Big Big Train

Big Big Train is an English progressive rock band that was founded in 1990. Based in Bournemouth, England, the core band members are songwriter Gregory Spawton and producer Andy Poole.

Their first album, Goodbye to the Age of Steam was released in 1994 and was co-produced by Martin Orford of IQ. Age of Steam established the typical melancholy Big Big Train sound influenced by progressive rock from the mid and early 1970s.

After two releases which were slightly more commercially orientated but, in fact, less commercially successful, Big Big Train went back to their roots in 2004 and released a concept album called Gathering Speed. This album featured layers of 12-string guitar and Mellotron and also hints at a growing post rock influence. Whilst arguably more derivative than some of their earlier releases, Gathering Speed was a very assured album and was critically well received.

With a new singer, Sean Filkins, and with Steve Hughes back on drums after stints with The Enid and Kino, Big Big Train have recently released their fifth album, The Difference Machine, which features performances from Nick D'Virgilio (Spock's Beard, Genesis, Tears for Fears), Dave Meros (Spock's Beard) and Pete Trewavas (Marillion, Transatlantic, Kino).

Influences

Big Big Train has been influenced by many rock bands, including Genesis, Mew, Sigur Ros, Oceansize, Van Der Graaf Generator, King Crimson and Premiata Forneria Marconi.

History

The roots of Big Big Train go back into the 1980s, when Andy Poole formed a songwriting partnership in Bournemouth, England, with his childhood friend, Ian Cooper. At around the same time, Greg Spawton had also formed his first band, Equus. That band played a few local gigs around the Birmingham area before splitting up when Greg went to university in 1984. Meanwhile, Andy and Ian's band, Archshine, recorded a few demos and occasionally emerged from their home studio to play some gigs. In 1987, Greg moved down to Bournemouth. Shortly afterwards, he met Andy and they discovered that they shared a mutual appreciation of Genesis, Van Der Graaf Generator and other progressive bands. In particular, they were both fans of a then relatively obscure band called IQ. Indeed, Andy had spent some time as a roadie for The Lens and IQ.

In the late 1980s, they decided to record some demos together. After a few months, the very first Big Big Train songs emerged and In 1990 Arcshine ceased to exist, and Big Big Train (Ian on keyboards and vocals, Greg on guitar and Andy taking up the bass guitar) was formed. Various singers were tried out before the band auditioned a young Canadian, called Martin Read. Shortly afterwards, the line-up was completed when the then 15 years old Steve Hughes joined on drums.

A demo cassette tape of the band's first songs, recorded on 8-track, was released in October 1991 and was followed by a handful of live performances. The demo tape 'From the River to the Sea' was re-recorded and released as a self-financed CD in May 1992, following which Big Big Train played some higher profile gigs in England.

In January 1993, a second demo tape, 'The Infant Hercules' was released and the band then spent the next six months writing the music for its first proper album, 'Goodbye to the Age of Steam'. This was recorded in a hectic two week period in July 1993. Soon afterwards, BBT signed to the progressive rock label GEP, where they found themselves as label mates of IQ. 'Goodbye to the Age of Steam' was a big leap forward for the band, both in terms of songwriting and recording quality. The response to the album was very positive, culminating in a licensing deal in Japan where the CD was re-released in 1995, with the traditional bonus track.

Pete Trewavas, Andy Poole and Rob Aubrey recording Pick Up If You're There from The Difference Machine

In the meantime, Ian Cooper had left the band (for family rather than musical reasons) and live performances were put on hold while a replacement was sought and a new album written. Tony Müller was recruited in early 1995 and recording of the band's second album commenced in July of that year and continued, sporadically, until completion 18 months later. Some of the songs were debuted at the band's only show from this period at the Astoria, London. 'English Boy Wonders' was finally released in autumn 1997 although to a much less positive reaction than Age Of Steam. At this stage, after a less than pleasurable recording experience, a poorly received second album and with a record label which had stopped returning calls, it felt like the band had run its course. Steve Hughes left the band in September 1998 and went on to join The Enid. He was replaced, briefly, by Pete Hibbit. After a few more live performances, the band's momentum was all but spent and Greg and Andy retreated back to their studio without the rest of the band. Events had turned full circle; Andy and Greg, with no particular goal in mind and without a band line-up, slowly began work on some demos, more out of habit than anything else. As the demos began to take shape, Greg and Andy called in other musicians as and when required. In February 2002, after three years of irregular writing and recording, 'Bard' was released. Bard received some excellent reviews. At the same time, The Enid went into hibernation and Steve Hughes rejoined. After that Andy and Greg carried on writing and Steve Hughes and Ian Cooper rejoined. A new vocalist, Sean Filkins was recruited to replace Tony and 'Gathering Speed', was released in March 2004. A new album the Difference Machine was released in September 2007.

Band Members

Current

• Greg Spawton - guitars, keyboards, vocals (co-founder, 1990 - present)
• Andy Poole - bass (co-founder, 1990 - present)
• Sean Filkins - vocals (2001 - present)
• Steve Hughes - drums (1991 - 1998, 2003 - present)

Former

• Martin Read - vocals (1991-1999)
• Tony Müller - keyboards (1995-2001)
• Pete Hibbit - drums (1998)
• Ian Cooper - keyboards (1990-1995, 2003 - 2004)
• Phil Hogg - drums (2002)

Discography

Early demos

• From the River to the Sea (1991)
• The Infant Hercules (1993)

Albums

• Goodbye to the Age of Steam (1994) - featuring Martin Orford
• English Boy Wonders (1997) - featuring influences from English pop (eg XTC)
• Bard (2002) - a partner to English Boy Wonders
• Gathering Speed (2004) - more firmly rooted in the progressive rock genre
• The Difference Machine (2007) - featuring performances from Pete Trewavas, Nick D'Virgilio and Dave Meros, and building on the progressive rock/post rock style of Gathering Speed
• English Electric (TBC) - sixth studio album

External links

• www.bigbigtrain.com - Big Big Train's official website
• Big Big Train at MySpace