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BIGkids is made up of Ben Hudson (Mr. Hudson) and singer Rosie Bones, with a talent for fun, carefree pop tunes. So if you’re sick of all the seriousness, BIGkids are the band for you.
Mr Hudson has been involved in high profile collaborations accross the pond with Jay Z and Kanye West, but feels this project is much closer to his heart. He has taken his production experitise and melded it into something new and exciting with BIGkids.
The duo has released their debut album this week (October 8th) titled Never Grow Up which features lead single ‘Heart Sing’. We caught up with the band to discuss their new album, what they miss about being a kid and how for Ben, it’s all about BIGkids now.
You say Bigkids is meant to be fun. Do you think grownups need reminding of how to have fun these days?
Ben: I think grownups do know how to have fun. I think the weekend’s abundance of drunkards rolling around in Kebab shops can vouch for that. I guess a lot of music can be quite boring though, like that shoegaze sh**, but, there is a lot of fun music out there too. I always think you end up making the music you want to listen to, that’s what’s happened with BIGkids anyway.
What would you say is the worst thing about being an adult?
Rosie: Taxes!!
Ben: I think it’s good as long as you stay from a real job for as long as possible.
What do you both miss about being a kid?
Rosie: I miss tantrums, and excitement. I miss Christmas mornings as a kid, or how excited you can get about stuff, that seems to go away as you get older.
Is being a member of BIGkids as much fun as it looks – or is there seriousness behind the scenes?
Ben: The functional elements can occasionally be a bit more grown up, but mostly it’s been a pretty carefree process and we haven’t really busted our balls as of yet. Well I haven’t busted my balls…
Rosie: I’ve busted my balls a bit.
Ben: Do you know what; it really has just been a lot of fun.
What’s more enjoyable being in BIGkids or hanging out with Jay Z and Kanye West?
Ben: It’s just different, BIGkids is about being back in London, being back on the street, being back in the pubs and getting back to my roots. Also it’s been more of a band vibe and less of a production thing here. I love being in America and I love working with those guys, but this is a big part of me as well.
Have you brought any of your work with hip hop superstars to BigKIDS?
Rosie: Yeah he definitely has. The main thing for me is that Ben produces as we write, he lays down the beats for a lot of the tracks and then we write on top of them. That is a method that I’m not used to. I would write a song and you get my guitar and then would start to think about how the band would fit around. BIGkids in comparison is made in a very hip hop way, but with live show sensibility. Most of the instruments are played by Ben and we don’t use guitars that much. We also record in mostly one or two takes.
Watch 'Heart Sing' below
Who parties harder: Kanye West or Rosie Bones?
Ben: I think Rosie parties harder.
Rosie: I do. The night we formed BIGkids I had drunk… a lot.
Ben: I think I was the Dezzy D that night - have you heard that phrase before? It means designated driver, I really like that.
Which current musicians do you draw inspiration from and can we hear any of these inspirations on your album?
Ben: We’ve been referencing bands like The Gorillaz to bands like The Muppets, Dolly Parton and Fleetwood Mac. There is some uncool stuff in there but we don’t give a monkeys. We’ve also been listening to the (Rolling) Stones; we’ve basically been listening to a lot of duets to give us creative inspiration.
What are your hopes for BIGkids in the future?
Ben: We don’t really have a plan, we never even planned to make an album that just kind of happened by accident. We’re going to do a tour, we’re going to promote the album and just see what happens.
Thank you very much BIGkids. Their debut album Never Grow Up is out now.
Watch BigKids recent performance at The Renaissance Hotel in London below
