On Staring Down The Barrel Of 20 Years As A Band

It may be hard to believe, but Brisbane hard rockers Giants Of Science have been doing their thing for almost 20 years now. They take things pretty easily and casually these days, with several members having young families. Indeed, drummer Steve Lynagh is wrangling multiple children on a grocery shopping trip as he speaks to us. Lynagh tells us that, while they don't play that many shows these days, when the offer came up to play their hometown's prestigious Dead Of Winter festival, they jumped at the chance.  

"It may even be 18 months or so since the last Giants Of Science show," he remembers, "so it's always exciting to get together; we don't do it all that often these days any more. I wouldn't say it's a blast from the past, but the spark is still there when we get together. 

"But, yeah! It should be a really good crowd, great bands, great line-up. I think there's 40 bands on the bill, it's big. So whatever takes your fancy I'm pretty sure you'll find something." 

The band are likely to bring a bunch of their best live tunes, culled from their lengthy career, to their festival set although Lynagh hints at the possibility of a couple of surprises: "Over our career we've settled on a few crowd-pleasers. We do have this recording that we've done that we've been sitting on for a couple of years that hasn't seen the light of day, so we may pull out a couple of those songs. But on the whole, it'll essentially be a 'greatest hits' type of set that we've been doing for the last ten years or so [laughs]."   

Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of the band's first show together, a fact that Lynagh admits he struggles to get his head around. "When you say it out loud, it seems like such a long time," he admits. "We've been doing Giants Of Science essentially since we were teenagers, so it's always been a part of our adult lives. Twenty years, it's a bit of a big deal, to still call yourself a band. Plus it's the original line-up still — it's pretty amazing." 

The band are even toying with the idea of marking the occasion. "We should definitely have a 20-year party and reunion. Maybe even a tour. We're definitely due to get back down to Melbourne, it's been a few years." 

As for the future of Giants Of Science, Lynagh feels confident that they will be around for quite some time yet. "I think the Giants will always be around," he predicts. "Whenever someone asks us to play, we'll always consider it.  

"There's not really any point, that I can see, in calling it quits. Bands can have a hiatus and that's all good. But as long as you enjoy the music and each other's company, and as long as people are willing to listen, we'll always be willing to play."