Big Stick is comprised of two artistic and creative people, John Gill and Yanna Trance. The duo emerged in late '86 with their timeless classic hit titled "Drag Racing". The record got plenty of college airplay in the U.S. and healthy radio attention in England and parts of Europe. Big Stick's catchy "Jesus Was Born On An Indian Reservation" also made an impact due to persistent radio play. The duo signed with Blast First/Mute Records and enjoyed critical acclaim and success on foreign shores.
Big Stick penned the title track for "The Devil's Jukebox", a very nifty 7" box-set collection that includes select treasures from Big Stick and other bands from the Blast First Record's roster such as Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr and the Lunachicks. Artist extraordinaire, Robert Williams features a Big Stick track on his vibrant and colorful "Chrome Smoke & Fire" double LP picture-disc set. The Robert Williams picture-disc set is a hand picked compilation of Robert's all time favorite hot rodding tunes. Robert Williams' collection of preferred hot rodding tracks includes luminaries Bill Haley, The Trashmen, The Four Speeds and Lola Dee among others.
Big Stick continued to release successful "alternative" (for lack of a better word) releases through the 90's. Songs like "Crack Attack" (both indie and major label versions of the track), "Hoochie Koo Time", "On The Road Again", "A Threat", "Bionca Blast", "Hokey Pokey Girl", "Shake Baby Shake", "Hellfire", "Broadcast Booth", "Daddy Long Legs", "Panther", "Summerday" and "Petula" all became frequent rotaters over the liberal airwaves here and abroad. Big Stick has toured England and Europe, and has done sporadic gigs in the U.S., including an extensive stateside tour with industrial icons My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult and guest record jockey Traci Lords.
Big Stick's John Gill appeared in a film by Holly Hardman titled "Seaschell Beach". John played the abstract role of being the "confused conscience" of the movie's leading lady, "Sally Seaschell". John Gill and Yanna Trance also completed a film score for the feature film Besotted. John and Yanna are presently concentrating their collective efforts on recording new Big Stick music tracks. The duo is in the studio, creating new sounds for your listening pleasure. There are also plans to re-issue some of BIG STICK's back catalog--- and a DVD featuring some "music videos", as well as some of John Gill's drawings/animation accompanied with music. A substantial serving of fast and frenzied drag racing footage is also planned as part of the DVD visual package.
Big Stick are also honoured to be included in John Peel's (of BBC Radio1's) almost mythical record box containing around 100 of his most treasured records. He claimed that in the event of a fire, this box would be the most important thing to rescue besides himself and his family. Sadly, for the whole of the music industry, John has since passed on. However, the memories and legacy he created within music will never fade. Big Stick's Gill and Trance are genuinely appreciative to John Peel for including them in his collection of most treasured records. Some other artists featured in John Peel's box include The Beatles, The Yardbirds, Marc Bolan, Lightnin' Hopkins, Sam & Dave, The Buzzcocks, MC5 and The White Stripes. This honour also resulted in BIG STICK being featured in the critically acclaimed TV documentary titled "John Peel's Record Box", an hour long program that tells the story of John Peel's life and career while highlighting the artists/music from his record box. The program airs each year annually on BBC-TV in conjunction with the U.K. Music Hall of Fame Awards.
BIG STICK is currently recording and mixing. Working with some other musicians in the process, like Fred Schneider of the B52s, Johnny Kelly (TYPE O NEGATIVE, DANZIG, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY), Kevin Rutmanis (THE MELVINS, TOMAHAWK) and Tom Timko (Aretha Franklin, Shakira), among others. We look forward to unleashing some new BIG STICK soon for a much deserving public.
