The Big Pink @ SXSW 2016 (Photo: Paul Bachmann for Live4ever Media)
“We are very much starting with the beginning of this album process – the next stage of The Big Pink,” mused founder Robbie Furze. It’s been a quiet few years for him; The Big Pink haven’t released any new music since 2012, but behind the scenes there’s an explanation.
Over the past few years Furze has jumbled with some obstacles both artistically and personally with regards to this project. In 2014, founding member Milo Cordell left and moved to New York to run Merok Records, causing Furze to bring in his wife Mary Charteris to play keyboards and on vocals. Their musical chemistry naturally becomes the new center focus of the group as they diligently work on new material, splitting time between their home bases of London and Los Angeles.
They came to SXSW 2016 to showcase their first release in four years, the ‘Empire Underground‘ EP. Despite all the silent chaos and uncertainty that he has experienced over the last few years, Furze seemed tranquilly confident about the present, and optimistic about the future. “For us personally, we just want to play as much as possible,” he told us at the ei8htball sponsored Live4ever Media Lounge. “Get our sound out there. Bring people to the gigs.”
The musical landscape has evolved significantly since the group’s genre-bending brand of electronic beats and shoegaze aesthetics broke into the fray well over half a decade ago. With bands like Imagine Dragons conquering the rock charts, there’s no doubt the genre has recently become more electronically-tinged. Looking back, the group’s debut album ‘A Brief History Of Love‘ sounds like a precursor to what ‘pop’, ‘electronic’ and ‘rock’ sound like mixed together here in 2016. From an early stage Furze, along with Cordell, established The Big Pink’s sound, but since the release of their sophomore album ‘Future This‘, they’ve laid low.
“There was a soul to that,” Furze stated when asked about the group’s debut. “And that really sat deep with people. I want to make sure that the next thing we do that comes out has that impetuous.”
The ‘Empire Underground’ EP has an impetuous to it. The soaring ‘Hightimes’ explodes and booms with drama while the buzz-saw rumble of ‘Decoy’ has an understated emotional cut. For salivating fans this EP is a welcome appetizer to hopefully another full LP later in the year. “We did the bulk of the record at the end of last year? Or the year before? Beginning of last year,” Furze discerned with some help from Charteris. “Then we decided we were going to do this EP, and that’s left this bit of a gap in the record.”
The gap might be a good thing for Furze and Charteris as they continue to explore and get a feel for their new material. “When we are writing the music we have the vision of the live performance in our heads at that time. As much as you have that thought in the back of your head, you’re never really sure until you’re out on stage, feeling it. If some musicians actually can gauge how it’s gonna translate I don’t know how they do it, because until I’m there on stage with Mary, and the musicians that we have with us feeling it, and feeling the reaction to it, I’m not really sure if it’s working or not.”
Judging by their recent live performances, it’s safe to say they’re on to something. The Big Pink’s sound hasn’t necessarily gotten bigger, but it has gotten more expansive in range. Charteris’ presence and chemistry with Furze is palpable both on stage and in the studio. There’s a new dimension and tension to the band peering out from this newer material. In a live setting they take on a much heavier approach to their electronically based material. Free Hallas (drums) and Jesse Russell (bass) give the duo a strong foundational rock n’ roll backbone, giving the songs too an extra verve when played live.
“We are a rock band,” Furze told us. “I think that identity of being a gang, and that kinda of leather jacket rock band thing, is kind of important to me. When I was growing I wanted to be in a rock band, and that hasn’t left me. I hope that doesn’t come across as sort of counterfeit. We want to feel and sound like a rock band, even though a lot of the elements are dance, hip-hop and electronica. I love distortion and feedback.”
After the SXSW run, the group joined The Kills for a run of west coast dates on their way back home to Los Angeles. Furze bubbled with excitement and respect at the prospects of the tour. “Sometimes you get support slots that don’t make sense at all. The Kills are obviously much more successful than us, but stylistically we are little bit closer.” Indeed, the shared ethos and aesthetics of the two bands go beyond music. “They’re our friends,” Charteris chimed.
After the tour, Furze plans to stitch together The Big Pink’s third LP. From January to March the couple were stuck in London waiting on their visas. This at least allowed them to do more writing and recording. “Between us we were in the studio everyday, now we’ve got lots of bits, so the second we leave this tour we’ve got to piece it together.”
Feeling it out live, putting the pieces together in the studio, this process of constantly trying and crafting new ideas to create a unified record and experience is important to Furze. “I have this old school attitude about having a coherent record and when we did it, it was eleven songs that fit together, and we actually have just taken four songs off that,” he said. The plan is to write and fill in the gap between those extra seven songs, but as Furze explained, “it has to have the same ethos as those seven songs and this EP.” This determination and perseverance is all part of The Big Pink’s evolution.
For now, fans with have to be content with the marvelous EP and the bombastic live performances. “It’s been amazing,” Furze reflected. “There’s been a little bit of a sense like this being ‘The Big Pink’s comeback’, which I don’t know whether or not that’s a negative thing or a positive thing. I don’t why that’s bad or good. We have been away for a few years, so I guess it is a bit of a comeback, but people are championing us.” Similar to a prized fight between two boxers, fans have been waiting for The Big Pink’s return for ages. They won’t have to wait much longer; they’re now firmly back in the ring.
They’ve warmed up by jabbing us with reminders of their sound, and hopefully later in 2016 they’ll deliver a knock-out blow.
