th birthday, she presented me with the guitar as a surprise. It made its way onto about 85% of the tracks on the new album!’

The band has just got back from a tour across Canada and while on a day off in Vancouver, they took a trip to the US: ‘We went to the Museum of Pop in Seattle,’ he said enthusiastically. ‘We got held up at the border, we got there at 4.30 pm., half an hour before it closes, and the guy let us in for free ‘cos we were musicians! I thought I had to see the Nirvana room, it was wild seeing Dave’s dented up drums!’ Pettipas’ delight at what he does is infectious and he is clearly – and rightly – proud of the album: ‘It shows growth not only in our music but as people,’ he said. ‘I’m super proud of the band and all the sacrifice and dedication the boys have put in over the years. We’ve travelled long distances to shows and came back owing money, slept in the van – more times than I can count – and sacrificed a “normal” life with a steady income because we believe in what we are doing. This album feels like the one where we’re putting all the chips in the middle of the table, going for broke. Over the last eight years, we’ve gotten to share the stage with some of our favourite bands, collaborated on songs with our favourite bands and we’ve now recorded an album at one of our favourite band’s studios! (The Tragically Hip’s)’

‘I wanted that outro to rise, we want to reach new places – I’d love to have this song in a horror movie!’

His favourite moment on the album is on the track ‘Fire’: ‘At 3.30 into the track, there’s like a happy-evil guitar lick (laughs) – you could be killing someone in the background and it would still work! We worked with the piano player from Shawn Mendes’ band. We were in Toronto and this guy Max River had seen our cover of Sum 41’s ‘Fat Lip’ on Insta. We came over and played something along the lines of the chorus in ‘Fire’ and I wrote most of the lyrics that day. I saw caution tape blowing in the wind, that’s where the “caution” in the song comes from. You might get burned trying to fulfill your inner-flame. I wanted that outro to rise, we want to reach new places – I’d love to have this song in a horror movie!’

‘Definition of a Dweeb’ is a shout out to all teenagers that things can only get better and its introspective lyrics perfectly capture the struggles of navigating adolescence: ‘It’s one of my favourite tracks on the album, it was our lead single. I can’t take myself too seriously (laughs). There’s a nod to ‘Psycho Killer’ in it, take that entertainment value. It shows the fun side of the band, there are so many harmonies going on.’ I ask him if it’s also about his own teenage years: ‘Oh yeah, in grade nine, I shaved my head as a mohawk. I used the clippers from home, I’d almost finished and noticed a long patch of hair while looking in another mirror. I didn’t realize that my brother had taken the guard off as I went to go trim the long patch and gave myself a bald spot (laughs). My mom was awesome, she sent me to school with a note that told the teacher to allow me to wear a toque (a beanie) as I was experiencing chills!’

The incident makes its way into the song: “My high school hairdo. All I wanted was a buzz but the last thing was I got cut, too. My high school hairdo. All I wanted was a buzz but the last thing was I got cut, too.”

‘It’s about finding the simple things in life that make you happy – think The Darkness meets AC/DC’

The dirtiest, bluesiest and gnarliest riff on the album comes courtesy of ‘Sugar In Your Coffee’, it’s one of the most joyous, singalongey songs on the album and showcases just how good Pettipas’ vocals are: ‘John, our guitarist, had this slide, a greasy thing (laughs). We were covering The Black Crowes at the time, we also wanted a Jet feel to it. Lyrically, it’s the least thought out track on the album. It’s about finding the simple things in life that make you happy – context lyric wise, think The Darkness meets AC/DC.’

If he could meet up with anyone, he is quick to say Dave Grohl, someone who he has actually met at a convention, telling me last time we chatted how lovely he’d been: ‘After everything he’s been through in the past year, to remain as calm and as good as he is. You can see the passion in him. That’s so important, he’s there for the right reasons, he’s not there to be famous.’ We chat about how he kept popping up in other people’s sets at Glastonbury last month and how wonderful that was: ‘I know, he was everywhere, he was awesome! It was like ‘Where’s Waldo?,’ he quipped. ‘When people just hop in, that’s what it’s all about – that connection, that camaraderie. It’s like a heartbeat, we’re born with the rhythm and the musical feel. Without music, we’d be pretty screwed, that’s what keeps the world going round.’

(Top photo from left to right: Andre, Travis, Mark and John.)