Big Boy - Studio Report

BIG BOY - one day with the "Rock appointees"
The heart of the room is an impressive Helios console, which is a rarity in the world. Such consoles you would have found e.g. in Berlin, when Germany was still famous for studio technique, and on just this one stars like Bowie (who signed it in 2004) were formerly recorded. With some really good luck it came to its new proprietor, in laboriously restored condition at a fixed price. Also the microphone set is worth seeing and listening to: among others there are rare Telefunken models, nowadays no bargain. Everything is recorded analogue on tape to achieve an optimum sound. On about 12 m² there are all the instruments you could possibly imagine, and multitalented studio boss Clemens is able to play them all. So the way is prepared for the creation of the perfect BIG BOY sound...


   
But let's look back at the beginnings: when still in school, also BIG BOY and Clemens used to have a band with rehearsal meetings, drinking beer (here we are served a tasty coffee), playing songs, many discussions and all the typical trimmings. In contrast to this they started their project BIG BOY much more considerate and intentional; decisions are clearly made by the two masterminds. At first the idea was, to set off with a cover version of ‘Get over it’, which provided a great hit for OK Go in 2002, and add some own songs to the set. The biggest problem that occurred was vehement criticism of A&R managers (e.g. at showcases for labels) referring to the music on the first demos or due to the daring styling. It was quickly stated, BIG BOY was not authentic, not "for real". But you might ask yourself, what is real on the music market in times of Emo, casted dream teams or bands like TOKIO HOTEL?



For BIG BOY there is no point in being put into a category, because that is certainly not the intention of the inventor. Already at times of nursery school the singer sometimes took mom's makeup stuff and put it on for fun and not because this has become fashionable in the one or the other music branch. Also other possible similarities seem to come about by pure chance. In addition he is an avowed tattoo fan and can present some fresh pieces of art, e.g. the ‘Ponygirl’ - matching the new song material. And because there was no label found for the upcoming band although they had support from the scene magazine Sonic Seducer and although the number of fans had been growing steadily (thanks to platforms such as Myspace, which seems to have become too large by now to use it as a stepping stone for a career), the management founded its own label to promote the debut CD ‘Hail the Big Boy’. Clemens and BIG BOY took their time to write the songs for the new album that they have been working on since September and that will keep the fans waiting until summer. They patiently prepared everything because they wanted to make sure that they are absolutely content with the creation - some ideas where even squashed altogether. After finishing the compositional work, drums, bass and guitars were recorded, during our visit at the end of February the singing takes were in process, one song per day. Some synthesizer sounds and some guest recordings, e.g. by guitar player Ossi, were also planned. The next steps are mixing by Clemens and final mastering. We were allowed to listen to some promising samples and can reveal that the new songs are up-tempo, real rock and groovier…   


 
Even if the man at the buttons prefers to stay in domestic regions to be able to address himself to other projects then - who will deny the visionary assigned rock star BIG BOY to go back on the road, having worked hard for months. For this purpose he will gather his live band (with A.K. at the bass, drummer Happy and brand new entrant Gabor at the guitar) to harvest some fame and glory when playing live for those who appreciate all this: the real fans! We would like to say thank you to the BIG BOY "appointees" and wish them a lot of success for the album and the tour, which is scheduled for autumn, additionally to some festival gigs. For now there will be two shows with new songs in the set list before both of the two will deservedly relax some time in their home country Sweden.
   
Upcoming Live Dates
30.05.08 Essen, Zeche Carl, ca. 8 Euro
31.05.08 Stuttgart

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