Interview by Rebecca Mae
Photos by Jenny Carminati
Hey everyone, how are you guys doing?
Brenna: I'm doing okay; pretty tired!
Tristan: Not too bad.
Jason: Chillin’.
Sam: 7.8/10
Zander: I just got married last week so I'm good!
Nicole: Good!
Rick: Fine!
How did Big Fat Meanies begin?
Sam: We all went to Millersville. All the music majors got put in the same hallway of the same dorm and we just jammed all the time. Eventually I started going around asking if they wanted to do what we were doing already, but as a band.
Rick: Almost every music major in Millersville has been a member of this band, at least the ones in our year. We've rotated members a lot, but we've been in this lineup for a while now.
You have gained some regional attention, even earning some support slots on tour with Stacked Like Pancakes and Bent Knee. Has this changed how operate as a band or as songwriters?
Rick: RIP SLP.
Zander: It hasn't really changed how we do things. We've always been most comfortable just doing our only thing. Especially with writing.
Jason: Obviously we've learned some different tips along the way, and there's always a cool moment when a band does something and we say "That's cool, we should do that", but we really only know how to operate as us.
What's REALLY crazy is when we play with a band that's already been influential to us (like when we played with Thank You, Scientist) and see that musically first hand.
How did so many people come to join the band?
Sam: It goes back to how we started. If you take out the horn section it's an average sized band, but we've just always wanted that extra element, so the count goes up.
What do you love most about the local music scene in Lancaster?
Brenna: Everybody is really supportive and really talented here. And it's really good to see a whole community where people are forward thinking and have pretty much shared values. We aren't necessarily a political band but we definitely have beliefs and we've never been afraid to express that here.
Nicole: Not to mention all the opportunities musicians have here. Organizations like Music for Everyone and venues like Tellus 360 and the Chameleon Club really care about the music scene and have done so much work to keep it thriving. Same with the Club XL guys in Harrisburg. They're just amazing people.
Zander: Going back to what Brenna said, I think it also helps that everybody is in everybody else's band. People in other bands sub for us all the time and our horn players play on their records, there's so much member-mixing that eventually it might all just turn into one massive city band!
What can fans expect next from Big Fat Meanies?
Rick: Some awesome stuff that we can't tell you about.
Sam: Yeah can't tell you.
Tristan: We've definitely got some stuff in the works. Maybe some new music in the future. The ideas that have been thrown around so far are pretty wild, I think people will be surprised.
Brenna: Not to mention some fun stuff we have planned with the city.
Nicole: And merch! We are getting new merch.
What is one goal that you wish to accomplish by the end of next year?
Jason: World domination
Nicole: Agreed. World domination.
Brenna: Yep that.
Rick: World domination for sure.
Where can we see a Big Fat Meanies show?
Tristan: 12/6 at Tellus 360 and then again at the Chameleon Club for the CI Christmas show!
Zander: You can go to bigfatmeanies.com or our Facebook page to stay up to date with all our shows and news and stuff.
