The BIGSOUND music conference kicks off today in Brisbane, with BIGSOUND LIVE taking over Fortitude Valley from tomorrow. Sydney’s Bec and Ben are one of the showcasing bands at the event so we caught up with them to get a taste of what we might expect from their BIGSOUND performances and much more… read on!
Tell us what you’re up to at the moment…
At the moment we’re in the early stages of putting out our second EP. We’ve just released the first single called White Wall and the EP will come out early next year. We’re also in the middle of playing a bunch of shows all over the place to promote it and us.
Lots of cities and venues we haven’t played before so it’s all really exciting and new…
Have you played BIGSOUND before?
We haven’t played Bigsound before but we’re very grateful for the opportunity to this year its sounds like a great event that has the potential to provide some great opportunities for us and the other acts, we’re all really looking forward to it.
As you haven’t played BIGSOUND before – what have you heard about it and what are you expecting?
Our only real perception of what these things are like comes from our manager and everything we hear in the media when things like SXSW, CMJ and the Great Escape are on. For me it just sounds like doing a normal gig except theres heaps of other awesome gigs on all day and night and lots of influential people floating aound checking it all out. I think the musos would have the best time though because everyone else is essentially at work, so we are really looking forward to checking out all the bands and making some new friends.
What can crowds expect from your shows?
Ideally, expect nothing. We always go out and give it a million percent though. if we were watching oursleves perform we’d probaly describe it as a safely contained rock pop riot. We’ve experimented with bigger lineups for some shows we’ve played recently and a couple of the guys we’ve used will be in town for bigsound too so that could be on the cards but we can’t make any promises. It will be sweaty, loud and full of attitude though. Guaranteed.
Are there any bands you’re looking forward to seeing perform?
Yeah we’ve got friends in various bands that are playing up here so we’ll try and get around to support them. So many of the other band names are really familiar to me though so i guess i’ll try and catch as many as i can and put the music with the names. I’m pretty keen to check out Jackie Onassis, Bored Nothing and also to see what the John Steel Singers have been up to.
Any talks/speakers you’re looking forward to?
We’re both looking forward to hopefully seeing Nick Cave and Amanda Palmer as well as floating around trying to pick up whatever industry knowledge we can.
What are three essential items for life on the road?
A clear head before the show, drinks afterwards, and a hangover cure to get your clear head back. Repeat.
What has been your favourite Australian album of the year so far and why?
Push the Sky Away by Nick Cave. It was a gateway to all the older stuff i had listened to but never really got before. Maybe its an age thing cos i’m a bit older now but i really love it. The same thing happened to me with acts like Radiohead and Wilco. He’s in this league of musicians that get talked about loads by other musicians and when i hear about acts like that i guess i almost feel like its my duty to at least check them out. Push The Sky Away was the album that got its hooks in deep and now i’m discovering and getting into all the other stuff. I’m still listening to it at night while i fall asleep.
What will the rest of 2013 be holding for you?
Well we’re basically playing lots and lots of shows. We’re on tour most of September launching White Wall then we head back to Sydney for a residency there in October with a big headline show just before Christmas. We’ve been trialing an expanded lineup for certain songs at our local shows which we call the Bec and Ben Big Band, which ironically is just the size of a normal band but coming from playing as a two piece feels like an orchestra to us. Its been really exciting so we’re hoping to develop that over the rest of the year as we’re writing outside the confines of a two piece now I guess, so its a natural progression to get more people on board to play the parts.
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Bec and Ben will be performing at BIGSOUND LIVE, which kicks off tomorrow! Check out all the details about the annual Brisbane based event here: http://www.qmusic.com.au/bigsound/ – it takes place between the 10th and the 13th of September in Fortitude Valleym with the LIVE portion on the 11th and 12th.
White Wall single tour:
Thursday 12th September – Bigsound
Saturday 14th September – Secret Location, Sydney
Thursday 19th September – The Old Bar, Melbourne
Friday 27th September – Friends@X&Y, Brisbane
