Big Scenic Nowhere Indierock | Alternative 7 Items

Limited to 550 copies.This album is a collaborative effort and even greater than the sum of its parts. The basic riffs and song structures were done by Bob Balch and Gary Arce, but the contributions from Tony Reed, Lisa Alley, Ian Graham, Mario Lalli, Nick Oliveri, Bill Stinson, Per Wiberg and Alain Johannes make this record what it is. There was never a discussion of what kind of music they wanted to make. This album is a unique gem, manufactured by multiple artists, including different atmospheres: from the melodic stoner mellowness, to faster tempos, to classic heavy sounds, but songwriting is never customary.We can say, "Fu Manchu's killer riffing meets the desert psychedelia of Yawning Man." For sure that is something that's never been tried before!Bob Balch and Gary Arce together give life to an amazing new adventure which sounds fresh and dynamic. The vocal parts are always choral and interesting. There's a variety in the songs which always keeps the listener focused and intrigued about what's next. This is a very special record and deserves your full attention, because we predict that over time you will hear different elements within it. So dig in and get lost. Let your journey begin.

This album is a collaborative effort and even greater than the sum of its parts. The basic riffs and song structures were done by Bob Balch and Gary Arce, but the contributions from Tony Reed, Lisa Alley, Ian Graham, Mario Lalli, Nick Oliveri, Bill Stinson, Per Wiberg and Alain Johannes make this record what it is. There was never a discussion of what kind of music they wanted to make. This album is a unique gem, manufactured by multiple artists, including different atmospheres: from the melodic stoner mellowness, to faster tempos, to classic heavy sounds, but songwriting is never customary.We can say, "Fu Manchu's killer riffing meets the desert psychedelia of Yawning Man." For sure that is something that's never been tried before!Bob Balch and Gary Arce together give life to an amazing new adventure which sounds fresh and dynamic. The vocal parts are always choral and interesting. There's a variety in the songs which always keeps the listener focused and intrigued about what's next. This is a very special record and deserves your full attention, because we predict that over time you will hear different elements within it. So dig in and get lost. Let your journey begin.

Bob Balch here. These recordings go back to 2021.BIG Scenic Nowhere played a show out in Joshua Tree and while we were all in the same place (Tony the singer lives like 20 hours away) we thought we should spend two days jamming in the studio. Our usual way of recording is jam out freely and then edit those jams down into songs afterwards. The song “The Way Down” was the last jam of that session. We were about to pack up and Tony Reed started playing the main riff. Sometimes that’s all it takes to get immersed into a 25 min jam.

Bob Balch here. These recordings go back to 2021.BIG Scenic Nowhere played a show out in Joshua Tree and while we were all in the same place (Tony the singer lives like 20 hours away) we thought we should spend two days jamming in the studio. Our usual way of recording is jam out freely and then edit those jams down into songs afterwards. The song “The Way Down” was the last jam of that session. We were about to pack up and Tony Reed started playing the main riff. Sometimes that’s all it takes to get immersed into a 25 min jam.

Bob Balch here. Wanted to let you know about "The Long Morrow." We released the E.P "Lavender Blues" back in October of 2020. "Lavender Blues" and "The Long Morrow" are both the result of a three day jam session back in November of 2019. The players were myself, Gary Arce (Yawning Man), Bill Stinson (Yawning Man) and Tony Reed (Mos Generator). We left that session with hours of stuff to choose from. We still have tons to release! Once 2020 hit, we started digging into what would become "Lavender Blues" with the intention to make it an EP and save the main chunk of the material for the LP which would become "The Long Morrow." Once we released "Lavender Blues" Tony Reed and I began digging into the tunes. All of the songs were jams at first, just two or three parts and lots of improvisation. Tony started chopping them up into arranged songs and added lyrics and a few changes. That's where we got songs like "Murder Klipp" "Defector" "LeDu" and "Lavender Bleu." I did a few guitar overdubs on them as well to flesh out the parts, but for the most part they are all live takes. I'm surprised that "Murder Klipp" came together so easiely that early in the morning. That time signature is bonkers, Bill Stinson had no trouble coming up with a beat that complemented it. I had to take notes and increase my caffeine intake for that one. "Lavender Bleu" is a second take for "Lavender Blues" hence the title similarity. They were both jams but "Lavender Bleu" became a structured song and the second half of it became "Labyrinths Fade" from the EP. I got to play bass on "Defector" and Tony switched to guitar. "LeDu" is inspired by Husker Du and Led Zeppelin. Gary Arce (Yawning Man) planted the main riff ideas for all of those songs on Side One. The dude is a riff machine. “The Long Morrow” takes up Side Two. Clocking in at a little under 20 mins, “The Long Morrow” was the very first jam we did during the session. Took us about 30 seconds to fall into a groove and we didn’t surface for 30 mins. I went home and re-recorded all of my guitar parts throughout 2020. I kept the original ideas in place but embellished them a little. After editing it down and changing guitar parts around it was sent to Reeves Gabrels (the Cure/david Bowie) and Per Wiberg (opeth, Spiritual Beggars) to add guitars and synth. Then it was sent to Tony Reed (mos Generator) for vocals, overdubs and structure changes. Mixed and Mastered by the very talented Tony Reed. I couldn't ask for a better production. Sounds just as I wanted to hear it. We are super proud of this album, and look ahead into the future as this is only the beginning. If we can create stuff like this the first time jamming together we can only imagine that it’s gonna get better and better! More soon!

Bob Balch here. Wanted to let you know about "The Long Morrow." We released the E.P "Lavender Blues" back in October of 2020. "Lavender Blues" and "The Long Morrow" are both the result of a three day jam session back in November of 2019. The players were myself, Gary Arce (Yawning Man), Bill Stinson (Yawning Man) and Tony Reed (Mos Generator). We left that session with hours of stuff to choose from. We still have tons to release! Once 2020 hit, we started digging into what would become "Lavender Blues" with the intention to make it an EP and save the main chunk of the material for the LP which would become "The Long Morrow." Once we released "Lavender Blues" Tony Reed and I began digging into the tunes. All of the songs were jams at first, just two or three parts and lots of improvisation. Tony started chopping them up into arranged songs and added lyrics and a few changes. That's where we got songs like "Murder Klipp" "Defector" "LeDu" and "Lavender Bleu." I did a few guitar overdubs on them as well to flesh out the parts, but for the most part they are all live takes. I'm surprised that "Murder Klipp" came together so easiely that early in the morning. That time signature is bonkers, Bill Stinson had no trouble coming up with a beat that complemented it. I had to take notes and increase my caffeine intake for that one. "Lavender Bleu" is a second take for "Lavender Blues" hence the title similarity. They were both jams but "Lavender Bleu" became a structured song and the second half of it became "Labyrinths Fade" from the EP. I got to play bass on "Defector" and Tony switched to guitar. "LeDu" is inspired by Husker Du and Led Zeppelin. Gary Arce (Yawning Man) planted the main riff ideas for all of those songs on Side One. The dude is a riff machine. “The Long Morrow” takes up Side Two. Clocking in at a little under 20 mins, “The Long Morrow” was the very first jam we did during the session. Took us about 30 seconds to fall into a groove and we didn’t surface for 30 mins. I went home and re-recorded all of my guitar parts throughout 2020. I kept the original ideas in place but embellished them a little. After editing it down and changing guitar parts around it was sent to Reeves Gabrels (the Cure/david Bowie) and Per Wiberg (opeth, Spiritual Beggars) to add guitars and synth. Then it was sent to Tony Reed (mos Generator) for vocals, overdubs and structure changes. Mixed and Mastered by the very talented Tony Reed. I couldn't ask for a better production. Sounds just as I wanted to hear it. We are super proud of this album, and look ahead into the future as this is only the beginning. If we can create stuff like this the first time jamming together we can only imagine that it’s gonna get better and better! More soon!

BIG Scenic Nowhere the supergroup led by Bob Balch from FuManchu is coming back with a new killer EP titled “lavender Blues” The band has a straight core of members as Gary Arce from Yawning Man and Tony Reed from Mos Generator, this time the album going to feature great names as Per Wiberg from Opeth, Spiritual Beggars at synth and piano, Daniel Mongrain from Voivod at the guitar and the mighty producer from Kyuss: Chris Goss from Masters Of Reality at the guitar. The sound once again has this mellow and psychedelic attitude, with pinches of space rock and a matrix of desert sound, but you can also hear some progressive passages, and old school hard rock riffing here and there. The album feature once again the cover art of the visionary Max Loeffler.