Big Something's Nick MacDaniels Discusses New Album & COVID-19 October 8, 2020 12:29

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Interview by Jordan Kirkland: Live & Listen
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North Carolina-based jam rockers Big Something are gearing up for the release of their sixth studio album, Escape, on Friday, October 9th. Produced by John Custer and the band at Ovation Sound in Winston-Salem, ‘Escape’ showcases the evolution of the band’s signature sound and their diverse range of songs. In a year of unmeasured uncertainty, this release calls for an extra dose of celebration, and we couldn't be happier to help shine a light. 
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To celebrate the release of the new record, Big Something will premiere a video album listening party on Thursday October 8th followed by a FREE multi-cam virtual concert on Friday October 9th that will air across multiple platforms including Live & Listen, NUGS TV, Live for Live Music, YouTube and more.
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Earlier this week, we caught up with Nick MacDaniels (guitar/vocals) to discuss all of the details on Escape, how the band continues to navigate  through the COVID-19 pandemic, and everything in between. See below for the full conversation, and make sure to head to the band's official store to order your copy today.
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This has obviously been a crazy year. From what I recall, Big Something had just wrapped up the Royal Rumble tour with Andy Frasco when everything started to cancel. Tell me about how that time period played out for the band.
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Nick: We had just gotten home, and that's when everything first started happening. So luckily for us, we were able to finish that tour. And that was one of the most fun and most successful tours we've ever had, so it was really crazy to go from that right into quarantine a couple weeks later. We had so many friends that were still on the road, and then had to cancel everything. It sounded like a nightmare. We were pretty lucky actually, but it was still super disappointing. This was shaping up to be a huge year for us. We were so excited for our first time at Bonnaroo, our annual festival, The Big What?, and so many other awesome shows we had lined up.  
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The new album was actually ready to go too and we planned on releasing it much earlier, but once everything shut down we decided to wait to release it until we could tour again. Then we slowly realized we might not be able to tour again anytime soon so it gave us something to focus on and look forward to while touring isn't an option. 
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I can only imagine how disappointing that was. I know it's been years since you had this much time off of the road. What has life been like for you and the band? How have you been occupying all of this new found time?
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Nick: It kind of happened in phases. I think it's been that way for a lot of people. Initially, it was a lot of down time at home, which was nice. We spent so much time on the road before all this that home life kind of fell by the wayside. It was great to spend more time with my girlfriend and our cat Teddy who gradually became famous during our live streams (lol). It was also fun having one band member at a time come over for our "live from the living room" sessions. It's been different, for sure. We've had to adjust to this new frontier, but it's also allowed us to learn new things and focus on some stuff we don't normally have time for. 
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I'm glad to hear there have been some silver linings. Tell me about the recent live stream series, Escape from the Living Room, which wraps up in correlation with the album release on Friday. 
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Nick: Well once we realized we wouldn't be able to tour we decided to make the recording studio our homebase for writing music and hosting live streams. Our good friend Bill Stevens at Ovation Sound was super awesome about letting us come in and pretty much take over his studio for months. And it was really nice to have a creative space to call home during all this craziness. Our last show in front of people was in February and our first practice together after that was at the end of July so that was the longest we'd ever gone without playing together by far.
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Our first practice in July was pretty funny too. We would all start playing the songs and then forget which parts were coming up next. We train wrecked so many times (laughs). It was kinda like learning how to walk again, and even though it took us a little while to get our musical chops back, I feel like everyone has really stepped up and taken things to the next level while we've been at home. Jesse has been on fire during these streams. It's really been inspiring to see all of the guys putting in the extra work. It's been very therapeutic for us to have this extra time to just focus on the music. 
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As far as our live stream series goes, we saw a lot of bands doing pay-per-view streams, where people have to pay to watch. That was honestly the last thing we wanted to do during a pandemic. We wanted anyone who wanted to watch to be able to watch, but we also had to figure out a way to pay our crew and cover all the production expenses. So, it was kind of a risk making ours free to watch, but I love how it turned out.  Everyone has been super supportive with their donations, and for us, the main thing we wanted was to be able to keep playing music in a safe way, and to make it accessible for anyone who needs live music in their life right now. 
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Check out Big Something's official video for "Dangerous" here:
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That's a great mentality to have, especially considering how hard you guys have been hit. Let's talk a little bit about Escape, which is scheduled for release on Friday, October 9th.
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Nick: This was a really fun album to make and also really helped us grow as a band. We started recording last summer, long before the pandemic started happening. We had the album title, Escape, already picked out. All of the songs are kind of related to that theme in one way or another. It's a concept that can be interpreted in a lot of different ways. Sometimes positive; you're escaping from things that are holding you down or holding you back. Sometimes negative; escaping from reality in a way that's not healthy. That was the inspiration behind the album concept, then the pandemic hits and 2020 turns into what feels like the apocalypse at times, and the album title kind of takes on a whole new meaning. 
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It was also our first album since our lyricist, Paul Interdonato, passed away. So that was very difficult, but also kind of therapeutic for me. A lot of these songs are the first ones I tried to write or finish without him, and it took me a really long time to get to a point where I could do that. The last song we ever wrote together, "Machines," is on there so the whole project definitely has a special place in my heart.
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I would imagine so. Over the last month or so, you've released four singles from the album. We've had a chance to hear "Heavy," "Dangerous," "Time Bomb," and "The Breakers." Will there be any material that has not been played during the recent streams?”
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Nick: I think there are a couple that our fans haven't heard yet. One of them is a reprise of "Heavy," which is basically a funky demo version of that song. Josh (Kagel) also wrote a meditational interlude that we haven't played live yet. We'll be performing all of this at our virtual album release show on Friday for the first time ever. 
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So, this Friday wraps up the Escape from The Living Room series. Everyone will have a chance to keep the new album in heavy rotation. How do you see the rest of this year and 2021 panning out? There is obviously a lot of uncertainty surrounding the immediate future of touring. 
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Nick: I would say that the whole experience of this year has been really inspiring. Through all the ups and downs, there is a lot of inspiration that can be drawn from what's going on in the world right now. Personally, I'd like to focus on taking some of that and incorporating it into more new music. We still have no idea when we're going to be able to tour again. We have some fun plans for a virtual Halloween show. We're looking into doing our first drive in shows. 
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We've been really skeptical about playing in front of audiences. The information out there is always changing. We really want to focus on keeping everyone safe and out of unnecessary harm. That's the general idea. As things change, we'll certainly roll with the punches. We're in a good place right now, and we'll continue to stay flexible with what's going on. 
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Before we wrap this up, I did want to ask you about the passing of Eddie Van Halen yesterday. Tell me about the impact and influence that he made on you as guitarist. 
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Nick: I honestly didn't get into Van Halen until I was a little bit older. I was actually just listening to Van Halen 'One' on vinyl the other day. He's had such a huge impact on guitarists and rock n roll music in general that it's hard to put into words. Trey Anastasio's post earlier today really summed it up perfectly. He's just one of those guitar gods. It seemed so effortless for him. Guitar was an extension of his person. That kind of larger than life musicianship is always super inspiring. We've lost so many great musicians throughout this year. Toots (Hibbert), John Prine, and Bill Withers...those all hit me pretty hard too. It's been such a crazy year, but it's been great to see so many people celebrate and honor their musical legacy. 
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That's the truth. Well, it's been great chatting with you today. As a big fan of the band, I couldn't be happier to see you guys continuing to adapt throughout such a difficult year. There are so many of us pulling for you guys, and we will certainly be ready when the band is able to hit the stage again. 
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Nick: Thanks so much, Jordan. I look forward to the day when we can put on a show together again! Hopefully soon. We appreciate you and everything you do. Cheers man. 
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