It was August of 2016 when Man Eating Giant was born, and this is how it happened. First, I need to tell you that a good friend of mine had passed in a car accident earlier that year, on Easter day to be exact. His name was Jeremy Dreher, but most everybody called him Worm. I could fill pages about our friendship and band experiences; Jeremy played bass and we were in a couple bands together over the years. However, Man Eating Giant wasn’t born out of tribute to a friend or anything like that, but there’s a connection between band members, both current and former to Worm.
I believe it was summer of 2016 when Amy England, the better half of MEG’s current bass player reached out to me and said that her husband, Jeremy was looking for a heavier type of project. I was suggested by a mutual friend…. but wait just a damn minute!!!! Another bass player named Jeremy was crossing my path?! That was just too fucked up and at the time I had to take a pause. I couldn’t possibly play with another bass player named Jeremy so soon after the passing of my good friend, or could I? After some time, I decided to embrace the opportunity, call it fate and reach out to Jeremy England. Let me tell you, I’m glad I did! Jeremy is a beast of bassist and an even better friend. The universe speaks!
Then there was Thomas Hunt, a.k.a. T.J. or Teej. He was the most obvious choice for guitar player. I thought he and I would make a good guitar team for several reasons. One, he was in Bulletwolf with Worm at the time of his passing, and we had that undeniably strong connection of losing a close friend. Two, I’d seen him play with Bulletwolf a few times and loved his care-free rock n’ roll attitude and showmanship! I reached out to T.J., and he said Hell Yeah! Easy.
Our original drummer was Jon Wade, who I had known since the Grissel days. Grissel was the first band that Worm and I were in together. At one point, Jon actually managed that band! I knew Jon played drums and like so many of us he knew and loved Worm.
We needed a singer and it’s the classic story you’ve heard before. After a few failed attempts at trying to find “the right guy” I just told the guys that I’d give it a shot. So that was the original Man Eating Giant line up. Me on vocals and guitar, Teej on guitar, Jeremy England on bass and Jon on drums. That was a good line up that lasted for about two and half years. We made a solid three-song E.P. and played a few shows. Jon was the first to quit and several months later was followed by T.J. No big dramatic story to share regarding either departure. In each case, they both just wanted to move on, no hard feelings. We’re all still friends. Hooray!
Don E. Curtis replaced Jon after his departure in April of 2019 and is MEG’s current drummer. Don also replaced the original Grissel drummer and was in Bulletwolf with T.J. and Worm! Are you following all of this? All of this history made Don a perfect fit but let me tell you how he joined. We got offered a gig opening for none other than Death Angel. Yes, that’s right, THE Death Angel, Bay Area Thrash Legends! Right after this Jon quits. Those drummers and their timing! Haha…. Anyway, I called Don and said we need you! We also had a couple more shows booked. Initially, Don was just gonna help us out and fill in until we were able to find somebody else. There wouldn’t be anyone else. We played the Death Angel show (which was amazing) and a couple more shortly after that gig. It just felt so natural with Don behind the kit that I told him that he was just going to have to be in the band!
Curtis Cree replaced T.J. and has known and played in bands with Jeremy England for years. This of course made Curt an obvious and easy choice. Curt has been in the band for about a year, and we have recorded and released a couple of tunes and played several shows. We continue to write and are in a good place. In fact, stronger than ever! Mainly because we’re all good friends that enjoy playing some fuckin’ metal! Check out our tunes on Bandcamp, which you can find here – https://maneatinggiant.bandcamp.com/ and be on the lookout for a new tune that will be released later this month!
Scott, April 8, 2022