Interviews

Big Wig

Interview with Tom on Nov 30, 2001 by Archive Bot

Punkbands.com would like to thank Tom of Big Wig and Mindy of Fearless Records for making the interview happen.

PB: First off, introduce yourself and tell us what role you play in the band.
BW: I'm Tom. I sing and play guitar.

PB: The original line-up of the band has changed since you started in '95. When did this change occur and what brought about this change?
BW: Hes a karate instructor-- and thats going really well for him. Our first guitar player got married and moved to Montreal and he's doing a video production scene. John, our old bass player went to computer school and now he's got a really good job. I still talk to both of those guys, there doing really well. The last two-- bass player and guitar player-- moved to Texas and formed another band.

PB: Compared to your previous CD's your new CD "Invitation to Tragedy" has more of a hardcore and angrier sound. What has influenced this change in sound?
BW: I think we were always trying to go for that-- but it didnt come out like that on a record. Like, you know recorded? We all listen to heavier stuff. I think we were always trying to gear our music towards heavier sound, but it just never came out that way. We still like melodies, so we try to keep the melody there. I dont know, we're all really influenced by metal but were all still influenced by like poppier punk and stuff like that.. like the Descendents. You know it's like the Descendants, they would play like heavier stuff then pop... Clean Sheets to Hurtin' Crew. So I never wanted to coin ourselves to a hardcore band. I don't think we're a hardcore band. I dont know what punk band means any more, but were just like normal guys tryin' to play agressive music.

PB: I thought the new record sounded a lot like the first album.
BW: Oh yeah? Actually both of those records have pretty heavy songs. They were just recorded terrible.

PB: Really?
BW: Yeah I thought the first two were recorded really shitty. You know Numbers is a pretty heavy song and like "Pro-Life Taker". But I was like 18 when I was singing that stuff so you know, I wasnt able to scream as loud or something...

PB: Ok. The "Stay Asleep" album. What was the deal with the whole 75 track thingy?
BW: Oh. It was just so we could piss people off and put a hidden track. 


PB: I was reading some Bigwig fan posts online. Some of your fans seem to be upset that you are touring with a band like Mest. What do you have to say to these fans, and what are your thoughts on the current state of the punk rock/pop punk scene?
BW: Well, the first question. I dont know why anybody would care who we're touring with. I dont know what their reasons behind it would be. Mest turned out to be a great bunch of guys. I ususally don't listen to that genre of music, but I think they're great. And I listened to the record-- its pretty cool. I hope the people that listen to our music wouldn't judge us on who we tour with. They just have to realize that we have to go on tour, and Im not even saying that I don't like this tour. I think H2O and Mest is a great match. It brings in a new audience, and I hope people who listen to our music wouldn't be so close-minded to shut thier mind off to a certain music maybe because it's on MTV or because its not to their standard. Its like, music is music and music is for everybody, and music is one of the only things that actually keeps peoples' minds free from things and can educate without going to school. It's music. Music cleanses the soul. Im sure the Mest kids say that about Bigwig... who's this smelly ugly screamy band who's up... you know what I mean? Maybe those kids are just, you know, talking about you know, those guys aren't punk rock. But you know those Mest guys are pretty punk rock when talking about what kinda band they are.

PB: Oh yeah what do you think of the current state of punk rock? how its changed and stuff?
BW: I dont think the people that have been doing it for a long time have changed I think some of the bands get trendier... like with the whole Hot Topic thing. You know, it seems it has become a little more mainstream, which is great cause you know what these bands need to eat. You know what those kids don't realize... the shows may be a little more expensive and stuff, but our shows aren't! We still try to keep it as close to when we started as possible, but we've got more of a fan base now... I mean why stay stagnent? Why keep doing the same thing? We want to move on. We don't want to coin ourselves as the small punk rock band. We want to get our music out to as many people as possible-- instead of wasting all this time recording all these records and doing all this touring and just have 50 kids at a show for 5 dollars. Not saying that were selling ourselves out to anybody though... but you know... 

PB: When you visit the official Bigwig website an ad for a kayak pops up. Do you guys kayak or something?
BW: Yeah we have a very independent but large kayak sponsorship. Some of us surf, some of us skateboard, some of us kayak. And what they do is they are a really DIY type company. And our band I would say is kinda based about preservation of the planet too. You know what I mean. Like not just fucking up where you live. Everyone is always complaining about how shitty the earth is and how shitty everything is but a lot of people don't seem to do anything about it. So the kayak company kinda, I think, realates to our band in a lot of ways. You know, to kinda make your prescence as popular as possible without exploiting everything. You know what i mean? And uh, it was cool. And they gave us boats and they're really cool and great people and stuff and a pretty DIY company, but they're huge. And we figured nobody else was doing that. It was totally different. Everybody's into surfing, skating and all that stuff. So we kinda wanted to introduce kayaking cause what is it? 75% of the earth is water.. so you might as well paddle all over it.

PB: On your website under history in the bios section you all list your moms as your role models? Why do you consider your mom a role model?
BW: Yeah. Well, I dont know. My mom is one of my favorite people on earth. I get along great with my parents and my parents always seemed to tell me when I was growing up, you know what's cool and what's not cool. And I think they made me a better person than I would have turned out without them.

PB: Lastly, thanks for talking to punkbands.com Musically, what have you been listening to lately?
BW: Toxicity by System of a Down, and I get a lot of shit for that one, but I like it so... a lot of the Descendents, all, F-Minus, Tsunami Bomb, Jawbreaker, and Weezer, and you know what else is really good that the kids are gonna like, the new Atari's stuff. Yeah, I was hanging out with Kris in California and got to hear some of it. Its really good!!