The wait is over.
Get ready to hear the bold, obscure sounds that have irrevocably come of age from Londoners The Big Moon.
With the release of the foursome’s first album ‘Love In The 4th Dimension’ right around the corner, Clash writer Laura Copley caught up with Celia Archer and Fern Ford to talk pre-album jitters, and the time Fern nearly encountered a flasher in Boston…
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First off, where does the name originate from?
Fern: It's not the greatest band name story… we were called The Moon and then we had a message from a band with a similar name who said they were “uncomfortable” with us being called it… so we changed before we put out anymore songs. And we were like "we're now the BIG moon!" – so that's better anyway.
How are you feeling leading up to your first album release?
Celia: I'm really excited, its just this thing that's been coming and we've been building up to I guess since we started playing together? Now the fact that it's actually happening is so surreal… I don’t know how I'm gonna feel on the day when we go into an actual record store and buy it! But yeah so excited. Can't wait for everyone to hear it.
And you're kicking off in Rough Trade East next Friday (April 7th), ever played there before?
Celia: No, it will be the first time we've played there – they've been really lovely to us. We've played West before but never Brick Lane. Was there any reason behind the wait? Fern: Yeah we took our time, but it doesn't feel like we could've put it out any sooner… we've been sitting on these songs a long time. Listening to old demos of tracks like Sucker, they just sound so different, we sound so young… we sound like we didn’t understand the songs. And also our instruments are a bit better now.
We also play together a lot better too as all we've been doing is playing shows. 'The Road' was the first song I ever jammed out with Jules and that was three years ago! Three years this week actually.
Celia: Yeah and it was also something that happened quite organically, we didn't sit around going "we need to do this album" because with touring, just trying to find time was difficult.
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Have you rerecorded any previously released tracks for the purpose of the album?
Fern: 'Sucker' has been redone. Different tempo.
Does the tempo continuously switch throughout the album?
Celia: Yeah there's a lot of variation on there, lots of changes from what we play live, y’know more chilled out. But yeah, lots of variety. I like that because you never really know which way a song is gonna go the first time you here it. Hopefully everyone will find it as exciting as we do.
Lyric-wise, what are some of the themes covered?
Celia: (laughs) They come from the weird corners of (singer) Jules' brain!
Fern: There are some weird corners, as well… very weird. Celia: Just the way that she speaks, she communicates things in ways you wouldn't normally have thought of, but as soon as she says them you're like "oh my God that's exactly what that thing is like! you've nailed it!" She's just got a real hold on that weird, inventive use of language that feels so familiar and right. It makes for great lyric writing, learning the words and trying to work out for yourself what it might mean which is what I love.
Now you've got your first album out the way with just you as a band, who would you most like to collaborate with?
Celia: Kanye.
Fern: Ronan Keating! Imagine a track with Kanye and Ronan Keating… that would be one hell of a tune.
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Favourite songs on album?
Fern: That's hard… a lot of the songs, they all sound so different to me – even though hopefully they make sense on the record – it keeps changing but for me it’s ‘The End’. There's so many different parts to it, it drops right down then turns super bouncy, then super triumphant towards the end… the ending is massive. It's just this massive curtain drop.
Celia: Mine changes all the time, at the moment it's 'Z', it's really clinky and sexy… really fun to play. Jules wrote it and sent it to all of us, and we were all busy doing other things so none of us replied until it got to like two weeks later and she started freaking out like "is it really that bad?!" We were like "no shit sorry we totally forgot!" and now we think it's one of the best songs. Poor girl, we should start paying more attention!
Do you prefer home or away shows?
Fern: I find London shows always quite stressful. Actually maybe that's not the word… like, FULL ON. It turns into more of an event and it becomes bigger than just being a show. I think it's also because there's like six times more people in a dressing room and you're just like: "uh, I just want to sit down…" Other places it's more like "yeah, let's do a show!" This time I think it'll be different, as we are unveiling our album so there's that to constantly think about instead.
Celia: I prefer away. I love London obviously when all your friends come down it's like this whole celebration. But when I can see someone I know in the crowd it's harder to let go when I can see my mum, or my friends who know I'm a total loser and they're like "why you pretending to be cool…?" But when you're in other cities you can be more free and anonymous I guess.
You've done quite a bit of touring, do you have any stories from your travels?
Fern: We were in Boston and I needed a quarter for change to park up, and this guy comes up to me and asks if I need a quarter, so I'm like "oh yeah brill I have a dollar let’s switch" thinking huh, what a nice guy! Then he realises he doesn't have any and goes, "wait, but…" and suddenly he starts undressing taking off his clothes so I'm obviously like what the fuck… then he goes, "hey, Big Moon right?" and shows me his t-shirt underneath, then just walked away. It was mental, but still, I seriously needed quarters.
Celia: That's a great story, I didn't even know that happened!
Lastly, what are you most looking forward to this year, besides the album?
Fran: Festivals! Being able to hang out with other bands. The weather's been so nice recently as well so we are ready for it.
Celia: Yeah we've got a few lined up, definitely Green Man. Truck as well. We've been asking people like "can we please play that and that?!" And then we've got stuff we can't announce yet… but yeah you'll have to wait and see!
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'Love In The 4th Dimension' is out on April 7th – catch The Big Moon at Rough Trade East, London on April 7th.
Words: Laura Copley
