According to Big Fancy’s Instagram bio, they’re “kind of like a milkshake with all of your favorite things.” Sounds a bit too good to be true, but if your favorite things include smooth, sweet R&B, soul and pop sounds, you might be pleasantly surprised.
Their Jan. 5 show at Gallery 5 sold me, and likely many other audience members, judging by the energy of the crowd. Every aspect of their set was compelling, from the musicality to the stage dynamics to the lead vocalists’ outfits. They performed a handful of their own songs, as well as Bill Withers and Sade covers.
Composed of vocalists Indy Brahm and Nathan Pal, guitarist and co-vocalist David Gray, bassist Grady Tollison, drummer Jonah Frankefuller, and occasional keyboardist Zach Cross, Big Fancy is a treat for the ears, eyes, and the heart. Their genre is hard to pin down, but they can describe it quite conceptually, if prompted. It was a main topic of conversation during our date (they paid for my dinner) at the Riverside Tavern in Forest Hill.
Big Fancy’s soul influences are strong, but there’s other genres at play here, as well. Similarly to bands like Hiatus Kaiyote, they aim to carve out their own space in the music world and create a genre of their own. Their list of artistic influences is long, and they spoke of them with a sense of awe.
Indy mentioned the smooth, emotive nature of Ella Fitzgerald’s voice. Grady recounted a set of his dad’s boxed CD’s from a Memphis-based record label, Stax, a staple of Southern soul. For David, Darondo, for Jonah, James Brown. Nathan was similarly affected by old soul, as well as the more contemporary Daniel Caesar and Bollywood playback vocalists like Lata Mangeshkar and Sonu Nigam.
“Our sound is evolving. All of our songs have continuity, because we’re all playing on them and the thread is there,” Indy said. “But it’s been really fun to not get too caught up in making sure that one song matches the songs that we’ve previously done… just allowing the sound to continue to expand.”
The members of Big Fancy were friends far before they were a band, so they’ve been able to create a safe container for exploration, Indy said. The respect and admiration for one another is apparent; David is a prolific artist, and Grady is a top-tier musician and the best bassist in the city, I’m told in earnest. The foundations of love are surely there, and it’s what their music is about.
Big Fancy is into all kinds of love right now — not just love for people, but love of a city, an idea, and so on. It’s written all over their upcoming singles, which they recorded at Spacebomb studio.
“For example, “Unfinished Business” is about this city, it’s about Richmond, to some extent. You know, the idea being that it’s something you can listen to, and the listener can think of it in a completely different light,” Nathan said. “We’re not like ‘I LOVE RICHMOND,’ in this song. It almost sounds like we’re talking about a relationship.”
There are actually elements of a relationship in “Unfinished Business”, though. “That’s an example of what happens,” Indy said. “In the case of “Unfinished Business”, Nathan and I were writing two separate songs, and then we came together. We were like, ‘Wait a minute, I feel like these can be stitched together into one.’”
Their writing process is like a conversation, with each member’s artistry incorporated into their work. “We moved it slow enough, and were really listening. Everyone came forward with ideas that got incorporated into the writing process… “One of These Nights” in particular, really developed with all of our voices present,” Indy said.
They also communicate beautifully onstage, something the three-part vocals of soul music call for. For Indy and Nathan, it’s coordinated dance moves onstage and a captivating stage presence. David has to pay good attention in case he gets cued in, even though he is also playing a whole instrument.
Grady and Jonah have to be on a level, as well, their differing music styles and tendencies requiring them to work with one another.
“What I’ve noticed is Jonah tends to be a little behind the beat, — kind of like a Questlove sort of drag. I kind of tend to be ahead of the beat,” Grady said, which Jonah attributes to Grady’s background playing jazz.
“Everything I’ve listened to for a long time is bass heavy, slower BPM. It’s just where I’ve drawn from,” Jonah said.
When he’s not paying attention, Grady can tell something is off. “But then if I’m conscious about it, and I lean back almost even further behind Jonah then I’m like, now we’re fuckin smooth here.”
The bow that ties the whole dynamic together is Nathan, referred to by Indy as the frontman with pizzazz.
“Nathan, he turns around, he’ll put up a hand, he’ll kind of motion. He’s definitely sort of the maestro,” Jonah said.
Sadly, love stories aren’t always cohesive. Big Fancy’s bump in the road is Jonah’s recent exit to focus on his business. He’ll still be around, of course, but they will soon need a new drummer wink wink.
There is no set release date for any of their singles thus far, so you might have to wait a little bit. In the meantime, you can find Big Fancy on Instagram, and try to catch one of their live shows.
