Big Mother Gig is an indie rock band originally founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and currently based in Los Angeles, CA, by Richard Jankovich. While attending

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

in the 1990s, Richard Jankovich formed Big Mother Gig with Rob Due, Jason Borkowicz and Charles Watson. In 1993, they released "My Social Commentary." In 1994, Rob Due was replaced by Riz Rashid and they released "Transition EP." Borkowicz and Watson left in 1995 and were ultimately replaced by Brady Roehl (drums) and Matt Deede (bass.) In 1996, Big Mother Gig released "Smiling Politely" and broke up when Jankovich moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. From 1992 to 1996, Big Mother Gig played over 150 concerts around the Midwest. Other prior members include Joe Neumann and Brian Rutkowski. In 2016, Big Mother Gig released their discography digitally for the first time and announced a new EP as well as a reunion show in Milwaukee featuring 3/4s of the classic 1996 line-up. ''Almost Primed'', their first new music in over 20 years, was released in March 2017. The band, now based in Los Angeles with Jankovich, Mike Datz (guitar), Micah Lopez (bass) and Albert Kurniawan (drums), continued to drop a series of singles through 2017 and 2018 including "Nametag", "The Great Heist", "(Let's Make) Compelling Content", and "Obliterate". On October 12, 2018, they released "No More Questions" which collected tracks from the EP, the singles they had released throughout 2018 and brand new songs including "Low Payout" featuring

Dicky Barrett Richard Michael Barrett (born June 22, 1964), better known as Dicky Barrett, is an American singer who was the frontman of ska punk band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. He was the announcer for ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' until 2022. Barrett is known fo ...

(

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones The Mighty Mighty Bosstones (informally referred to as The Bosstones and often stylized as The Mighty Mighty BossToneS) were an American ska punk band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1983. From the band's inception, lead vocalist Dicky ...

) and "Our Cover's Blown" featuring

Britta Phillips Britta Phillips (born June 11, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and actress. Phillips' music career spans more than 30 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s as the singing voice of the title character ...

(

Luna Luna commonly refers to: * Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin * Luna (goddess), the ancient Roman personification of the Moon Luna may also refer to: Places Philippines * Luna, Apayao * Luna, Isabela * Luna, La Union * Luna, San Jose Romania * ...

) and co-written with author

Rick Moody Hiram Frederick Moody III (born October 18, 1961) is an American novelist and short story writer best known for the 1994 novel ''The Ice Storm'', a chronicle of the dissolution of two suburban Connecticut families over Thanksgiving weekend in 19 ...

. Their post-reunion work has been praised by

Alternative Press Alternative press may refer to: Individual publications * ''Alternative Press'' (magazine), an American music magazine Alternative journalism * Alternative media ** Alternative media (U.S. political left) ** Alternative media (U.S. political ri ...

, Paste, Under The Radar, New Noise, Impose, AllThingsGo, Substream, and PureGrainAudio. "(Let's Make) Compelling Content" was Song Of The Day on NPR/The Current and appeared twice on the Submodern Radio Chart. The music video for "Obliterate" stars

Michael Ornstein Michael Marisi Ornstein (born 1963) is an American actor. He is best known for his recurring role as Chucky Marstein on Sons of Anarchy 2008–2014) and its spin-off ''Mayans M.C. (2019-present). Early life Ornstein studied acting as a child a ...

from

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. Their recent recordings were recorded with Jeff Hamilton (

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) and Dan Long (

Spiral Stairs Stairs are a structure designed to bridge a large vertical distance between lower and higher levels by dividing it into smaller vertical distances. This is achieved as a diagonal series of horizontal platforms called steps which enable passage ...

), and mastered by Kramer. Now based in Los Angeles, Big Mother Gig has played shows around the Midwest and California with

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, and many more. In February 2021, Big Mother Gig announced their new LP ''Gusto'' on

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and released the first single, "The Underdog" featuring Leah Wellbaum of

Slothrust Slothrust ''(pronounced sloth-rust, IPA: '' slɔθ.rʌst') '' is an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 2010. Background Slothrust consists of Leah Wellbaum (vocals, guitar) and Will Gorin (drums). Wellbaum and Go ...

. Second single, "The Doctor Will See You Now" was released on March 17. ''Gusto'' was released on April 30, 2021 to positive reviews by

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and more. In the Fall of 2021, the band supported the album with a 3 week US tour opening for

Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears Black Joe Lewis (born Tucson, Arizona, United States) is an American blues, funk and soul artist influenced by Howlin' Wolf and James Brown. He formed Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears in Austin, Texas, in 2007. In March 2009, ''Esquire'' list ...

. In January 2023, "The Underdog" was featured in episode 511 of The Rookie on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Discography

* 1993: ''My Social Commentary'' (LP) * 1994: ''Transition'' (EP) * 1996: ''Smiling Politely'' (LP) * 2016: ''Quintessentially Average: 92-96'' (LP) * 2017: ''Almost Primed'' (EP) * 2018: ''No More Questions'' (LP) * 2021: ''Gusto'' (LP)

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website

Fraga Sweet Sweet website
Alternative rock groups from Wisconsin Musical groups established in 1992 Musical groups disestablished in 1996 Musical groups reestablished in 2016