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Big Onion | ||
Check out Junior’s Cave newest interview with the Switzerland Rock Group Big Onion. Dave Corbett, lead vocal for the band, recently completed an interview with our magazine. Here is what developed.
Band Members:
Dave Corbett - Vocals, Rhythm Guitar
Phil Roberts - Lead Guitar
Mark Huber – Bass
Small Box - Relentless Drums
Isaac: Briefly describe how you entered into the music industry.
Big Onion: I always sang around the house. I got into making music when a good friend of mine heard me singing in his girlfriend’s shower and asked me to join his band. It’s not what you think. She was my landlady. I soon found that what I enjoyed most was songwriting and I started making CD’s when I teamed up with Phil and formed an extremely prolific song-writing partnership.
Isaac: What is the most rewarding aspect to making music currently for you?
Big Onion: This is the easiest question to answer for me. The most rewarding aspect of making music is the songwriting process itself. I love it when I begin with an idea and end up with a song that I can put on my iPod and it holds it’s own against “professional” tracks. Every now and then I end up with a really strong song and the feeling intensifies. It is really satisfying.
Isaac: What has discouraged you the most about making music?
Big Onion: I can’t really say that anything has discouraged me from making music. Probably because I do it as a hobby and I am not desperate for other people to recognize my music, or approve of it. I do it because I like it and that is enough.
Isaac: Do you have a personal philosophy about music? If so, what is it?
Big Onion: I would say that the band’s philosophy is “keep it simple”. Our tracks tend to be short, with a recognizably melody with lyrics that mean something without having to take mind-enhancing drugs to understand. I never write extremely abstract lyrics. As for me personally, I listen to music on its own merits. I don’t care who sings the song, or what style it is. I have found tracks that I can listen to from all styles of music and from artists who are considered “cool” to like, (for want of a better expression) and from artists who are considered not particularly “cool” to like.
Isaac: When you are performing live in front of an audience, what are the thoughts that are running through you head?
Big Onion: When I first started performing, it was usually just concentrating on the songs so I didn’t make a mistake. With time, I became more confident, on one hand because I knew the material much better and on the other hand because I realized that the audience didn’t really care if you made a mistake. That allowed me to “get into the song” more, rather than just doing a mechanical performance. But I would still say, I am thinking about the song more than anything else.
Isaac: Why is being an independent musician important to you?
Big Onion: It is important to me because I love writing and singing songs. It’s as simple as that. I know for a fact that our music is as strong as a lot of commercial stuff out there and the reason I decided to put it out on the Internet was more out of interest to see what would happen.
Isaac: Do you think the Internet has altered the path of music as an industry? If so, how?
Big Onion: Definitely, I don’t see how anyone could argue against that. How else could I, an unknown songwriter, living and working in a small village in Switzerland that you almost certainly have never heard of, be interacting with people on the other side of the ocean?
Isaac: Any advice for other musicians out there when it comes to using the Internet as a medium for getting their music heard to the masses?
Big Onion: This is a difficult one for me possibly because I may not have the same ambitions as a lot of musicians who are trying to use the Internet to make the “breakthrough”. My ambition to anyone, when they are doing anything they like is “Don’t forget to have fun”.
Isaac: What kind of recording software do you use?
Big Onion: I use wavelab studio. (One of the light versions).
Isaac: I know that everybody has his or her idea of a dream artist, someone who for whatever reasons that person would just love to listen to and admire. As an entertainer yourself, if you could play with one of your "dream" musicians, anyone at all, who would it be and why?
Big Onion: When I play other peoples stuff on my guitar, I would say there are two artists I play more than any other. One is Greg Lake and the other is Noel Gallagher. If I could play with someone, I guess it would be Noel Gallagher. Living in Switzerland, I missed all the hype about Oasis when they first came out. I was completely unaffected by all of the headlines about the behaviour of the Gallagher brothers. I didn’t hear any of it. So I just listened to the music and found it to be excellent. I think he is a really good song-writer. I really like playing his stuff and I think it would be a good laugh to perform on stage with him. The first interview I ever saw with him had nothing to do with music. It was on “Soccer AM”, a Saturday morning football show on British TV and he just cam across as “one of the lads”. No pretensions, he just enjoyed himself. I quite liked that.
Isaac: What are you hoping to gain from your experience of being a musician and making music?
Big Onion: I make music because I enjoy it. There is nothing I like more than taking that first idea and making a decent song out of it. I can’t say that I don’t enjoy the surprise when people realize that it is my music they are listening to and it actually sounds quite good. I guess everyone likes a small amount of recognition.
Isaac: What are you hopes for your music in the year 2008/2009?
Big Onion: Mine and the band’s main objective this year is to finish the recording of our third album. It is by far and a way our best to date. The songs are much stronger than anything we have done before. We are also busy writing for the fourth album. We have about 8 or 9 songs in the early stages for that project and finally we have a special “Christmas” song, which I hope to have ready by Christmas, so I can save on Christmas presents for the family! We should also try to organize more gigs, but that is more difficult due to our various jobs. Phil, our guitarist, has to travel a lot to Milan for his job and I also have to travel for work on occasion. I am writing this on a flight between Shanghai and Dubai on my way back home. I have also decided to at least make the attempt to get Big Onion out on the internet. We have some good songs and who knows? Maybe someone out there might like to listen to them.
Isaac: This is our Shout Out time. Please give props to anyone and everyone that matters the most to you.
Big Onion: I see my family and friends in Switzerland enough, so I would like to say hello to my friends and family back in England, who I don’t see often enough and also to all of the people I have met on my various travels. My good friends at TRANSCO in Manila and at GECOL in Tripoli and last but not least at GIEG in the Channel Islands. I hope I get the chance to meet up with them again sometime. It’s a blessing and a curse of my job, that you meet and make friends with people all over the world and then you don’t see them again. Oh and I actually have a few friends in the US, Tim Norton, who works for NASA in Annapolis, “Wyoming Dave” who comes from Albuquerque and lives in Phoenix and my colleagues at PROCEQ USA. Bob, in Pittsburgh and Paul and Karl in Chicago.
Isaac: This is Shameless Plug time: Give us some updates on new releases and other projects in the works.
Big Onion: Later this year will see the release of “Belter”. A real belter of an album.,…. the best from Big Onion to date. If any there are any record producer’s out there, this album contains one track which is the catchiest song we have ever written. I am 100 percent convinced that if it got any kind of airplay, it would have the potential to be a hit. I suppose everybody thinks that about their own compositions! Why should I be any different?
Also look out for “Bauble”, featuring “Christmas Cracked”, Big Onion’s contribution to the festive season.
Isaac: Final Thoughts:
Big Onion: Give Big Onion a listen. You might just find yourself whistling the odd tune without knowing it.
Special Thanks to Dave Corbett for allowing us to enter his world.
MySpace Account
http://www.myspace.com/bigonion
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