Giant Drag

She plays guitar, she sings, and she claims to have been a weird youngster. "I think I hung a few (dolls) from a noose with some red nail polish "blood" on them when I was 13."

Weird or not, Annie Hardy of Giant Drag is unique. Come up with all the comparisons you can, but you will never be able to pin down Annie Hardy. As one half of the Los Angeles-based two piece, Annie Hardy, along with Micah Calabrese, have forged a sound that Spin Magazine described as "Fuzzy, haunting melodies that combine the Beach Boys with Mazzy Star and Nirvana."

(By the way, Giant Drag officially consider themselves a three-piece with Calabrese's left-hand playing keyboards.)

High praise, indeed, but one listen to Giant Drag's latest, Hearts and Unicorns, will undoubtedly assure you that they got it right. At the least, Hardy will brag about Giant Drag's album outselling the Spin Doctors in the first week of its release.

Here now, Annie Hardy of Giant Drag.

What music did you listen to growing up? Do you count yourself among the legions fortunate enough to have parents/older siblings with a passion for music?

I listened to a lot of what my dad listened to. He was pretty much the only person around me that had good taste in music. I don't have any brothers or sisters that I grew up with, so I was pretty much on my own. I started out with the Beatles, lots of classic rock and 'oldies' and then Guns 'n' Roses and then my dad got into grunge and stuff. Well, we got into it together, I guess. Meanwhile, my mom was listening to Barbara Streisand.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of having only two musicians/members in the band?

The biggest advantage is when we write songs, I come to Micah with a new song or idea and it's finished within half an hour. The down side is not being able to do everything we want to, but usually we don't want to do anything else.

In listening to 'Hearts & Unicorns,' the boundaries in the music are limitless. Was that a goal or circumstance? Explain.

I don't really know. We don't think about stuff very much, we just do. Stuff pops into our heads and we orchestrate it.

Assuming you are familiar with Sylvia Plath, it sounds like she would have made a great friend?

I don't know. She might have been a bum-out. I like to hang around with funny people.

Who is Kevin?

A friend who hacked onto our website once and wrote some silly (stuff) in our news section. In my reply, I wrote "Thanks to Kevin for writing that stupid (stuff) on our site. Come see us play tonight as we'll be debuting our new song 'Kevin is Gay'"

Pitchfork claimed that "Hardy could be a far more interesting frontperson than 'Hearts and Unicorns' lets on." So, Annie, what are you holding back?

Nothing. That dude needs to come to a show, I guess.

Finally, I loved the interview between Micah and yourself on your website. Anything you would have wanted to ask him that didn't end up on the interview? Any you wish he would have asked you?

No, that is our version of a bio because bio's are so stupid. I guess it could use an update since it's pretty dated and a lot has happened since then.

www.giantdrag.com