The year is 2015. Music is flowing through the sunshine hills of South Wales as per usual. Deep in the fabric of the Swansea music scene, something was about to create a blaze of Rock n Roll Rhythm & Blues. It was time for normality to be shaken up, a spark of something new and exciting. From the embers of a covers band metropolis, original music was about to shine through again. Four musicians, Rhys Thomas John (Lead singer/guitarist), Ross Bullitt (Lead guitar/backing vocals), David C Thomas (Bass/backing vocals) and Pete Thomas (Keyboards/backing vocals) banded together to create some unadulterated, good old fashioned rock n roll in the form of Bigfeat.
Okay, Okay, that intro was a bit over the top but how else do I introduce you to my band, Bigfeat. For five years we’ve been feeding music fans tasty, chunky pieces of Rock n Roll and it has been an emotional yet fun ride. I, Ross, Rhys and Pete were regular attendees at a popular open mic night run in Swansea, South Wales for a number of years. After jamming together most weeks, playing other artist’s songs, we decided to start a band. Not quite an epiphany moment but it was strange it took so long for us to do so. Through the sheer love of playing live music and each of us having fair experience in writing and performing, we soon got together with original drummer, Phil Hann, and worked on our own pieces of music. From playing influential band’s music such as Creedance Clearwater Revival, The Band and Little Feat (hence our name in ode to this 1970’s powerhouse), we soon developed a unique sound with a blend of Ross Bullitt’s epic retro sliding guitar pieces, “spine tingling” keyboard magic courtesy of Pete Thomas, my “thumping” bass lines, Rhys’ magnetic prowess as a front man with an energetic presence and the introduction of, in my opinion, one of Wales’ greatest drummers, the maniacal mighty, Jamie Williams. This sounds like I am ‘bigging’ us up no ends but I am relaying some words passed on to us from people who have enjoyed us over time.
The first year is always a purely exciting but busy time for any new band. Dreams and goals float around like a swirling cacophony of hope and this led us to being very productive. Within the first year, we had recorded our first two EPs at the acclaimed Monnow Valley Studios, Monmouth, Wales, and released the debut EP ‘Til the Sunrise’ in August 2016. We managed to put on a sold out EP launch at the iconic Patti Pavilion, Swansea, thereby becoming the first band to perform music at the venue in over ten years. It was an incredible gig, not only for us personally, but for the fans of music who had missed the venue over the years. This success led to a number of shows throughout the UK playing various festivals, classic venues like The Cluny, Newcastle, and The Louisiana, Bristol along with a support slot with The Average White Band at The Tramshed, Cardiff. A lot happened in a short amount of time and, as many bands would tell you, it was bloody good fun.
Our second EP, ‘Medicine Man,’ launched the The Globe, Cardiff in early 2017, another sell out show which was magical with our fans, local and from lands afar. As we say on our website, we make music to “keep your booty moving” and, “leave you floating up in the rafters somewhere on a wave of rock and roll transcendence.” Bigfeat shows are always a party which you don’t want to miss. Whether it’s about an evil Mexican succubus or about staying up ‘Til the sunrise,’ we write songs about whatever inspires us, and then we wait and see what twisted cats come out of the woodwork. We may have a small five year history behind us but we hope to make a big future.
https://www.facebook.com/Bigfeatmusic/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClTNs5uJLzIWrEoYaPxtV0g
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/bigfeat/1147288262