History
Australian independent rock band Big Room was the creation of vocalist Dave Johnston
and bassist Dave Petroni in Perth in the early nineties. After several years of writing and playing in Perth
and Fremantle, Johnston and Petroni decided it was time to move on. In 1994, Johnston headed to Adelaide and
Petroni to Sydney - but the pair continued their writing partnership, waiting for the right opportunity for Big Room's
'second coming'.
In early 2000 a new Adelaide based Big Room was put together with friends Steve, Hilary and local pizza maker Alex, and
after several months of preparation, the band set off for a deserted farmhouse in Orroroo, over 300 km North of Adelaide,
to record their debut album "Wastelands". The location proved the perfect inspiration. Produced and engineered by Johnston
and Roberts and mastered in Adelaide, "Wastelands" was released to impressive reviews throughout Australia in May 2002.
"Wastelands" received significant airplay from community radio stations, notably 3RRR (Melbourne), 2RRR (NSW), 3D (Adelaide),
Top FM (NT) and 4K1G (Townsville), as well as radio interviews with 4K1G, 3D and WOW FM (Adelaide). The album has also achieved
international airplay.In 2002, Big Room released their debut video - the single 'No Recovery' from "Wastelands". The video was
broadcast on Rage (Sydney, with a national simulcast on Triple J FM), Noise (Melbourne), Showtime (London, UK) and Rock Candy
(California, USA). Mick Durant joined the band to complement the guitar sound, and started rounding out the live sound. In 2003
the second video,'Istanbul' (second single from "Wastelands") was released.
2003/4 saw a recruitment drive for some new players with local bass player, Tristan Chesney, and Keith Williams to replace Steve
(heading overseas). It was 2005 and Big Room now was firing on all eight, playing shows at the The Tonsley, The Goodwood, The Gov,
The Duke of York, The Oxford, The South Adelaide Football Club, The Jade Monkey and had a host of new material ready to be
recorded. So into Mixmasters studio, with producer Craig Lewis (Kaleidoscope), and "a hand of four aces" was done.
The “a hand of four aces “ EP takes on very original, emotive rock sound. Uniquely Australian vocals incorporate real ideals
and provide meaningful lyrics that create the backbone of the Big Room play-list. The big rock guitar sound and anthemic
dynamics, provide the band with an intensity and formula that will captivate attention from any rock worthy listener. The
new direction of the music has given a new intensity to the band, a more focused and sharper live delivery too. |