Bigelf is an American
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...
/
progressive metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1991. They have since released four studio albums.
Biography
Bigelf were formed as a
psychedelic
Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...
/
glam-tinged
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
outfit in 1991 in Los Angeles, California by
Damon Fox and Richard Anton. They initially gained a large underground following. Bigelf's original line-up included Damon Fox (vocals/keyboards/guitar), Richard Anton (vocals/bass), A.H.M. Butler-Jones (vocals/guitar) and Thom Sullivan (drums).
The quartet recorded the six-track EP ''Closer to Doom'' in spring 1995, co-produced by
Sylvia Massy
Sylvia Lenore Massy is an American record producer, mixer, engineer, instructor and author. Massy is renowned for her multifaceted production/mixing and engineering skills, with her first major breakthrough occurring with 1993's '' Undertow'', th ...
. ''Closer to Doom'' was released in 1996 and established them as 'fathers' of the psychedelic doom movement that spawned the Los Angeles
stoner rock scene.
The first line-up change came when Steve Frothingham replaced Sullivan in late 1995; soon afterward founding member Richard Anton exited the band.
Continuing on as a three-piece, they recorded ''Money Machine'' in summer 1997, which Swedish label Record Heaven eventually released in 2000. This led the band to tour
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
, where they became a quartet again with the addition of Finnish bass player Duffy Snowhill, who debuted on their six-track EP ''Goatbridge Palace''. Recorded in Stockholm in December 2000, it featured the singles "(Another)Nervous Breakdown" and "Side Effects" plus four live tracks, one being a cover of the
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...
classic "Sweet Leaf".
Serjical Strike Records released a limited pressing of ''Money Machine'' in the United States after
System of a Down frontman
Serj Tankian took an interest in the band. In summer 2001, Butler-Jones fell into a diabetic coma while on tour in Sweden (he would remain unconscious until his death on December 31, 2009 at the age of 42). Ace Mark (also from Helsinki, Finland) took his place on guitar, leaving Fox as the sole singer and songwriter.
Regaining focus with a new, solid foundation, Bigelf signed with Warner Music Sweden in 2002 and released ''Hex'' the following year. The band attained cult status overseas, most notably in Northern Europe.
In 2007, Bigelf covered
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
's song "
Mother
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...
" with American pop singer
Christina Aguilera for the compilation album ''
Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur'' to benefit
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
's campaign to alleviate the
crisis in Darfur. The song received positive reviews.
August 2008 saw Bigelf release ''Cheat The Gallows'', the band's debut release for Linda Perry's
Custard Records
Custard Records is an American record label, best known for its success with English singer-songwriter James Blunt. The label is run by former 4 Non Blondes member Linda Perry and has a partnership with Warner Music Group's Atlantic Records ...
. It includes the lead single "Money, It's Pure Evil".
In 2009, Bigelf toured with
Dream Theater
Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...
on their Progressive Nation 2009 tour. They were originally billed alongside
Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish progressive metal/rock band from Stockholm, formed in 1990 by lead vocalist David Isberg. The group has been through several personnel changes, including the replacement of every original member; notably Isberg in 1992. Mikael ...
and
Unexpect on the European leg of the tour from September to November, but after
Pain of Salvation and
Beardfish
The beardfishes consist of a single extant genus, '' Polymixia'', of deep-sea marine ray-finned fish named for their pair of long hyoid barbels. They are classified in their own order Polymixiiformes . But as Nelson says, "few groups have been s ...
were forced to drop out because of the bankruptcy of
SPV, their record label's (
InsideOut
Inside Out Music is a German independent record label originally based in Kleve, North Rhine-Westphalia, and dedicated to the publication of progressive rock, progressive metal and related styles. In 2009, it formed a partnership with Century Med ...
) distributor, Bigelf were also added to the North American tour as an opening act alongside
Zappa Plays Zappa
Zappa Plays Zappa is an American tribute act led by Dweezil Zappa, the elder son of late American composer and musician Frank Zappa, devoted to performing the music of Frank Zappa.
History
The band debuted in 2006 with shows in Europe, Canada ...
between July and August. The band once again supported Dream Theater as their opening act for the Mexican, Canadian, and South American tour in March 2010. In April 2010, Bigelf supported
Porcupine Tree on their US Tour.
After being dropped from Custard Records the band went on indefinite hiatus after playing several festival shows in Japan in August 2010.
In September 2012, Fox announced via the band's Facebook and website that a new Bigelf album was in the making.
On April 3, 2013,
Inside Out Music announced Bigelf had signed with the label and would release a new album later that year. Fox recruited former Dream Theater drummer
Mike Portnoy to play on the new record ''
Into the Maelstrom'', according both to the Inside Out announcement and to Portnoy's own Twitter feed.
Guitarist Luis Maldonado was also invited to "take some solos and add some color" to the album and also to perform with the band on the Progressive Nation at Sea cruise ship festival on February 18–22, 2014 as well as festivals that summer.
In October 2014, guitarist
John Wesley
John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...
of
Porcupine Tree and Mike Portnoy joined Bigelf as guest performers during their winter 2014 "Into the Maelstrom" European tour.
Discography
Albums
* ''Money Machine'' (May 2000 - Record Heaven, Sweden; Aug. 2010 Powerage Records)
* ''Hex'' (Oct. 2003 - Warner Music Sweden; Oct. 2007 -
Custard Records
Custard Records is an American record label, best known for its success with English singer-songwriter James Blunt. The label is run by former 4 Non Blondes member Linda Perry and has a partnership with Warner Music Group's Atlantic Records ...
; Aug. 2010 Powerage Records)
* ''
Cheat the Gallows
''Cheat the Gallows'' is the third studio album by American progressive rock/progressive metal band Bigelf.
Track listing
Personnel
Bigelf
* Damon Fox – vocals, keyboards, string arrangements
* Ace Mark – guitar
* Duffy Snowhill â ...
'' (Aug. 2008 - Custard Records; Sep. 2009 - Powerage Records)
* '' Into the Maelstrom'' (May 2014 - InsideOut Records)
EPs
* ''Closer to Doom'' (Jan. 1996 - Third Hole Records, US; Aug. 2001 - Record Heaven, with 4 bonus tracks; Aug. 2010 Powerage Records, with 8 bonus tracks)
* ''Goatbridge Palace'' (May 2001 - Record Heaven)
* ''The Madhatter'' (Jun. 2003 - Warner Music Sweden)
Members
;Current members
*Damon Fox – lead vocals, keyboards, guitar (1991–present)
*Duffy Snowhill – bass (2000–present)
*Luis Maldonado – guitar (2013–present)
*
*Baron Fox – drums (2014–present)
*
;Former members
*Richard Anton – lead vocals, bass (1991–96)
*Thom Sullivan – drums (1991–95)
*A.H.M. Butler-Jones – lead vocals, guitar, piano (1992–2001, died 2009)
*Steve "Froth" Frothingham – drums (1995–2010)
*Ace Mark – guitar (2002–2010)
*Mike Portnoy – drums (session and selected live shows) (2013–2014)
*John Wesley – guitar (selected live shows) (2014)
Timeline
ImageSize = width:900 height:350
PlotArea = left:200 bottom:120 top:0 right:40
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1991 till:01/01/2017
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4
ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1991
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1991
Colors =
id:voc value:red legend:Vocals
id:g value:green legend:Guitars
id:key value:purple legend:Keyboards
id:b value:blue legend:Bass
id:dr value:orange legend:Drums
id:alb value:black legend:Studio_releases
LineData =
at:01/05/2000 layer:back
at:01/10/2003
at:12/08/2008
at:03/03/2014
PlotData =
width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,–4)
bar:Damon Fox from:start till:01/01/1992 color:g
bar:Damon Fox from:01/01/1992 till:end color:key
bar:Damon Fox from:01/01/1992 till:end color:g width:7
bar:Damon Fox from:start till:end color:voc width:3
bar:A.H.M. Butler Jones from:01/01/1992 till:01/08/2001 color:g
bar:A.H.M. Butler Jones from:01/01/1992 till:01/08/2001 color:voc width:3
bar:Ace Mark from:01/01/2002 till:01/01/2010 color:g
bar:Luis Maldonado from:01/01/2013 till:08/04/2014 color:g
bar:John Wesley from:10/01/2014 till:12/04/2014 color:g
bar:Richard Anton from:start till:01/07/1996 color:b
bar:Richard Anton from:start till:01/07/1996 color:voc width:3
bar:Duffy Snowhill from:01/10/2000 till:end color:b
bar:Thom Sullivan from:start till:01/07/1995 color:dr
bar:Steve "Froth" Frothingham from:01/07/1995 till:01/07/2010 color:dr
bar:Mike Portnoy from:01/01/2013 till:12/04/2014 color:dr
bar:Baron Fox from:01/01/2014 till:end color:dr
References
External links
Official website
Damon Fox of Bigelf Interview
at Guitarhoo.com 2008.
Damon Fox of Bigelf Interview
at Guitarhoo.com 2014.
{{Authority control
Heavy metal musical groups from California
Musical groups from Los Angeles
American stoner rock musical groups
Progressive rock musical groups from California
Custard Records artists
1991 establishments in California
Inside Out Music artists