Up-and-coming rock band Young the Giant is still riding the success of its 2011 self-titled album, which introduced the group to a new audience. Lead singer Sameer Gadhia took time out of the band’s tour with GROUPLOVE before its show at the House of Blues in New Orleans to speak with Legacy about the “crunch” of Los Angeles, the MTV VMAs and the band’s work on a follow-up album.

How’s the tour going? What’s it like to be playing alongside GROUPLOVE, who’s also become fairly popular?

We’re actually good friends with them and we’ve been playing with them [for] a long time. A few years ago, we had a residency in Los Angeles at a venue called the Troubadour and by the second week, they were opening for us, and it was selling so poorly that we had to cancel the residency. So we all met up that night and partied and whatnot. Two years later, we toured with them to open for them in Australia. Just recently, they’re opening for us. So, it’s been a little back and forth. I think they’re an amazing band with incredible energy and I’m really happy that they’ve been able to enjoy the recent success. They deserve it. It’s good because we’re all friends. [It’s] cool that we’re all kind of in the same boat.

The band has been around since 2004, but has only recently found mainstream success. What kept Young the Giant going over the years? 

Honestly, we’re all so young and we’ve been doing this for so long that we’ve kind of been giving it our all. We’ve toured with bands that haven’t achieved the level of success that we have, so we’re really just humbled by the fact that we can be doing this at such a young age to such a large audience with all the support behind us. It’s really an awesome opportunity … we’re all very fortunate about it.

You were selected to play at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. How was it to get that much support from your fans? 

It’s crazy, man. It was ridiculous. That weekend happened so quickly and then immediately after that night, we flew to Ohio to start the tour with Incubus. 

Were you nervous about the VMAs at all? How did you deal with it?

I think we were just on a confidence high if anything. I don’t think we were really nervous because we had our friends and fans from our hometown right there with us. [The support] made it really nice, a lot less nerve-racking.

How did you decide on the name Young the Giant? Does it have any meaning?

Young the Giant really doesn’t mean anything. It was just a moniker that we felt was new, different. There really isn’t a backstory to it. It’s just something we felt comfortable with. Immediately after [we created the name] we went upstairs and started writing songs under that guise, the new name, and it just worked, so we stuck with it.

How would you describe the band’s sound?

It’s kind of a hard question to answer because we have so many different songs. We have songs like “St. Walker” and “Islands” and “My Body,” and they’re kind of different genres if you will … I guess eclectic rock would be a good answer.

What can people expect from your live shows?

High energy. Cool lights. We have a few light shows, so that’ll be fun. Yeah, I definitely think we’re a pretty high-energy band. We don’t use any back tracks or anything, so what you see on stage is what you hear. We try to keep it as honest possible.

Are there any plans for a second album yet?

Yeah, we’re going to be recording at the end of year.

What can fans expect from it? Is it going to be the same diversity as the first album? 

I think as we get older our sound is getting more mature as well. We’re playing some new material [at the House of Blues], we’re going to be playing three new songs that night. They’re all totally different. One’s really long and slow. Another one’s [short] and poppy. And the other one’s more of like an edgy alternative-rock song. So they’re all different.

What inspires your music? 

We’ve all been living together for the last four years in various places in southern California. The beach is definitely very inspirational, a very carefree environment. And then we moved to Hollywood. It was noisy and you know, a little more crunch and whatever off the street. All of these different things and then traveling as well have been very inspirational. That’s why I’m excited for the next record because we have such a better understanding of music, the world, each other, our instruments. I really think the next record will be much more powerful.