Unlike most ‘mates in a band’ scenarios, The Big Pink’s adventures began after duo member Milo Cordell found himself running one of the most adventurous labels around, Merok Records. Following years of bringing some A-Grade Indie Icons to the public’s attention (Klaxons, Telepathe), he found himself watching his mates go on to be served the world on a platinum platter and, understandably, wanted a taste for himself.
“I’d never wanted to be in a band before, but then when I started the label I got a little jealous, you know, watching all my mates go off and do really well – then we went on tour, it was fucking great. We’ve been opening for Florence And The Machine, but we are like polar opposites. They have all these harps and stuff onstage, then we come on and turn off the lights and play really hard and loud.”
“I’d never wanted to be in a band before, but then when I started the label I got a little jealous”
For those who have yet to stumble across The Big Pink’s somewhat gargantuan blast, imagine The Teardrop Explodes being played by MBV whilst Suicide man the mixing desk; a concoction of sounds that manages to be both affecting and tooth-tremblingly huge at the same time. Although the label is clearly still a labour of love for Milo (who is eager to tell us about his latest signings Salem, “they’re absolutely the best”), it’s now The Big Pink’s turn to have the bright light put upon them.
Their early days brought tales from industry buffoons whispering the pair started out playing death metal in a disused Prit Stick factory (“untrue”), whilst The Sun newspaper allegedly even mentioned the pair in a Bizzare column after bezzie mate Lily Allen sought refuge in the band amid her post-Ed Chemical Brothers break-up. “She’s always been a fucking annoying bitch,” chortles Milo, risking a post-interview beatdown from his buddy. After a millennium party that saw fellow member Robbie Furze and Milo meeting (“we both had the same drug dealer or something”), the pair set about taking their highly inspired interests – “hip-hop, The Velvet Underground and Dennis Cooper (the writer, performer and sexual fantasist behind their artwork)” and mashing it into a highly volatile sound. “We first got into Dennis through a book called Up Is Up But So Is Down; he has a really no-holds barred approach. That was definitely something that appealed to us. Then it turned out a friend knew him and we sent him our music, which he liked, so it all just rolled into place”.
“She’s always been a fucking annoying bitch”
The product is a string of singles ranging from the spacey delicacies of ‘A Brief History Of Love’ to the mechanical progressions of ‘Too Young To Love’, and an album with a working title of ‘Models Can’t Fuck’, according to Milo. “We’ve been recording in our own studio for about a year or so, but next year we’re hoping to hit a proper studio and see what we can do”. If The Big Pink’s history is anything to go by, they’ll be living out their own associates’ rock star realities pretty soon.
