Giant’s first customer (before it was called Giant) was The Ed Palermo Big Band. It was a weekday from 3:00-6:00 pm. in 1981 a couple months after the place was built. I still had the small rooms rented out for living. Studio B was my room. Studio C was rented to Joe Pehrson, a classical composer who had recently moved to NY from Detroit. A bathing suit model from Metuchen, NJ Karen O’Shea lived in Studio D. A budding jazz guitarist, James Zucker, who we all knew as Jimbo lived in Studio E. Thad Wheeler was in Studio F. He practiced and stored his drums there.
Anyway, about 5 minutes into the rehearsal, Mark Epstein from the 3rd floor who had a print business called IZMO yells up the elevator shaft, “Cut the noise, were trying to work down here!” I’ll never forget Ed yelling back, “No you shut up, I’m paying for this time!” A light bulb went off in my head and Giant was born.