Plume Giant

Plume Giant’s debut EP opens up with the lyric, “I’m on drugs and I’m in love with you,” set to an aching, rising and falling melody augmented by full-bodied vocal harmonies and a slow, folksy shuffle of a beat. What an appropriate way for the trio to announce their entrance: These six songs are full of surprising juxtapositions and nuanced musical statements. Their vocal harmonizing is so attention-grabbing, one might not immediately pick up on the tricky rhythmic change-ups the group hits from time to time or the deceptively artful drumming in the background. While the acoustic-guitar-and-fiddles arrangements nod to traditional folk, PG’s musical vision is wide-ranging and modern: “Honey Pie” is really a Brill Building-style number nestled into a loping folk-rock frame and “Tuesday” ventures full-on into reverb-drenched chamber-pop. There are plenty of other smart tricks, like the masterfully handled stop-start rhythm in “Fool Hall” and the beating that the fiddle strings take during the bluesy “Black Cat.” Impressively, PG has plotted out an approach largely unfettered by genre expectations that sounds like the same group throughout, due to the consistency of their arrangements and their characteristic melodic and lyrical quirks. —Brian LaRue - The New Haven and Hartford Advocate

By all standard measures, Plume Giant is doing great. In the three months since their debut E.P. came out, the retro-folk trio sold 1,000 copies out of their trunk, and pulled in half that number over again in downloads. Their band is financially self-sustaining. And they gig hard and broadly. Travelling up and down the eastern seaboard, they average about two shows a week, divvied across their native New Haven, hip Williamsburg bars, and much further reaches (Virginia, North Carolina). In today’s oversaturated music market, that’s a fantastic start.

So, OK, get ready, because here comes the additional piece of info that’s gonna make you want to stab your eyes out with jealousy. Ready? All three members are juniors in college. Yale. Milestones that take most groups much longer, these guys achieve in between their classes. Please excuse me while I pull an Oedipus Rex. Goodbye, eyes! Vision was sweet!

I would be tempted to think of the trio as overachievers if they weren’t so down-to-earth, in both their conversation and their music. (Proof positive: Their E.P. kicks off with the words “I’m on drugs,” set to the most lovely three-piece harmony.) I spoke to Nolan Green, Oliver Hill and Eliza Bagg, who are spending their winter break on an “unofficial Plume retreat” in Pleasantville, NY. According to Nolan, they’re “taking over half the house Oliver grew up in.” “We’ve been playing a lot of shows lately,” he says, “and we haven’t had a lot of time to do creative work.”

“Especially with school,” adds Eliza.

“We rehearse a lot in the car,” Oliver says.

When I asked if the acoustics in the car were as bad as I suspected, all three laughed. “We always have to be careful of blowing out our voices in the car. I’m in the back seat with my guitar, and I have to kind of lean up close to them,” says Nolan.

“One time this cop was passing us and I was like, ‘Put the guitar away!’” jokes Eliza, who usually drives.

The three members of Plume Giant share vocal duties equally while juggling string instrument responsibilities: Oliver and Eliza mainly play viola while Nolan plays guitar. “[Oliver and I] actually met in a string quartet,” says Eliza. The two are music majors, “But it’s not really a performance degree, it’s more an academic degree. It’s only sort of obliquely relevant” to their work in Plume Giant, according to Oliver.

“I’m an economics major,” Nolan adds after a deadpan pause.

“He gets made fun of a lot for that,” chirps Oliver.

Of course, having an Econ major in your band has its perks. “We have a nice Google Docs spreadsheet going with all of our expenses. It sort of pays for itself at this point,” says Nolan. “Obviously there are investments like buying a new PA which is gonna bring one of us down a little. But with album sales and getting paid for gigs, we’re pretty much even. I think we’re gonna print round two of the albums, so that will be another dip into our funds. The one nice thing is that in terms of gear, [Plume Giant] is pretty minimal. We all just share my guitar. Oliver and Eliza already had their violas. Sound guys really like us because we don’t even mic the violas.”

“It’s three vocal mics, and they’re all even,” laughs Eliza.

“And that makes it easier to just wanna play more shows, because it’s not a hassle,” Nolan explains.

It’s quickly apparent that the trio is sweet, enthusiastic and wildly dedicated to their music. Their songwriting retreat includes a self-imposed schedule. While I race to type up their quotes, I can hear one of them gently strumming a guitar in the background. So why not follow in the footsteps of ex-Yaley Larkin Grimm, who ditched school for a successful music career? “We’re definitely graduating, unless something disastrous happens,” says Oliver. And after school? “It’s still pretty far away, graduating. We’ve been able to do [the band] really hard, still in school. This sort of busy structure also kind of makes it high-energy, too.”

Oh, and their band name? According to Nolan, “This is not too glorious a story.”

“I think it’s a great story!” says Oliver.

“We did the typical band thing,” explains Nolan. “We went to a nearby library and flipped through a bunch of books looking for words that we liked. ‘Plume’ and ‘Giant’ actually came from different parts of a Walt Whitman poem called ‘Song of Myself,’ which we’re happy about, because he’s a favorite.”

Plume Giant will be playing on the 19th as part of the free Wednesday-night music series at BAR, which Oliver co-books with Manic Productions mogul Mark Nussbaum. Oliver typically matches New Haven-area talent to Nussbaum’s regional/national acts. You can also download their debut E.P. for free on their Bandcamp site. - The New Haven and Hartford Advocate

If my internet music blog was a baseball team, I feel like I would be a middle of the rotation starter, something like 14-8, ERA around three and three quarters. The evidence: I eat innings (my nearly uninterrupted streak of Lazy Saturdays). I struggle against left handers (I don't get bands that are ostensibly awful but that the critical community loves; see: Animal Collective). I pitch to contact (I love me a good remix). Most importantly for the metaphor (and this post), I have three go-to pitches: 1) Cut fastball = I think this album/band/song has some connection to an abstruse/arcane/mildly boring concept. This is my go to pitch. In three years, I've connected records to African art, Martin Heidegger, contemporary American mythology, Scrabble, Russel Branyan and any further number of douchey pseudo-academic bullshit. That's my best pitch. I love it. 2) Circle change = I like music best when it is presented in a live format; I get hitters off balance with the snooty references; then I get them way out in front on some earthy "music is a live medium" junk. Word. 3) Sinker = "Music blogging is sweet because you get music you would not otherwise get." I have written that 162 times. Cool stuff comes to my inbox (because I am cool). I throw this pitch at any point in the count. To get full circle, I am throwing that pitch now. I have heard Plume Giant, because Plume Giant sent me a track. I heard about twelve seconds of "Fool Hall" and knew that I lucked out. Multiple part harmonies! Fiddles! 'Nuff siad. These cats are the truth. After listening to the two tracks below, you are going to want more. You can download more here. - Citizen Dick, Cleveland/NY-based blog

I get emails all day and night from people who want me to listen to their music and write about it. And most of the time, I listen to a few seconds then put it in the archive folder of my Gmail.

Something happened the other day though. I was trying to empty my inbox, but instead opened an email from a New Haven based folk group named Plume Giant. I didn’t remember seeing it in my inbox, so I read through it and listened to their attached song Fool Hall.

I liked it. I liked it a lot. In fact, it was the first time in a long time I’ve immediately liked something that found it’s way to my submissions email. I email them back saying I was interested in hearing the whole thing, and a week later a CD mailer finds its way to my mailbox.


I was a very happy blogger when this CD EP came in.
I put it in my computer, rip it immediately and listen to it. It must have been on repeat for a solid 3 hours.

This EP is good. Real good. The group says they don’t have a frontman, 10 seconds into the first track and it becomes clear why. Vocal harmonies are what sold me on this group so quickly, and what make this so enjoyable to listen to again, and again, and again.

Have I talked about how many times I’ve listened to this EP? I have? Well I’m going to say it again, because this EP is very easy to listen to on repeat. Here’s a snapshot of my iTunes. I’ve had this EP for a week now, and in that time I’ve done pretty much nothing by study, write for my university paper, and drive (all perfect things to do while listening to music.) I did the math, and well… I listened to the six Plume Giant a total of 70 times, an average of 10 song plays a day.



So, for fans of folk, especially of Sea Wolf and Fleet Foxes, this EP is worth the listen and your money.

Plume Giant – I’m On Drugs

Plume Giant – Tuesday

Plume Giant is on iTunes, and a physical copy of the EP is only $5 (US domestic shipping included) through their website. - I Hope Your Ears Bleed, OK-based blog

I get emails all day and night from people who want me to listen to their music and write about it. And most of the time, I listen to a few seconds then put it in the archive folder of my Gmail.

Something happened the other day though. I was trying to empty my inbox, but instead opened an email from a New Haven based folk group named Plume Giant. I didn’t remember seeing it in my inbox, so I read through it and listened to their attached song Fool Hall.

I liked it. I liked it a lot. In fact, it was the first time in a long time I’ve immediately liked something that found it’s way to my submissions email. I email them back saying I was interested in hearing the whole thing, and a week later a CD mailer finds its way to my mailbox.


I was a very happy blogger when this CD EP came in.
I put it in my computer, rip it immediately and listen to it. It must have been on repeat for a solid 3 hours.

This EP is good. Real good. The group says they don’t have a frontman, 10 seconds into the first track and it becomes clear why. Vocal harmonies are what sold me on this group so quickly, and what make this so enjoyable to listen to again, and again, and again.

Have I talked about how many times I’ve listened to this EP? I have? Well I’m going to say it again, because this EP is very easy to listen to on repeat. Here’s a snapshot of my iTunes. I’ve had this EP for a week now, and in that time I’ve done pretty much nothing by study, write for my university paper, and drive (all perfect things to do while listening to music.) I did the math, and well… I listened to the six Plume Giant a total of 70 times, an average of 10 song plays a day.



So, for fans of folk, especially of Sea Wolf and Fleet Foxes, this EP is worth the listen and your money.

Plume Giant – I’m On Drugs

Plume Giant – Tuesday

Plume Giant is on iTunes, and a physical copy of the EP is only $5 (US domestic shipping included) through their website. - I Hope Your Ears Bleed, OK-based blog

"It’s hard to believe Plume Giant is just beginning their musical journey. Their harmonies are so tight, you would think they’d been singing together for years...."

Sometimes things just fall into place. You could put it down to fate or simply excellent timing. Regardless, the fact that Yale University students, Nolan Green, Eliza Bagg, and Oliver Hill met at school and became friends could certainly be described as fortuitous. A combination of this trio’s talent, personality and drive spurred their creative process and Plume Giant was the result. Of course there’s more to the story. There always is. The fact of the matter is: these guys are good.

It’s hard to believe Plume Giant is just beginning their musical journey. Their harmonies are so tight, you would think they’d been singing together for years.

Take a listen to their six song self-titled CD and I promise you will be impressed by the maturity of the writing and musicianship. These are modern day troubadours who create quirky folk-pop melodies that stay with you long after the CD has ended. “I’m On Drugs” is a love song with a lazy psychedelic edge. “Fool Hall” is an upbeat, bluegrass style tune with a lovely fiddle hook. “Black Cat” could be an updated version of an old time blues tune. But it is an original. The three other songs on this (much too short) release are equally as strong.

I had the opportunity to interview Nolan via email to find out more about Plume Giant’s origin and aspirations.

You guys sound like you’ve been singing together forever. Can you give a little history of Plume Giant? How did you meet and when did you officially become ‘a band’?

Thanks - to be honest we haven't been a band for all that long. That said, Plume Giant really came together this past spring (2010) when Eliza came on board. Oliver and I had been arranging tunes together since the fall but they were all over the place - I mean really all over the place.

It wasn't until we got Eliza singing with us that we found the sound we were going for. Having three voices and the strings opened up a totally new way of writing for us so it was pretty exciting. Don't be fooled though, it didn't really lock in right away. It took some time to find the right blend and that's still something that we're constantly working to improve. Since getting back after summer break we've basically been playing music together every day.
- Seattle PI

"The vocals on every song are stunning, with an attention to tone and harmony that you rarely hear with young bands. The arrangements are intricate and varied but never excessive. On the overwhelmingly beautiful "All of it Now," the band sings the chorus in unison and the effect is near cathartic...." - The Yale Herald

Manic Productions put together a bang-up show at The Space this past Sunday. Plume Giant, a relatively new trio from New Haven, blasted open the evening with overwhelming, steamroller-sized harmonies. They call themselves psychedelic folk; I found nothing psychedelic about it at all. I did, however, find their retro-folk incredibly awesome. They achieve more with their three voices, two violins, and a guitar than most full-sized folk-rock bands. Their presentation — each member standing still, singing from their diaphragms, with minimum showmanship — reminded me of bluegrass bands who all stand and sing into one microphone. Band members Nolan Green, Oliver Hill, and Eliza Bagg merge their voices into a thick, honeyed rope. The resulting sound is so immersive, so complete, it makes you wish you could take their music as your partner, lover, dream date. - Hartford Advocate

A refreshingly warm October sun streamed in through the windows of the Chapel Street apartment. The dishwasher had just stopped running. Three half-finished mugs of tea sat on the dining room table. Eliza sat by one of them, and she gesticulated excitedly as she talked.

“I think the two songs that sort of really came together in the recording process — like the recordings just came out so amazing — are “Fool Hall” and “Honey Pie”. That’s what I think. Right? Who agrees with me?”

Nolan, who sat in an armchair to her left, murmured in agreement. Oliver was in the back corner of the room. He had just gotten up from the table, abandoning his mug and Nolan’s Martin guitar, which he had been plucking absentmindedly, to cue up a track on iPod speakers.

He agreed too, but added, “I mean, I’m really proud of how the album starts.”

His band mates concurred, and the album started over the speakers, a song called “I’m On Drugs.” The apartment was filled with the sound of the first guitar line. Boom-ba-dum Ba-boom-bum-bwa-dum. The drums and voices kick in, filling out the track with a driving beat and warm three-part harmony, setting the tone for a sumptuous debut EP.

Eliza Bagg ’12, Nolan Green ’12, and Oliver Hill ’12 are the three members of Plume Giant, a student band started last year. On Oct. 15 they released a six song, eponymous album. Green and Hill came together in the fall of 2009, their sophomore year. They started playing together at the now defunct Yale Music Scene’s open mics, some of which were held in Hill’s unjustly capacious common room in Branford H21.

“I think we dug each other’s stuff,” said Green, who was a Yale Music Scene coordinator his freshman and sophomore year, as well as the lead guitarist for Suitcase of Keys, another on campus band. “So it was like, ‘Let’s try playing —’”

“And Plume Giant was kind of like that for a couple months,” Hill interjected. They chose the name when it was still just the two of them. Hill and Green spent the day in the stacks, leafing through Whitman and looking for words they like. You know, like anyone would. They came upon both “Plume” and “Giant” in Whitman’s poem “Song of Myself,” in separate places, but “paired them up and it felt right.”

It was just the two guys, both on acoustic guitar and Hill occasionally on violin. But they struggled to really find their sound, and they’ll be the first to admit that the band was “a little all over the place.” It wasn’t until the beginning of 2010, once Bagg (Hill’s main squeeze) lent her effortless soprano and a second fiddle to the group, that Plume Giant really came together.

Back in the apartment, with Hill returned to the table, the three remembered what was a pivotal moment in the band’s short history. They rearranged for three voices one of Green’s songs, which had originally been sung by just him and Hill. The song, “All Of It Now,” appears in its revised form as the fourth track on the EP. They were working on the song one day in the spring near the Yale Farm, up by Edwards and Prospect.

“It was just a beautiful fucking sunny day,” recounted Hill. “And we were just feeling great, and working out these harmonies, and there was this lady who — have you seen Harold and Maude? Maude, basically.”

“Her name was Susie,” said Bagg.

“But she was like, in her seventies and in this bikini — ”

“Yeah seventies, in a bikini,” Green came in, “and just lounging and soaking up every piece of sun.”

“And she was just like, ‘That sounds so beautiful,’” said Bagg, overlapping. “‘That’s like the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.’ And we were like — wow!”

Plume Giant had found it. They began to gig around New Haven and New York fairly frequently, but according to Hill the Susie story was the “epitome” of why they wanted to record. They wanted to reach their growing number of supporters at a more personal level. Now they can hand them something physical, rather than just referring them to a Myspace page.

“We spent about $1.60 per copy,” said Hill, “and we’re selling them for two bucks, so we’re not really — ”

“It’s not a money maker,” laughed Green.

Plume Giant started recording the album as soon as they reconvened on campus in the last week of August, during any free moment they had. Opting out of the traditional recording studio route, the three did it all on their own, often duct taping a microphone to projectors and music stands in quiet rooms in WLH. They used Sudler Hall when they could, sometimes squatting there after lectures to take advantage of the room’s acoustics and a podium perfectly sized for a duct-taped mic. Except for the final mastering process, they did all the editing themselves.

“We were both being cheap, but also just wanted to learn how to record,” said Hill.

“It was interesting though,” said Green, “the professional guy that did the mastering, he came back to us and said the levels were a little weird …”

“I guess the main thing is,” Bagg explained, “he said that usually the main singer of songs, the level is way higher than everyone else, but in our music it’s not like that. All the vocal levels are sort of equal.”

“We definitely don’t have a front man,” added Hill. “And even though the seedlings of a song might be written by one person, it’s really realized with all of us in the same room.”

Like with most bands, they can write a lot of really beautiful songs, but there will always be that one track that you come back to. For this reporter, that song for Plume Giant is “Tuesday,” the last and shortest song on the EP, as well as the only one that was in fact recorded last year and was not a part of their WLH shenanigans.

But the song is the real deal. The three voices of Hill, Green and Bagg never separate for a moment, singing the opening line “Tuesday is the day I’m living free” like it was the lullaby that by serendipitous cooincidence had been passed down through each of their families for generations. The song swells and builds with violin lines and cymbal crashes over the ever-present acoustic guitar. Plume Giant weaves something in “Tuesday.” Like a tapestry, but better, tastier. Like funnel cake, maybe. But funnel cake so good that you don’t feel sick after you ride the Gravitron.

Plume Giant agreed to sing a song in the sun-dappled apartment, a new cover that they had been working on of “Sitting By The Dock of the Bay.” As the trio wove their way through Otis Redding’s tune, right after telling stories of their little family’s history, it became clear how they do what they do. Plume Giant sings like they talk: one on top of the other, jumbling up into one happy jambalaya and still able to get the point across, still able to tell the story. They are three kids, close friends who just love to make music together. And luckily for all of us, they’re fucking good at it.

The Plume Giant EP will be available as a free download this weekend only, at plumegiant.bandcamp.com, and is already up on iTunes. The band will also be hosting an album release concert at Dwight Hall on November 5.
- Yale Daily News