Title
Photos of some of The Bigger The God’s press cuttings from Melody Maker and NME, 1996-97 and albums and singles.
Description
The Bigger The God were Steve Brownsill, Alexandra Hamer (masquerading as ‘David’ at the time), Ellis James and Andy Smith. We started the band in about 1990. We gradually developed our sound and picked up a following in Oxford, playing at the Old Fire Station, the Dolly, the Jericho Tavern (which was the place we really wanted to play, and eventually we got Mac to give us a gig) and the Wheatsheaf. Later on, when the Jericho closed, it was the Point (upstairs at the Cape of Good Hope) and downstairs at the Zodiac when that was the smaller room. Occasionally you'd get to play in the big room at the Zodiac.
The singles and albums were all released on our own label, Outdigo records. It was originally called Indigo after one of our early songs, but then the jazz label of the same name got in touch.
We started to get reviews in the Melody Maker and NME after getting management (Dave Newton and Mark Taylor) and some press contacts.
With the help of the press etc, the gigs started getting gradually further from Oxford. Over a year between 1996-97 we played around 80 gigs. I think I aged about 10 years! Touring meant playing somewhere, like London, even Leeds or Exeter, then driving home, usually getting back around 3 or 4am and (for most of us) going to work the next day.
We were on TV a couple of times, on The Big Breakfast live, including a chat with Zig and Zag, and our video for Pentonville was shown on TOTP2. The night of the Big Breakfast broadcast, which might have been seen by millions, we played in Cheltenham to about 10 people! We got fed up and finished the set with a blistering version of Gary Numan’s “Cars”.
In the end, despite the press support, we didn't get plays on the radio and things didn't take off any further. We couldn't sustain the level of touring around work. On our second album “...and the ugly” we wanted to take things further, and we had a couple of extra musicians expanding the sound (Jim Driscoll and John Franklin). We were really proud of it but it was less commercial and didn't get so much press. Eventually we weren't all living in Oxford, so rehearsing became difficult and in 2003 we played our last gig.
The great thing is that we all kept in touch and shared what we were doing musically over the years. In 2025 we were able to meet again and recorded a new album, all working completely remotely at home. We released the album, “What Are We For?” on streaming services in March 2026.
The singles and albums were all released on our own label, Outdigo records. It was originally called Indigo after one of our early songs, but then the jazz label of the same name got in touch.
We started to get reviews in the Melody Maker and NME after getting management (Dave Newton and Mark Taylor) and some press contacts.
With the help of the press etc, the gigs started getting gradually further from Oxford. Over a year between 1996-97 we played around 80 gigs. I think I aged about 10 years! Touring meant playing somewhere, like London, even Leeds or Exeter, then driving home, usually getting back around 3 or 4am and (for most of us) going to work the next day.
We were on TV a couple of times, on The Big Breakfast live, including a chat with Zig and Zag, and our video for Pentonville was shown on TOTP2. The night of the Big Breakfast broadcast, which might have been seen by millions, we played in Cheltenham to about 10 people! We got fed up and finished the set with a blistering version of Gary Numan’s “Cars”.
In the end, despite the press support, we didn't get plays on the radio and things didn't take off any further. We couldn't sustain the level of touring around work. On our second album “...and the ugly” we wanted to take things further, and we had a couple of extra musicians expanding the sound (Jim Driscoll and John Franklin). We were really proud of it but it was less commercial and didn't get so much press. Eventually we weren't all living in Oxford, so rehearsing became difficult and in 2003 we played our last gig.
The great thing is that we all kept in touch and shared what we were doing musically over the years. In 2025 we were able to meet again and recorded a new album, all working completely remotely at home. We released the album, “What Are We For?” on streaming services in March 2026.
Date
1996-1997
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