Big Defender
News and Information
From the ashes of Gasbuggy, Richard Bennett formed Big*Defender in Birmingham in 2000. It was never meant to be a proper band, starting out with a project to do a bunch of collaborations using largely digital media. The material from this period ranges from acoustic ballads to electronic psychedelia, via a lot of sample-laden guitar riffs. Hard to see how that would work? Hmmm... Things change, and once a couple of eclectic albums in this vein were out of the way, a regular, gigging band and a more cohesive sound began to take shape around 2006. They spent a lot of time at Hockley Street Studio and played a small number of gigs locally but never quite got into their stride, disbanding in 2008. 'Turn The Hourglass' is a retrospective of some of the earlier stuff, whilst 'Now The Establishment All Know Our Name' is a record of the band's live set for Birmingham's Artsfest in 2008. They are both a little rough around the edges, but no less charming for that.
The gigging incarnation of the band was Kevin Atkinson (played the drums), Richard Bennett (sang and played guitar), Jude Holden (sang), Dale Ricketts (played bass guitar), Jonathan Marker (played and programmed keyboards) and Sarah Shanahan (sang).
Turn The Hourglass-
Now The Establishment All Know Our Name