Big Brave (Big ‡ Brave / Big|Brave) is a Canadian experimental rock trio from Montreal, Canada.
With the initial seeds planted in 2012, with no other goal than simply experimenting with the instruments in their possession, Robin Wattie and Mathieu Bernard Ball started writing subtle ambient/minimalistic folk songs… Read moreShow less
Big Brave (Big ‡ Brave / Big|Brave) is a Canadian experimental rock trio from Montreal, Canada.
With the initial seeds planted in 2012, with no other goal than simply experimenting with the instruments in their possession, Robin Wattie and Mathieu Bernard Ball started writing subtle ambient/minimalistic folk songs together. When long-time friend Louis-Alexandre Beauregard joined on drums, the goal still remained to play as tranquil as possible. After an incident where Wattie's acoustic guitar broke, and having borrowed a friend's electric as a replacement, larger amps that Ball had in storage from previous bands started to get incorporated into the outfit. Now with amplitude as a compositional tool, Big Brave never lost interest in the power of minimalism and fragility. It became clear that loud volume would become just as effective as the lowest possible ones and the juxtaposition of both would become something Big Brave still uses as their main MO to this day.
After self-releasing Feral Verdure in 2014, the band had the opportunity to open for A Silver Mt. Zion in Montreal. After which, Efrim Manuel Menuck found something meaningful in the members and the band and invited them to open on future shows with A Silver Mt. Zion and with Godspeed! You Black Emperor.
In 2015, the band entered the studio with Menuck and recorded Au De La. With no home for the record, they decided to take a chance in writing to Southern Lord. As luck would have it, Greg Anderson happened upon their email among hundreds and responded. Since then, the band has had a home with Southern Lord Records. (Along with Au De La, Southern Lord has released Ardor in 2017, A Gaze Among Them in 2019, and VITAL in 2021).
After Beauregard's departure in 2018, the band traveled down to Rhode Island with Loel Campbell on drums to make the first record with Seth Manchester at Machines with Magnets. After the album's release, with Campbell unable to tour, Tasy Hudson joined the ranks and the band spent most of the year touring their 2019 album A Gaze Among Them.
In 2020, the core trio of Wattie, Ball, and Hudson once again made the trek down to Machines with Magnets to record their 5th LP VITAL.
Members:
Robin Wattie - guitar, vocals;
Mathieu Bernard Ball - guitar;
Tasy Hudson (Consilience) - drums.
Former members:
Louis-Alexandre Beauregard - drums, backing vocals;
Loel Campbell (Contrived, The Holy Shroud, Wintersleep) - drums.
http://www.bigbrave.ca
