Five Minutes With...Big Fear
"People seem unwilling to recognise that songwriting and TikTok are different skills."
This week we spend a little time in the company of Big Fear, the electro three-piece from London. Made up of Alice Edwards (lead vocals), Jack Wilkinson (guitar) and Ben Crone (synth), the trio have released three synth-throbbing singles to date and have already started to rack up the streams.
Describing themselves as giving “a megaphone to those who have scarcely been represented before”, Big Fear create anthemic pop songs, which are equally joyous and dystopian in nature.
We speak to Alice from the band to find out more…
Q: Describe your music in three words…
Hot girl shit / Indie poetry bops.
Q: What's your musical ethos and your reasons for making music?
I create for classic self expression reasons. Before I published anything I was always writing and singing for the sake of it, like a form of meditation. I have a deep love and passion for storytelling, it can create a wonderful spark of connection.
Q: Who are your main musical inspirations?
Matt Bellamy and Hayley Williams were two voices that early on I heard and thought ‘I want to sing like that’. I’ve also been very influenced by Everything Everything and Aurora. I tend to latch on to a few artists and know them deeply.
Q: You’ve released three singles so far this year, tell us about the writing and recording process for these?
All three were with the magical wonderful Charlie Andrew. Sisyphus was recorded a whole year before the others, and from that experience we knew we’d want to work with Charlie for the next ones too. We had probably 75% of each song ironed out before the studio, and went in ready to explore and play with them!
Q: Is there more music or a full-length record on the horizon?
Certainly more music.
Q: How have you approached marketing and promoting your recent singles?
Intensively! We’ve certainly pushed heavy on social media and advertising, constantly brainstorming content ideas, and asked for lots of advice from different people in the industry to help guide us.
Q: How important is playing live to help rising artists build their audience?
In the age of Spotify and social media it’s not what builds the audience anymore, but you still absolutely have to have a banging live show for when that audience comes to you! A good live show can convert a spontaneous gig goer into a lifelong fan, but a bad show can lose you loyal audience members, as it creates the dominating concept of what your act is.
Q: How do you balance your music with the rest of your life?
I’m very clear with those I love that a good opportunity has to be my priority; I will be missing your birthday to play this festival, I will make it up to you next week. My dad says you want to leave it all on the track, and I don’t want to leave each year feeling I could have done more.
Q: What song/record by another artist we may not have heard of can’t you stop playing at the moment?
It’s not so far off the beaten track if you’re gay, but I love love love Dorian Electra.
Q: If you could change one thing about the music industry what would it be?
One of the biggest struggles I’ve personally faced is simply the landscape of social media - you need a good following for anyone in the industry to bother, you could be the next Beatles but if you’re bad at TikTok you will not be successful, and people seem unwilling to recognise that songwriting and TikTok are different skills.
Q: In one year’s time, where would you like the band to be?
Would love some sexy festival slots, would love some management, and I’d love to be planning a UK tour.
Thanks Alice and Big Fear!