Big Heavy Stuff was an Australian

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band, established in 1990 in

Sydney, New South Wales Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...

. The band released four studio albums before folding in the mid-2000s, later reuniting for some select shows between 2009 and 2010. The band toured regularly with fellow Australian bands such as

Powderfinger Powderfinger were an Australian rock band formed in Brisbane in 1989. From 1992 until their break-up in 2010, the line-up consisted of vocalist Bernard Fanning, guitarists Darren Middleton and Ian Haug, bass guitarist John Collins and drummer ...

You Am I You Am I are an Australian alternative rock band, fronted by its lead singer-songwriter and guitarist, Tim Rogers. They formed in December 1989 and are the first Australian band to have released three successive albums that have each debuted ...

, and

Something for Kate Something for Kate are an Australian alternative rock band, which formed in 1994 with Paul Dempsey on lead vocals and guitar, and Clint Hyndman on drums. They were joined in 1998 by Stephanie Ashworth on bass guitar and backing vocals. The grou ...

, and were the main support on Radiohead's ''

OK Computer ''OK Computer'' is the third studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released in Japan on 21 May 1997 and in the UK on 16 June 1997. Radiohead self-produced the album with Nigel Godrich, an arrangement they have used for their subsequ ...

'' tour of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Big Heavy Stuff was also a support act for

Dinosaur Jr. Dinosaur Jr. is an American rock band formed in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1984, originally simply called Dinosaur until legal issues forced a change in name. The band was founded by J Mascis (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter), Lou Barlow ( ...

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, and Babes in Toyland.

History

Big Heavy Stuff was initially formed by brothers Greg Atkinson (lead vocals/rhythm guitars) and Darren Atkinson (drums/backup vocals), along with Carolyn Polley (lead guitars/backup vocals) and Darren Jones (bass). Greg Atkinson had previously fronted the band Ups and Downs, which Darren Atkinson was also a member of. Ups and Downs was more pop in nature, and the two brothers formed Big Heavy Stuff to venture into the rock genre. Around the same time, Polley was the guitarist in Toys Went Berserk, and also played in Dutiful Daughters. Big Heavy Stuff was initially signed to

Volition Records Volition Records was a Sydney, Australia-based record label specialising in electronic music styles such as house, techno, synthpop and trance. It was founded by Andrew Penhallow in the late 1980s, but folded in the late 1990s. Amongst the ...

, an Australian division of

Sony Records Sony Records was a record label founded by R&B duo Ike & Tina Turner in 1963. It was not affiliated with Sony Group Corporation. Ike Turner produced singles by members of the Kings of Rhythm and the Ikettes on Sony Records. Records on the label ...

. They released a string of EPs and singles from 1991 to 1993 before releasing the full-length album ''Truck'' in 1993. Afterwards, Darren Atkinson left the band and was replaced by Nick Kennedy. They then released the EP ''Trouble & Desire'' in 1994, and Jones departed from the band shortly after. He was replaced on bass by Eliot Fish. The lineup of Greg Atkinson, Polley, Kennedy, and Fish then remained constant throughout the band's existence. The stabilized lineup released the EP ''Covered in Bruises'' in 1995, and it was the band's final release on Volition. In the U.S., "Birthday" was released as a single to promote the EP, and the single was issued by DeSoto Records (which was owned by two members of the

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

band

Jawbox Jawbox is an American alternative rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in 1989 by J. Robbins (vocals/guitar), Kim Coletta (bass), and Adam Wade (drums). After the trio released the album ''Grippe'' in 1991, Bill Barbot (guitar/vocals) join ...

). Big Heavy Stuff then signed with The Hypnotized Label, which was a division of

Shock Records Shock Records (now part of Shock Entertainment) is an Australian independent record label. History The three founding members had all previously worked in music retail or distribution: Williams for a Melbourne distribution company called "Musi ...

. They released their second album ''Maximum Sincere'' on Hypnotized, and four different singles were released to promote the album; however, the band's tenure on the label was short-lived. The band gained the attention of popular Australian alternative rock band

Jebediah Jebediah are an Australian alternative rock band formed in 1994 in Perth, Western Australia. They were formed by Chris Daymond on lead guitar, Kevin Mitchell (aka Bob Evans) on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, and Vanessa Thornton on bass guita ...

, who added Big Heavy Stuff to the roster of

Redline Records Redline Records was an independent record label based in Perth, Australia. Started in the year 2000 as a joint project between the band, Jebediah, and its management company, Naked Ape Management, the label predominantly released recordings of Au ...

in 2000, an independent label that Jebediah co-founded with its then-management company Naked Ape Management. The arrangement with Redline facilitated the release of the 2001 album ''Size of the Ocean''. It contained the single "Hibernate" which reached #77 on the Hottest 100 of 2001 chart by Australian national radio station

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

, a list that was voted on by the station's listeners. Also in 2001, ''Size of the Ocean'' was nominated in the

ARIA Award for Best Adult Alternative Album The ARIA Music Award for Best Adult Alternative Album is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards. The ARIA Awards recognise "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", and have been given by the Australian Reco ...

category. In 2004, the band released their fourth and final album ''Dear Friends and Enemies'', also on Redline. The album managed to peak at #94 on ARIA's Top 100 Albums chart. In 2006, after performing at the

Come Together Music Festival Come Together is an all-ages Australian music festival performed at Luna Park Sydney. Beginning in 2005, it was originally two separate events, one in April and one in September. In 2006, a two-day festival was held in June (on the Queen's Birth ...

Luna Park Sydney Luna Park Sydney is a heritage-listed amusement park located at 1 Olympic Drive in the harbourside suburb of Milsons Point, New South Wales, Australia, on the northern shore of Sydney Harbour. The amusement park is owned by the Luna Park Rese ...

, the band went on an indefinite hiatus. It was later announced that the band had dissolved on

FBi Radio FBi (call sign: 2FBI) station is an independent, not-for-profit community radio in Sydney, Australia. FBi places a heavy emphasis on local emerging music: it has a policy that at least 50 per cent of its music content is to be Australian, of wh ...

. The group reunited for a show at the Factory Theatre in Marrickville, Sydney on 18 April 2009. The gig was for the ''That Then This Now'' documentary. The band reformed again to support

on 18 September 2010 at the

Sydney Entertainment Centre Sydney Entertainment Centre (later known as Qantas Credit Union Arena) was a multi-purpose arena located in Haymarket, Sydney, Australia. It opened in May 1983, to replace Sydney Stadium, which had been demolished in 1970 to make way for the E ...

as part of Powderfinger's farewell tour.

Side projects

Fish has recorded as a solo artist and released a six-song EP ''Trick of Light'' on the Nonlinear label in mid-2012. Fish also reunited with Kennedy to form The Electorate with Josh Morris (Atticus), releasing an album in October 2020 called ''You Don't Have Time to Stay Lost'' on the Templebear label. Greg Atkinson eventually formed Worker Bees with his brother Darren Atkinson. They released their self-titled debut album in 2011. From 2011 to 2017, the Atkinson brothers also reformed their earlier band Ups and Downs, and they released the full-length album ''The Sky's in Love With You'' in 2017.

Members

*Greg Atkinson - lead vocals/rhythm guitars (1990–2006, 2009–2010) *Carolyn Polley - lead guitars/backup vocals (1990–2006, 2009–2010) *Nick Kennedy - drums (1993–2006, 2009–2010) *Eliot Fish - bass/backup vocals (1994–2006, 2009–2010) *Darren Jones - bass (1990–1994) *Darren Atkinson - drums (1990–1993)

Discography

Studio albums

Extended Plays

Awards and nominations

ARIA Music Awards

The

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of

Australian music The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...

. They commenced in 1987. ! , - ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, ''Size of the Ocean'' ,

, , , -

References

{{Authority control New South Wales musical groups Musical groups established in 1990

Indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

Australian indie rock groups