Reconfiguring the landscape of heavy music is the mighty Canadian trio Big | Brave. Following a stand-out performance in 2022, we can’t wait to welcome them back to the Supersonic stage, this time as a special collaboration with fellow Montreal-based violinist Jessica Moss – a festival exclusive for our 2023 edition.
Big | Brave formed in 2012, with no other goal than simply experimenting with the instruments in their possession. Band members Robin Wattie and Mathieu Ball started writing subtle ambient/minimalistic folk songs together. After an incident where an acoustic guitar broke, the electric guitar became the permanent replacement, bringing with it larger amps and mass of amplitude. Third member Tasy Hudson joined the ranks in 2018. It became clear that loud volume would become just as effective as the lowest possible ones and the juxtaposition of both would become something of a signature sound for them.
Jessica Moss, signed to Constellation Records (the same label of Supersonic favourites Jersualem In My Heart and Godspeed You! Black Emperor) uses amplified and processed violin (and voice) to create works of expressive electronic and drone-inflected post-classical Minimalism and Maximalism. Her distinctive melodic sensibility channels Klezmer, Balkan and Middle Eastern tropes, with an ear for textural grit and timbral noise forged from her 15-year tenure in political postpunk band Thee Silver Mt. Zion.
“Big | Brave explode with the impact of a thousand drone and doom metal bands playing a folk song in unison.”
– The Quietus
