After hearing Columbus band Big Nasty I’ll say this: They smacked me upside the head with their music and I liked every second of it. Fierce and wickedly unapologetic, this bass and drums duo plows through songs like an F-15 in a daisy field.
If you’re ready to shatter your sonic barriers, this could be your band. If you thrive on the sordid thrums of the bass guitar, this could be your band. If you live for feeling funk in the depths of your gut, welcome to your new band.
Big Nasty is Will Ong on drums and Rob Minor on bass. They’ve been friends since Will approached Rob at their Clintonville-area middle school’s cafeteria many years ago and asked if he wanted to jam. They plucked the name “Big Nasty” out of a hat (other candidates were “Hellfart” and “Buttsnot”) and began skipping school to practice. Later on they attended Ft. Hayes Metropolitan Education Center and studied everything from Gregorian chants and cavemen sounds to ska and reggae.
Rob describes Big Nasty’s music as “eclectic mood music for the schizophrenic mind.” Their sound is technical, aggressive — and without vocals. “We don’t need singing to explain emotions or physical thoughts,” Will said.
Will doesn’t believe that music has to follow the popular format that’s “drilled into our heads” on the radio. “You don’t need a singer, a guitar, and cheesy hooks to make great music,” he said. “You can create music without standard instrumentation.”
While Big Nasty has no intentions of recording vocal tracks, they play live shows with deejays, horn players, and other musicians and want to collaborate with vocalists who use their voices as instruments and sing sounds instead of words. So far the band has released two demos and one self-titled album. In August they’ll release “Llama Stole My Chips,” which was recorded at Chronic Debauchery Studio and mastered by Jon Chinn at Central City Recording.
The band’s primary goal is to embark on a national tour and make friends everywhere they go. They value the Columbus music scene for its talent and diversity but wish that more people would realize how many hidden gems we have.
Big Nasty will perform on June 19 at Slapsy Maxie’s, on June 20 at Oldfield’s on High, on June 26 at Comfest, on June 30 at Victorian’s Midnight Café, and on July 24 at Ruby Tuesday. Visit www.myspace.com/bignastymuzak for more information.
Alexandra Kelley writes about music for Columbus Underground can be reached at alexandra477.com.