BEHIND THE MUSIC: bigfatbig

Image by Ryan Young

North East pop punk party starters bigfatbig’s admirable work ethic continues apace with the release of their sophomore EP, Rippin’ It, released on 6^th September via Daemon TV. As adept at a catchy chorus as tackling hard-hitting subject matter, the band’s new release fans the flames of the DIY punk scene, taking irreverent swipes at the economy, relationships and their own evolution as a band in a typically fun, raucous and blisteringly cool release.

Here, guitarist Katie Ryall delves into some of the inspirations and meanings behind the tracks. Catch the band live at Three Tanners Bank, North Shields supporting Lauran Hibberd on Wednesday 18^th September.

Words: Katie Ryall

Nothing

I know the point of these types of articles is to get deep about the music we’ve written, but sometimes, for us, writing and performing is truly simple, which is absolutely the case with the opener of this EP. We wrote Nothing because capitalism sucks, working for big companies sucks, money sucks, and we wanted to have a moan about it. Reducing these big concepts and our beliefs into a repetitive, easy chorus somehow makes them more manageable, and summarises the truth of what we wanted to say: I’m doing Nothing!

Inbetween 

I know that the majority of people are a mix of good and bad, and it’s reductive to fit people into those kinds of categories anyway, but for some reason I can’t apply that thinking to myself. I struggle with thinking that I must either be good or bad, and all of the inbetween is invalid and mediocre. Therapy maybe? Lol. Writing this and getting to play it live reminds me that it’s not that deep though, and thinking about yourself too much is not productive.   

Reason/Season/Lifetime

Friendships can be weird and complicated and we wrote a punk song about that. The bridge of this song is the crux of it, steady and then speeding. 

Fine

If you know our music at all, you’ll know we love a repetitive chorus. That’s how this track started, and it’s hopefully meditative in a way because of that. It’s about telling yourself that you’re fine – sometimes meaning it, sometimes not. 

Love Letters

In 2022 we were lucky enough to tour with the best band in the world, Martha. They’ve always been like legends to us, obviously because of their music but also their ethos. We learnt what it truly means to be punk from watching them, and I imagine a whole community of people can say the same thing. To take such a risk on bringing a band like us, who had never toured, never played any big gigs, were unsigned etc., just ‘cos they wanted to give us the experience, is still mad to us. Playing and watching Martha every night still informs us in our decisions and writing now. Love Letters is an ode to our heroes, and a plea to the universe that we can maybe one day do it all again. 

The Worm Song

A love song to end the EP, duh! I think it’s important to be bold in our vulnerabilities, and love is certainly both of those things. It is bold but honest to give your feelings, your love, your life, to someone else, especially when that love feels completely unconditional.