Features

Big Light: North of Indie, South of Jam

Big Light issued its debut recording Animals In Bloom earlier this spring. So today we take a look back to October of 2008 and our Big Light On The Verge piece

***

Some bands come on like a whisper then grow to a roar while others break out of the gate with a bang. Or, in Big Light’s case, a big bang. Not that this San Francisco group, a local’s favorite since day one, didn’t have help from some friends in high places. For their first two gigs in November 2007 they were accompanied on guitar and vocals by Nathan Moore (Surprise Me Mr. Davis). Performing a mix of originals and lesser-known Moore tunes, the group quickly caught the ear of the Bay Area music community, including bassist Steve Adams (ALO) and drummer Jeremy Black (Apollo Sunshine). Adams has since become the band’s bassist-in-residence while Black produced the self-titled EP. Although the band has influences as varied as The Slip (songwriter/frontman Fred Torphy grew up with Brad and Andrew Barr), The Sea & Cake and Wilco, the finished product is somewhere just north of indie, just south of jam. “Psychedelic is a word I use to describe Big Light to other people,” says Torphy. However you label them, Big Light is already kinda a big deal.