Biography

Giraffe Tongue Orchestra is an alternative metal band, made up of musicians and friends from various established alternative acts, that melded elements of hard rock and progressive metal. The group was made up of the Dillinger Escape Plan songwriter/guitarist Ben Weinman, Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds, Alice in Chains vocalist William Duvall, Dethklok bassist Pete Griffin, and the drummer of the Mars Volta, Thomas Pridgen. The idea of a brand-new, purely collaborative project between musicians from numerous bands on the alternative scene was initially thought up by Weinman and Hinds. The project sat in limbo for a short while, with Weinman stating that he almost decided to call it a day on the project a number of times as nothing appeared to come to fruition; however, the project eventually saw the light of day when he and Hinds ultimately decided to commit to finding the perfect chemistry to make the band work. Eventually, more and more ideas came together, with more musicians leaving their creative stamp on the results. Weinman ultimately stated that the sound of the band is unlike anything that any of the members have ever done in their mainstay projects. Early on, it was revealed that Juliette Lewis was tipped to be a possible lead vocalist for the project. However, it was subsequently revealed that she performed guest vocals on one of the album tracks and that the lead vocalist was in fact William DuVall of Alice in Chains. The record was mostly written before DuVall joined the ensemble, and it turned out that his vocal prowess was the last essential ingredient needed to complete the group's sound. The band premiered its first single, "Crucifixion," on the BBC Radio 1 Rock Show with Daniel P. Carter in June 2016. This was followed by their live debut at the U.K. Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2016. Giraffe Tongue Orchestra's debut album, Broken Lines, was released in September 2016 through Cooking Vinyl and Weinman's own creative imprint, Party Smasher Inc. ~ Rob Wacey