Stumbled Upon #033 – Big Smoke (Melbourne)

In the 33rd installment of ‘Stumbled Upon’, we meet Melbourne quartet Big Smoke, and chat about their latest track ‘Try A Little Love’, the music that inspired them and find out how they got started…

Band Name:
Big Smoke

Website / Social Media:
Facebook / Soundcloud

Genre:
Rock ‘n’ Roll

Members & their roles:
Adrian Slattery – drill sergeant, joint roller, singer
Luke Brennan – cultural advisor, pun master, drummer
Alex O’Gorman – head chef, horse whisperer, bass player
Tim Baker – guitar hero

What music or artists inspired you?
All the great ‘B’s: The *and, *ig Star, *lake Mills, *ruce Springsteen, The *eatles

How did the band get started?
After concocting a love potion designed to make people fall in love with music, Adrian slipped a little of this into Luke, Alex and Tim’s tea while playing them some tunes. Just as planned, they were caught in the spell and the band was complete. As he went to get more potion to stop the effects wearing off, Adrian realised he’d mixed up the love potion with the calming potion he’d made to throw on the angry bee hive outside his door. It turned out the guys simply liked the songs after all, and explained why they were super mellow for a while. It also explained the angry swarm of bees that were front-row-centre at every Big Smoke show, helping catapult them to ‘buzz’ band status in no time at all.

How would you best describe your live show:
Good!

What shows do you have coming up?
March 28 – Howler, Brunswick VIC w/ Good Morning + Shiny Coin
March 29 – Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford VIC w/ Luke Brennan and The Sticky Valentines
‘Try A Little Love’ NSW tour:
April 5 – The Junkyard, Maitland NSW
April 9 – The Marly Bar, Sydney NSW

Keep an eye on Facebook for more dates.

Tell us about your latest release:
‘Try A Little Love’ is our latest single—the first off a forthcoming EP called ‘Lately’. It’s a folk-pop tune steeped in melody and melancholy. It was produced by drummer, Luke Brennan, and recorded over the Christmas break in the combined backyard studio spaces of Luke’s ‘Shed’ and Adrian’s ‘Shack’. Much like Paul McCartney’s “scrambled eggs” placeholder lyric for his classic ‘Yesterday’, we originally sang “buy a leather glove” until we happened upon the more suitable line.

Where can I get your music?
Bandcamp & Soundcloud.

Listen to ‘Stumbled Upon’ on AU Radio , Mondays at 8:30PM, Thursdays at 3PM and Sundays at 10AM (AEDT), or the playlist of past ‘Stumbled Upon’ artists on Soundcloud