Giant Rooks are a German

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band from

Hamm Hamm may refer to: Places ;Germany: * Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia, a city north-east of Dortmund * Hamm (Sieg), a municipality in the eponymous ''Verbandsgemeinde'' in the district of Altenkirchen, Rhineland-Palatinate * Hamm, Bitburg-Prüm, part ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

founded in 2014. In 2019, they won the 1Live Krone Award and the Preis für Popkultur in the months following the release of their EP ''Wild Stare''. Their debut album ''Rookery'' was released in August 2020.

History

The band was founded in 2014 by cousins Frederik Rabe (vocals) and Finn Schwieters (guitar), later joined by fellow schoolmates Jonathan Wischniowski (keyboards) and Finn Thomas (drums). This lineup was soon completed by the addition of a mutual friend, Luca Göttner (bass). In December 2015, they released their debut self-produced EP ''The Times Are Bursting The Lines''. This was followed by another EP ''New Estate'' in January 2017, which earned them critical acclaim. The release was supported by hundreds of shows all over Europe, eventually landing them a record deal with Irrsinn Tonträger of

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

. In April 2019, the EP ''Wild Stare'' was released with its title track being a

top 20 A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, ofte ...

radio hit in Italy and the EP racking up more than 50,000,000 world-wide streams on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

soon after its release. Giant Rooks announced the release of their debut album ''ROOKERY'' on August 28, 2020. Radio X DJ John Kennedy played the band's single "All We Are" on his X-Posure radio show, on the album's release. They went on tour in North America with fellow German band

Milky Chance Milky Chance is a German rock band originating in Kassel. It consists of vocalist and guitarist Clemens Rehbein, bassist and percussionist Philipp Dausch, and their band members, Antonio Greger and Sebastian Schmidt. Their first single, " Stole ...

in 2021. On the Official Singles Chart Top 100 of 25 March 2022 to 31 March 2022, the band achieved their first UK hit when their version of Suzanne Vega's "

Tom's Diner "Tom's Diner" is a song by American singer and songwriter Suzanne Vega. Written in 1981 or 1982, it was first released as a track on the January 1984 issue of '' Fast Folk Musical Magazine''. Originally featured on her second studio album, '' S ...

", with

AnnenMayKantereit AnnenMayKantereit (occasionally shortened ''AMK'') is a German rock band founded in Cologne in 2011. Their songs are predominantly performed in German, but the band also publishes cover songs in English occasionally. A notable feature of the band' ...

, charted at number 63. They had concerts in the United States in late 2022. In 2023, Giant Rooks were one of the openers for English singer-songwriter

Louis Tomlinson Louis William Tomlinson ( ; born 24 December 1991) is an English singer, songwriter, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Doncaster, England, Tomlinson auditioned for British singing competition ''The X Factor'' as a solo artist in 2010, w ...

on the North American leg of his Faith in the Future World Tour, joining at the

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

concert through the end of the leg before embarking on their own headliner. In February 2024, the band released their sophomore album ''How Have You Been?'', peaking at number one in Germany.

Artistry

The band has cited that "artists like

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

and

Bon Iver Bon Iver ( ) is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Vernon had originally formed Bon Iver as a solo project, but it eventually became a band consisting of Vernon (vocals, guit ...

" have influenced their music the most. Other influences they have named include James Blake, Celeste, and

Joy Crookes Joy Elizabeth Akther Crookes (born 9 October 1998) "Date of birth: October 1998" "Nationality: Irish" "Country of residence: England" is a British singer-songwriter. She incorporates details about relationships, self-reliance, her culture, her ...

Members

* Frederik Rabe - lead vocals, guitar, percussion * Finn Schwieters - lead guitar, backing vocals * Luca Göttner - bass guitar, backing vocals * Jonathan Wischniowski - keyboards, synthesizer, backing vocals * Finn Thomas - drums

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Promotional singles

Awards and nominations

Awards

* 2019: 1Live Krone Award * 2019: Preis für Popkultur (Most Promising Newcomer)

Nominations

* 2022: MTV Europe Music Awards (Best German Act)

References

External links

Giant Rooks

Giant Rooks
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

{{Authority control German indie rock groups German pop rock music groups Musical groups established in 2014