The story of Big Scary begins in 2006, when Melbourne duo Tom Iansek (#1 Da… Read Full Bio ↴The story of Big Scary begins in 2006, when Melbourne duo Tom Iansek (#1 Dads) and Jo Syme, armed with just acoustic guitars and egg shakers, started playing songs together in the living room of Jo’s parents’ house. After a bit of a break, the two reconvened in 2008, this time with more instruments—electric guitars, drums, piano, mandolins and ukuleles—and a bolder, more expansive vision. What began as a few rainy day acoustic ballads in their first incarnation soon grew into an all-encompassing, genre-defying sound. Before long, the newly named Big Scary were writing anything they pleased—fuzzed-out garage rock; piano-led pop; intricate, pastoral instrumentals—each imbued with an effortless pop sensibility and lightness of touch that would quickly see the duo attract a strong following.

These gifts translated onto the stage where, from the outset, Big Scary proved themselves a remarkably fluid and compelling live act, capable of not only bringing their songs to life, but also of adapting their set to suit the moment.

In late 2008, the band headed into the studio for the first time, laying down six live tracks in a single day. Another quick-fire recording session soon after resulted in a four-track mini-EP, led by the towering single ‘This Weight’. Featuring Iansek’s huge distorted guitar and high-wire vocals backed by Syme’s thumping drums, ‘This Weight’ quickly caught the ears of the press, who hailed this ‘talented and fearless’ new duo.

Inspired by a wave of severe weather that hit the country, Big Scary went on to release the six-track ‘At The Mercy of The Elements’ ep. Ranging from rousing, piano-led ballads (‘Falling Away’), to thumping, distorted numbers (‘Hey Somebody’) and intricate, sonorous instrumentals (‘At The Mercy of the Elements’), the ep was a full-to-bursting showcase of the duo’s vital, dexterous sound. ‘Thoroughly excellent,’ raved The Australian. ‘Packed with anxiety and bravado,’ Beat said.

With a growing national profile, Big Scary embarked on a period of heavy touring, with a diverse list of supports that reflected the duo’s eclectic output: The Vasco Era, Florence and the Machine, Midlake, Little Red, Editors. Soon enough the duo began headlining their own shows, first in their hometown of Melbourne and then all over the country.

Big Scary remain endlessly fascinated by the natural world. In 2010, the duo released four seasonally themed, limited-edition eps, which were eventually collected as The Big Scary Four Seasons. A rich, thrillingly diverse set of songs, The Four Seasons showcased Iansek and Syme’s uncanny ability to translate the vagaries and glories of the elements into utterly compelling music.

‘Four Seasons proves to be the defining turning point for Big Scary, for they are no longer the next best thing in Australian music, they are the best thing,' Beat Magazine said of the lp, while the AU Review hailed ‘the versatility and obscene… talent of the players.’
A national tour followed, with the band playing to packed houses all over the country. Several months later, as the band began to ready their new album, ‘Autumn’, one of the standout tracks from the Four Seasons, was placed in a high-profile AT&T ad in the US, introducing the band to American audiences for the first time.

The vision for the new record came together on a small island farm, where Iansek and Syme holed up for several weeks after a run of successful summer festival shows, writing and demoing songs. ‘We knew we had a lot of songs that we liked, but they were all so far from each other on the genre scale—super bratty garage, really poppy piano stuff, epic guitar songs, folky acoustic stuff,’ Syme says. ‘The album will still have elements of all that, but we've got some really strong tracks that we think tie it all together.’

Instead of painting themselves into a corner, on the new album Big Scary celebrate the diversity of their songwriting. ‘We write songs with completely different feels and vibes,’ Iansek says. ‘In the studio, we thought that we should try not suppress this too much, and just roll with it.’
By their own admission, the two worked ‘a lot harder’ in putting together the new album material than they had before, re-writing parts and lyrics until they were satisfied. This process continued into the studio, where every sound was carefully considered and experimented with—often for hours at a time. Layers were added to some songs, while parts were culled from others, as Iansek and Syme sought to make each song ‘as strong as it could possibly be.’
The new album, which is due in October, promises to be another startling document from a band whose only constant seems to be their capacity for invention, their desire to keep moving forward.

www.bigscary.net

Label page: Pieater

Thinking About You
Big Scary Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You were a hard faced kid
That was new on the block
And a lone life force
That nobody could stop

You had a mind of black and gold
And every shade in between
You were a paper back boy

With a slate so clean

So come on
So come on

You were my heart shaped queen
On your way to school
You were a paper back girl
Back before it was cool

You were a bird shoot down
With you feathers all red
With your face turned up
And your arms outstreched

Now come on
Now come on

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Big Scary's song, Thinking About You, seem to be inspired by a person who is portrayed as a resilient and strong individual. The song starts off with the description of this person, saying that they were a new arrival in the neighborhood, a hard-faced kid that no one could stop. The next line talks about the individual's determination, describing them as a lone life force. The second verse brings up the person's mental strength, describing them as having a mind of black and gold, representing the individual's complex and multidimensional persona. The line "every shade in between" further emphasizes that the person isn't straightforward and has various layers to their personality. The chorus of the song is a call of sorts, encouraging this person to come on and not to give up.

The third verse seems to be a tribute to the woman who may have been a love interest of the person the song is written for. The lyrics describe her as a heart-shaped queen, who was once a "paperback girl back before it was cool." The following lines seem to be a metaphorical representation of the woman's strength through difficult times, comparing her to a bird with red feathers that were presumably shot down. However, the woman was still looking up with outstretched arms, not willing to give up. The last line of the chorus again encourages her to keep going and not give up.

Overall, the song is a beautiful tribute to a person who has demonstrated immense strength, resilience, and determination through various tough experiences. The song is a reminder that even when things get tough, one should keep going and not give up.

Line by Line Meaning

You were a hard faced kid
You had a tough exterior

That was new on the block
You were a newcomer to the area

And a lone life force
You had a strong independent spirit

That nobody could stop
No one could hold you back from what you wanted to do

You had a mind of black and gold
Your thoughts ranged from dark to brilliant

And every shade in between
You could see all perspectives

You were a paper back boy
You were a simple, uncomplicated person

With a slate so clean
You had a fresh start with no mistakes or regrets

So come on
Encouragement to keep going

You were my heart shaped queen
You were the love of my life

On your way to school
When you were young and innocent