Big Sky

Gainesville, FL USA

January 18, 2004

31,566 plays
36,324 views

Band/artist history

Ask anyone in Big Sky how many albums they have sold and they’ll tell you it doesn’t matter (over 25,000 independently, if you’d really like to know).

Ask anyone in Big Sky how many shows they play a year, and again they’ll tell you it just doesn’t matter (over 150 a year since 1998, if you must know).

Ask the band who they’ve played with over the years, who they sound like, or how their name originated and the members of Big Sky will emphatically spat, “It doesn’t matter.”

So what matters in the minds of these carefree rockers?

“Our new album,” bassist Ashton Allen simply states.

Aptly titled, This Monstrosity reflects upon what this humble five-piece rock band has weathered during the past year. With no money to record, two line-up changes, and a split with management, Big Sky set out to do the impossible. “The only thing we had were the songs we wrote in the middle of all this mess. We knew we had something genuine and real,” reflects singer Mark Gaignard. On a budget of two pennies shy of nothing, Big Sky called out favors to Atlanta producer Billy Hume, St. Augustine engineer Jim DeVito, and Orlando producer/ mixer Pete Thornton. “To these guys, the songs are what matter, that’s what made our producers believe in the project. The drawback is when someone is working for pennies, it’s on borrowed time so the album took almost a year to finish,” rhythm guitarist Ben Rowell points out.

With a “who cares, let’s just rock” honesty about it, the 13 song album This Monstrosity is more focused, polished, and the hooks hit much harder than on past recordings. Lyrically, Big Sky has also taken a more heart-felt approach. On the single David Bowie, Mark Gaignard sings sarcastically of what it might be like to be famous, while at the same time, paying homage to some of music’s greats. He spouts off his feelings on the current state of music on the alt rocker Cellophane. But it’s Tomorrow, the band’s autobiography, that Gaignard sums it all up for Big Sky. “If tomorrow never comes, could you leave these things behind? If tomorrow never comes, was it just a waste of time?”

Only time will tell

#bigSkyGainesvilleFlFl