Indie rock group The Big Moon are gearing up for their upcoming UK tour and a long-awaited new studio album, Here is Everything. After their acclaimed second album, Walking Like We Do, dropped in early 2020, the band has gained many new fans over the pandemic. Now, they’re finally getting to see them play live as they return to the stages that they belong on; kicking off right here in Sheffield with a show at The Leadmill.
Drummer Fern Ford was kind enough to answer a few of our questions before their visit – about their new album, returning to touring, and how The Big Moon have developed so far.
Since the last album, we’ve had two years of lockdowns and uncertainty. How does it feel to be playing live again, and how do you think this period has affected you as an artist?
It’s sort of started to feel more normal now… we did a summer festival last year and it was just for real, it felt like a memory. When I was on stage, I sort of remember this, but it felt very temporary, so I was enjoying it in a way that was, like, sort of savouring it because we were like, well, we get a chance to do this, but who knows how long for...? But now we're actually doing tours and all this stuff, we're settling into it and sort of we just feel really lucky, to be honest. Because we've had a chance to stop, I think we realized how much we love doing it. I feel like you're on a bit of an escalator and things are just happening and you just do one gig to the next and you never get to actually soak anything in. One of the girls said recently that it felt like we all recommitted. It's almost like we renewed our vows because a lot of bands just stopped being bands because they just wanted to do other things, or they couldn't be a band anymore because they couldn't afford it. It feels like we all sort of decided to be like ‘no, let's do this’. So, yeah, it feels it just feels lovely.
The Big Moon has always had fantastic art direction – you have great album covers, with the new one featuring a very pregnant Juliette, and some stunning music videos too. Which was your favourite music video to work on?
I think probably like a really old one. I don't even know if it was an actual single. I think it might have been one of our first with Louis Bhose. We've done, like, six maybe videos with him now. It's called ‘Nothing Without You’ and we're just in a gym doing a routine with ribbons. We had £500 to make it all, and somehow Louis made that work and we just went to our friends – one of our friends, his mother's a teacher, so we used the school that she teaches at. And it was all done on a very tight budget, but that was my favourite, and I think it's just because I got to prance about and not actually act.
How much input do the band get on the art direction? Is it all handled externally, or do you come up with these concepts yourself?
No, we're quite picky. I think it feels like you can't have one without the other. And you get into music and you think, oh, well, I just need to play drums and come up with parts and then record it and all this stuff. But there's so much more, I realized quickly there's so much more to being in a band because the aesthetic is a huge part of it and you write these songs and you want the accompanying visual side of it to complement it. And so we try our best to work with – I mean, we're lucky that we work with a lot of talented, creative people and they have amazing ideas and help sort of, like, bring the audio side of things to a whole new level with visual media. We know some very talented people, which is very helpful as well.
So, new album coming out - how do you think it compares to the first two? And are there any songs on it you're particularly proud of?
It's different again, to the last two. The first album was sort of like a studio version of how we sounded as a live band, I'd say. And we were young. We sound young on our record, I think, which is nice to have that snapshot. Second album, we were just trying to be a bit more considered. And this one feels sort of in between the two sometimes. With this one, we were heavily involved in the production, which is the difference. Sometimes, you have to compromise because you're working with producers who have a certain vision, and you might have a vision, and it's a working relationship, so you do want to extract as much from our producers as you can because that's why you chose to work with them. But sometimes it feels like – well, this time around, it didn't feel quite there. And so we decided to take the reins and finish it off ourselves with the help of one of our friends, CECIL. This is the most Big Moon record that there has been, because we've been quite precise in exactly what happens, where and why and everything that’s there, - whether that's Jules smacking a baking tray and that's delay, reverb – I don't know. She had a very specific vision for that… It's the most us record we've ever made, I'd say.
Before the pandemic, you got to support Pixies on their UK tour – how was the experience of touring with such a legendary band?
We got to play the big crowds, which is nice. Yeah, it was great. It was fun just to play those venues that some of them we've never played before. We didn't see them really – I think Cee met one of the members, but it was sort of like, as you'd expect, a big, big band who’ve been doing it for decades. They've got a sort of touring routine, down-in-and-out sort of thing. But their crew was lovely. They were just nice atmosphere and yeah, it was nice to play some really nice old venues as well.
What was your favourite venue you got to play?
There's an old theatre in Dublin called the Olympia, which is just lovely. It's really, like, grand. And we've played in a lot of sticky, dark venues, so it was nice to be in a very grand sort of theatre for a change.
What's your favourite song that you've done with The Big Moon?
It’s a B-side - maybe that's why. Maybe because I don't play them much, but there's a B-side called ‘Hold This’, which is quite dark, and we played it on one tour, and I really liked how moody and dark it is. And I quite like it when we go that way.
You've done a couple of solo tracks. Have you got any more plans for that kind of thing or are you just sticking to the band for now?
Well, we all sort of do our own things side by side. Soph’s in Our Girl, that’s her sort of baby, and Cee’s in Gently Tender. Jules writes sometimes with other people. Yeah, I'm sort of like following along with Big Moon at the moment. But, yeah, I’m still writing, and when there’s a break in the calendar, I'm sure I'll do something.
OK, here's one for you. Do you remember what the first song you heard that made you knew that you wanted to be a musician?
Yeah, my first favourite group was Boyzone. My first concert was Boyzone. My second concert was Boyzone. My third concert was Steps. My fourth concert was Westlife. My fifth concert was Westlife. I'm mad into pop. The stuff I listen to now is not pop, but there's a place in my heart for the cheesiest of pop. Like, for instance, I think that the greatest song ever recorded is ‘Dancing Queen’ by ABBA, and I won’t hear a word against it! I think it's an absolute stellar track. Nothing has ever come close to it. But no, I was always tapped in as I can remember… I guess it's natural for me to end up with the drums.
Can you see yourself branching out into that kind of pop music? Or will you just stick with the indie stuff you've been doing with The Big Moon?
Yeah, I feel like we're quite pop in some ways. We do love pop, but we naturally play just heavier. I think we love pop, but we also love heavier stuff so it sort of ends up like how we sound. I think if anywhere, I'll go more towards the ambient drone stuff, electronics. I don't know yet. I'm going the other way in my old age.
Do you play any synthesisers as well?
Yeah. Jack of all trades, master of none. (Laughs)
My favourite Big Moon song is ‘Your Light’, and it's got that really good synth at the end.
Oh yeah. It took us ages to find the right tone for that and it ended up being the accumulation of like four different synths because we just couldn't find the right synth. That's a cool bit. I like that one.
So how familiar are you with Sheffield? Have you played here before?
Yeah, usually, like, every other tour. If we don't come on one tour, we're definitely coming on the next. Yeah, we've been there quite a lot. Got a couple of friends who've moved there now. We played in an old pop up, I think – like an old workman’s hall or something… I think that's one of the first venues we played.
You’re playing at The Leadmill, a cultural landmark of Sheffield, on the 19th of September – are you aware of the ongoing crisis around this venue? Do you have any words of support?
Is that they're trying to shut down, right? I just think it's awful, especially with the last two years, where it's been even harder to be a musician. I think these venues need to stay around because the reason there are big bands now is because those big bands were tiny bands at one point and they needed every chance to play live. And by playing live, it's not just like a way to make money, it's a way to hone your craft and try and test out songs and see what works, see what doesn't. You need to play as much as you can. And if there are no venues for these bands to play, then there won't be big bands […] there just won't be anywhere for young bands to exist. You see it a lot around London as well. They're knocking down small venues to make big venues, which is counterproductive in my mind, but yeah, I think it's just really shit and shouldn't be happening. Especially for cities that are known for being music towns. I think everyone should do all they can to keep that a thing by keeping venues open.
The Big Moon will appear at the Leadmill on Monday 19th of September. Their new album, Here is Everything, will be out on the 14th of October. Their new singles, ’Trouble’ and ‘Wide Eyes’, are available now.
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