Not If You're Lovin' Me b/w Real Emotion (picture sleeve)

By James Muretich
(Herald staff writer)

Mention the name Biggy Newstomp and people say: “Who?”

Mention the name Circus and you get a nod of acknowledgement. For those who frequent the rock ’n’ roll bars, Circus has become a familiar name over the past three years.

The group is viewed by many as one of the best local rock acts to play in the spots where liquor, dancing, dating and rock music melt into a hazy whole.

In fact, an independent Circus single about a year ago won CKXL’s battle of the bands five nights in a row.

Mention the fact that Circus and Biggy Newstomp are one and the same and the inevitable response is: “why the new name?”

It’s more than just a cosmetic change. When the quintet made its debut as Biggy Newstomp at Rock Expo, it signified a new start for an old band.

Its members are no longer guys who work during the day to support their rock ’n’ roll habit on the weekends.

Music is now a full-time preoccupation. And original music at that.

The group recently finished recording 11 original tunes at Smooth Rock and, simply put, it’s outstanding mainstream pop.

“A lot of people don’t like playing in the bars,” says vocalist Andrew Telfer in an interview at the Body Shoppe where the band is opening for Rough Trade this weekend.

“But underground bands don’t make money. We’ve been fortunate where we’ve become a good bar draw and are now turning that to our advantage where we can make more dough yet play our own material.

“The money we make liberates us to work on our original stuff in whatever time we have left to ourselves. I think it’s better than slugging it out driving a truck all day.”

Aside from Telfer, Biggy Newstomp consists of keyboardist Roy Beckman, guitarist Don Holgate, drummer Glenn Burns and bassist Greg Sinclair (the group’s main songwriter).

The band’s style is definitely in line with the mainstream pop sound that one associates with Western Canada. In other words, it has more in common with Loverboy than it does with the Parachute Club.

Yet Biggy Newstomp is not imitative. It has stripped the pop sound down to its core and then added layers of synthesizer and guitars in a surprisingly colorful fashion. The songs deal with the age-old subject of love but throw in enough twists to make them rise above the norm.

The band sent out tapes of its tunes to 15 record companies, including two in the United States, and has managed to rustle up “serious interest” from two “major labels.”

While different in style from other creative Calgary bands, such as The Rip Chords and The Golden Calgarians, Biggy Newstomp identifies strongly with the city by the Bow and feels Calgary has helped it create a different sound than other Canadian pop acts.

“People always say how much of a vacuum it is here,” says Sinclair. “But in a way I think that has helped certain local bands come up with a sound that is novel — just because we aren’t trendy.

“The isolation has helped.”

The members of Biggy Newstomp plan on reducing their live appearances locally to about one a month, biding their time until they deservedly land a record contract.

The band feel it’s ready.

“We working on the whole package, not just the record,” says Beckman.

“Our advantage is that we have a good live act. Like most musicians, we want to be on the big stage with thousands of people out there. We just have to wait, that’s all.”

As Telfer says: “It’s one step at a time and, hopefully, we’re going in the right direction.”

Photo: Kim Stallknecht, Calgary Herald
Andrew Telfer