We’ve had Big Wild on our radar for quite some time, first posting about his vibey tunes back in 2015. Since then, we’ve had the pleasure of watching the rapid adoption and adoration of his style, leading him to a dedicated fanbase and some of the largest venues in the world.
Ahead of the release of high highly-anticipated debut album Superdream, out now via Counter Records, we reached out to learn more about this evolutionary shift in his career.
TMN: Superdream, your debut album, just dropped a few days ago. How excited were you to release it?
BW: Extremely excited. It’s been a long time coming! I’m just excited for people to see the full body of work, versus the singles that we’ve put out in the past. I think it’s going to give a lot more context to what I’m trying to do and where I’m trying to go with my music.
TMN: This is really your coming out party with singing on your own tracks. How did that come to be?
Making instrumental music felt very limited. I kept hitting a creative wall. There was a subconscious part of me that wanted to take it further and find a new way to express myself. The natural way to do that was through singing and songwriting. It was where I needed to go to stay inspired. To me, it felt like the logical next step.
TMN: Did you know that you could sing?
BW: It was honestly a total gamble. I’ve never sung before and didn’t know how it would sound. I started working with a vocal teacher and practicing. It felt like when I first started producing.
TMN: The end result is fantastic. Happy you gave it a shot. We noticed some different approaches, like in “City of Sounds” you have a Bee Gee’s disco vibe in there. Talk about the inspiration behind that one.
BW: That one was inspired by funk and disco, which I’ve always loved. I wanted to create something with that energy in it. Originally, I didn’t think it would be on the album. It felt like an outlier from the rest of the album. I came around to it.
TMN: How did you land on the two features on the album?
BW: iDA HAWK is someone I’ve worked with before and I know I work really well with. I had that song finished, except for the chorus. I kept coming to that part of the song and thinking it would sound bad ass with a strong, female hook on it. She was totally down and we knocked it out in one studio session. It was really natural.
With Rationale, I’ve been trying to work with him for a while. I sent him over some demos and he sent me back everything. I went back into production and made it a full song. It had been such a long time trying to get that together.
Both of those collaborations were super planned. It was just people who I wanted to work with.
TMN: So, we’re based in Denver — know you sold out Red Rocks. Talk to us about that experience.
Red Rocks is a very special place. Even outside of the natural setting of it all, I love playing at amphitheaters because you can see the whole crowd. It feels so massive. When you play a song to that many people and you can get everyone to resonate with it, it’s a special feeling.
I’m always super nervous to play there because i know I need to plan some special things. I need to take my show to the next level, because it’s such a great platform. It’s my favorite venue.
TMN: Have you played the gorge? We’re always battling with folks from Washington over which is better.
BW: I haven’t. I’ve heard a lot of great things about it.
TMN: They’re different. They’re both amazing. When you play there, you can chime in on the debate. Speaking of doing special things for your shows, how is the inclusion of your vocals coming along?
BW: A year ago, I was singing one song with a really cool vocal pedal, almost like a vocoder. I was getting my feet wet with doing it live. More recently, I’ve started to do more songs off the Superdream album. Going into this tour into March, I’ll be singing all my songs live and bringing back up vocalists. And, I have some other surprises too.
TMN: One more question for you — we scrolled through your Twitter timeline. It’s always positive and upbeat — thanking fans, etc.
BW: Overall, I am an optimistic person. I’m not a bubbly, happy person all the time. I’m a little more low-key. I try to view it as a constructive way. If something is off, I’m trying to figure out how I can make this situation better. It’s kind of how I approach the lyrics in the album as well. I want to offer a way to think about a “problem” as if it’s not a problem anymore. I guess that attitude is something I try to portray in my social media.
I try to respond to people as best I can. It can get really hard, especially when I’m in studio mode, but it’s amazing anyone is even acknowledging my music either way. So, when people reach out, I want to recognize that.
Tour Dates:
3/6/19 – The Observatory – Santa Ana, CA
3/7/19 – The Observatory North Park – San Diego, CA
3/8/19 – The Novo – Los Angeles, CA
3/9/19 – The Catalyst – Santa Cruz, CA
3/10/19 – Ace of Spades – Sacramento, CA
3/13/19 – Arcata Theatre – Arcata, CA
3/14/19 – McDonald Theater – Eugene, OR
3/15/19 – Roseland Theater – Portland, OR
3/16/19 – Commodore Ballroom – Vancouver, BC
3/20/19 – First Avenue – Minneapolis, MN
3/21/19 – Turner Hall Ballroom – Milwaukee, WI
3/22/19 – Concord Music Hall – Chicago, IL
3/23/19 – Majestic Theatre – Detroit, MI
3/27/19 – Royale – Boston, MA
3/28/19 – Theatre of Living Arts – Philadelphia, PA
3/29/19 – 9:30 Club – Washington, D.C.
3/30/19 – Terminal 5 – New York City, NY
from The Music Ninja http://bit.ly/2TxQowZ
