Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Big Heavy Stuff

 
Artist: Big Heavy Stuff
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists

Group Members:

Eliot Fish, Darren Jones, Darren Atkinson, Greg Atkinson, Adam Young, Nick Kennedy, Carolyn Polley

Similar Artists:

Texas Is the Reason

Influenced By:

Jawbox, My Bloody Valentine, Nirvana, Slint, Teenage Fanclub
  • Formed: 1990, Australia
  • Genres: Rock

Biography

Brisbane, Australia's Big Heavy Stuff formed in 1990, consisting of drummer Darren Atkinson, guitarist/vocalist Greg Atkinson, bassist Darren Jones (ex-Dutiful Daughters), and guitarist/vocalist Carolyn Polley (ex-Toys Went Berserk). The Atkinsons had spent part of the late '80s in the Ups and Downs, a jangle pop band. Inspired by English dream pop and the noisier independent scene in the U.S., they opted to form Big Heavy Stuff, a brainy rock band with perfectionist tendencies. BHS debuted with the Pops Like Crazy EP on Volition in 1991. A couple of singles preceded their first full-length, 1993's formative Truck. The rhythm section left after its release and was replaced by bassist Eliot Fish (ex-Apartments, Templebears) and drummer Nick Kennedy (Knievel). Two more CD EPs were scattered between 1994 and early 1997. In 1995, the band received their only U.S. release with the Birthday single (two songs from the Covered in Bruises EP), issued on Jawbox's DeSoto label. Maximum Sincere, the band's highly rated second LP, was released in mid-1997 on Hypnotized/Shock. Four more singles for the label were issued during the year. Adam Young (ex-Daisygrinders) replaced the departed Polley, who left a couple months after the album's release. Signed with V2 subsidiary Ivy League, 1999 saw the release of the Devil's Tongue single. An LP for the band's new label never saw the light of day. With an album's worth of material completed but shelved for over a year, the band eventually landed on Redline, who issued 2001's Size of the Ocean. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Wikipedia: Big Heavy Stuff
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Big Heavy Stuff

Big Heavy Stuff's Greg Atkinson
Background information
Origin Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Genres Indie rock
Years active 1990–2006 (hiatus)
Labels Volition/Sony, Hypnotized, Redline
Associated acts Ups and Downs
Dutiful Daughters
The Templebears
The Daisygrinders
Website http://www.bigheavystuff.net/
Members
Greg Atkinson
Carolyn Polley
Eliot Fish
Nick Kennedy
Former members
Darren Atkinson
Darren Jones
Adam Young
Dave Trump
Ambox content.png
 This article may be written from a fan's point of view, rather than a neutral point of view. Please clean it up to conform to a higher standard of quality, and to make it neutral in tone. (September 2009)

Big Heavy Stuff is a Sydney-based Australian indie rock band with a unique style, blending edgy guitars and a pounding rhythm[citation needed] section with songwriter Greg Atkinson's exceptional sense of melody[citation needed]. Their harder edge, evident on their breakthrough Maximum Sincere album of 1997, has mellowed somewhat on more recent releases, without detracting from their trademark emotional intensity. They are known for recent works including their latest albums Size of the Ocean and Dear Friends and Enemies, the latter of which was written at a time of political contemplation in Australia, and therefore contained questions of a profound nature (reflected even in the title of the album). That aside, it still ultimately made for great pop music. While the band's earlier releases are powerful documents in their own right, perhaps the most impressive aspect of Big Heavy Stuff's career has been their musical evolution, with each release building on the last and marking a significant step forward. Today, they are among Australia's most vital guitar bands, and the quality of their catalogue has few peers in the country's rich rock history.

Contents

Overview

Big Heavy Stuff is a four-piece band, featuring Greg Atkinson (Vocals, Guitars), Carolyn Polley (Guitars, Vocals), Eliot Fish (Bass, Vocals) and Nick Kennedy (Drums). The band was established in 1990 and is with the recording label Redline Records (Australia). Greg Atkinson had previously fronted the band Ups and Downs, Eliot Fish and Nick Kennedy were in The Templebears and Carolyn Polley was singer/guitarist for Dutiful Daughters. Eliot Fish is also notable as being a former editor-in-chief of Hyper magazine, a multiple platform video-games interest magazine.[1] As editor and contributor to this magazine, Eliot adopted the title of 'Lord Seafood'. Eliot's tenure as editor of the magazine is generally viewed as having been during the magazine's 'golden years', taking over editing duties from close-friend Dan Toose and then later handing the reins to longtime contributor and close-friend Cam Shea.[2] [3] Dan Toose is now a game designer for Sega.[4]

ARIA Nomination

Big Heavy Stuff received a Best Alternative Release nomination at the 15th Annual ARIA Awards for their album Size of the Ocean.

Discography

  • Pops Like Crazy (1991)
  • Chaos (1992)
  • Skin a Cat (1993)
  • Truck (1993)
  • Trouble and Desire (1994)
  • Covered in Bruises (1995)
  • Birthday (1995)
  • Maximum Sincere (1997)
  • Bigmouth (1997)
  • May (1997)
  • Cheating On a Dead Wife (1997)
  • Devil's Tongue (1999)
  • Two Sisters (2001)
  • Size of the Ocean (2001)
  • Mutiny (2002)
  • Dear Friends and Enemies (2004)

Disbandment...?

As of January 2006, there is a rumour circulating that the band have parted ways. This was announced on FBi Radio after close to a year of no activity and a long delay in a website update, the last of which was shortly before their last performance at the Come Together Music Festival at Luna Park Sydney.

It has now been confirmed that Big Heavy Stuff will be playing a reunion show in Sydney on April 18, 2009 at the Factory Theatre in Marrickville. The gig will be filmed for the That Then This Now documentary.

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ [3]
  4. ^ [4]

External links

Stub icon This article on an Australian band or other musical ensemble is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Big Heavy Stuff".  Read more