The Big Mess loves sharing its exuberance with listeners.
The band, made up of the father-son duo, Marty and Kyle Shepard, formed six years ago. The collaboration happened organically.
Marty was on stage performing solo, singing a song called Voodoo. Audience members saw Kyle in the crowd and cheered him on to go onstage and join his father. Kyle did his beatboxing magic and the band was formed.
The band does covers but adds its own twist and stamp on the music.
“Technically we make our own back tracks … it gives us an infinite amount of flexibility,” said Marty.
Some of their songs come together as “happy accidents,” said Kyle. The two start mixing up tunes and other songs start to come into their head.
“We jokingly sing another melody over top of it and our eyes widen and we say that will work,” said Kyle. “We have fun and allow our impulses [to] go. If you have an impulse, don’t hold back.”
One of the duo’s favourite songs, Hell, was created because the two were thinking of different songs while performing it. Kyle was thinking of a tune from The Jungle Book, I Wanna Be Like You. The two songs mix shifting one into the other.
When The Big Mess performs people can expect to hear Marty’s big trumpet sound and Kyle’s beatbox voice. The band likes to keep their concerts fun.
“Life is a mess … life is tough. So when we play music we like to have reckless abandon and purge all that energy,” said Kyle.
Marty said The Vault Café is a great place to perform because the owners have worked to create a space that is more acoustically friendly.
“We love the ambience there,” he said.
The Big Mess performs at the Vault Thursday (Jan. 28) at 8 p.m. Admission is $10 at the door.
The duo has performed at various festivals including Canada Day celebrations in Nanaimo. For more information about the band, please go to www.big-mess.com.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com
