we are (the) giants of gender, an experimental trio that formed during the summer of 2006. we believe that improvisation is the purest form of music: it is the core of our musical aesthetic and didactical practices.

how does an artist begin to describe his/her work? usually with a cliché, but that aside, most would start with context. we, [(the) g.o.g.], exist at somewhat of a unique point in history. we are part of one of the first generations to have only existed in a 'pop-culture' era. academics write it off as insignificant, while those who live in it rarely think about it. this leaves us no choice but to rebel against it, while at the same time embracing it. are we the product of our academic training, or the result of the grungy, often anti-intellectual music which has been one of the few unifying forces of our generation? are we an art ensemble, or a party band? how far should we push the envelope, or are we even pushing it at all? are we a fucking maverick trio, or is that simply a romantic notion? these are the questions that we attempt to deal with.

we examine the currents of postmodern musics available in mass media as it relates to our generation, the iGeneration. born during the mid-to-late 1980s and early 1990s, the defining cultural-historical event to distinguish our group is that we spent our formative years in the age of the internet. bombarded by this aspect of mass media, our senses have been saturated. the musicians of our generation have been exposed to a greater quantity of music than any previous generation. young artists of prior generations looked to the underground, searching for voices with which they could identify. with the advent of the internet, however, there is no underground. even the concept of obscurity is questionable given twenty-first century access to information about past and current artistic trends. art and music have become easier to locate, and artists have a means to promote their work and ideas without corporate interests. how has this affected the improvising artists of the iGeneration? it has left a void. this issue is crucial to (the) g.o.g.

a violent rejection of certain traditions has become an integral element of our music. therefore, in a referential sense, we are necessarily aware of these former practices. modern society has made this rejection central. without it, our music, improvisational music, would be impossible.

though we have become consumed by the past and engulfed by the future, our influences stem perpetually from the present. unlike sex, which is a biological concept, gender is a social construct specifying the socially and culturally prescribed roles that men and women are to follow. we have trumped these preconceptions of heteronormalcy.

we are: 1. friends; 2. musicians; 3. lovers.