Margate band Big Woes on the town’s “personal and human” music scene
“Softcore punk band” Big Woes on a new compilation A Margate Sampler, the “amazing” energy of its launch shows, and feeling part of a musical community
Describing themselves as a “two-piece softcore punk band”, Big Woes are one of a growing number of acts to emerge from Margate in recent years.
Made up of musician and comedy writer Kit Proudfoot with songwriter and sound designer Joe Farley, the duo played their first shows as the house band of the Chump’s comedy night in 2023. Joe’s bass heavy, lo-fi electronic backing to Kit’s funny, jagged-edged, disorientating spoken word semi-poetry between acts quickly became a reason to head to the gigs in themselves.
Last year, they released their self-produced debut EP Heavy Work, featuring songs covering everything from befriending boxer Tyson Fury to becoming a titan of small business. This October, they are due to put out the follow-up, produced by Tunng’s Mike Lindsay.
A track from that new EP, Man in American, features on the new compilation A Margate Sampler, which is out this week. The four track release puts them alongside other local acts Jolt, Fruit Band and Debdepan. It’s being released digitally and on cassette by Awkwardness Happening, a company set up by Sammy Clarke, owner of Margate music venue Where Else.
The first of two launch gigs took place at the Shacklewell Arms in London on Monday night, with all four bands on the compilation performing. A home town show at Where Else follows tonight.
In between shows, Kit and Joe spoke to Strange Tourist being part of the vibrant music community in Margate.
How did Big Woes come together?
Joe Farley: We met at a party and realised we were both doing music. When you get on with someone and also share music in common, you find a way to see each other again and make music. Our first studio session was almost ten years ago in December, right before Kit moved to Berlin. When he moved to Margate in 2019, we started writing together almost immediately.
Kit Proudfoot: Then the pandemic hit. When we could see each other again, we picked it back up. We came together to do a session, and within 15 minutes we were working on our first Big Woes track without knowing what it was. A month later we did another, and another. In the first eight or nine months, I think we wrote 20 tracks.
What happened with those tracks?
KP: Most of them never got shared. We kept trying to be serious, and those songs never saw the light of day. It was the weird, fever dream mistakes that became the project. That was a real lesson in creativity. We honestly made songs where we thought, “This is too mad, we can't share this.” I’ve now learned to take that nervousness as a sense of anticipatory excitement that's being misfiled as anxiety.
How do you describe the sound of Big Woes?
JF: Post-punk is a nice area to work within because it’s more about approach and atmosphere and you can make those things your own. Our sound is ever-evolving. The first EP was self-produced and had a definite sound. Then working with Mike Lindsay on the second EP we’ve expanded things out. The common thread is Kit’s voice and my bass with everything else built around the atmosphere or intent of the lyrics.
KP: It’s interesting hearing how others describe us. We’ve been called “Jim Morrison meets The Fall meets John Cleese,” or “John Cooper Clarke meets Sleaford Mods meets Tim Key.”
JF: Yeah, it's nice when people mention influences we haven’t even explored much, because obviously we do have influences like John Cooper Clarke and Ivor Cutler and The Fall. But everyone seems to have their own subjective take on what we sound like. I always think it's really kind when people do that because it's a way of connecting - like they're going to the effort of filing you in their mental musical rolodex.
How did you end up on the Margate Sampler compilation?
KP: Well, in the simplest terms, Sammy asked us. He’s always asked to hear music and when we’re playing, and two or three months ago I got a message asking us to be on this compilation. I assumed it would be about 70 bands!
Like any musician in Margate, we both love and respect Sammy. Where would we be without his work and the people he works with? The bands I’m seeing, the inspiration I’m getting is all right there. I love it, because it’s such a natural link. It’s not like we thought, we’ve got to get in with the Where Else crew, it’s just been this magnetic attraction to the venue and the bands there.
Why did choose Man in America as your track on the compilation?
JF: It’s one of four new tracks on the new EP we’ve got coming out in October, and feels like the best representation of where we’ve taken things. It’s the most different from the first EP. It was the most fun we'd ever had making music together, and we're just super proud of the outcome.
KP: It was the first one we did with Mike Lindsay, and we had the best time. We were just beaming. It was a joy and we were pushing ourselves musically. Sometimes in the studio you come up with a little riff and think, “Where did that come from?” I feel like we had that about five times working on Man in America.
Andy Malt
Do you feel part of a scene in Margate?
KP: I think I do, yeah. All my life, the closest I’ve felt to a scene was some of my DJing experience. In Ibiza, I felt really connected to the people there and some of the dance producers. But this is different. It isn’t a scene where people are ‘sceney’. It’s so much more personal and human than the scenes I thought I was a part of before.
And then there’s something about this compilation that feels a little bit like scene glue. I often wonder who the “Sammy” of other towns is, and what if there isn’t one. What if there isn’t a Where Else? What if this is only happening here, and you just don’t know when you’re inside of something? You know, a fish doesn’t know what water is but it can feel there’s something there. And the music on Monday night was unbelievable, so I think something is happening.
JF: If a scene is gonna be anywhere, Margate’s got all the right ingredients. The right sized place with enough happening, with interesting spaces, dedicated people setting things up, and just nice people that are a part of it, whether that’s the crowds or the bands. That’s what you would want a scene to be.
I guess scenes like Athens, Georgia with REM or Seattle, they all had their sounds. But a more modern day thing is that scenes are more about a collective approach or ethos. That’s really nice, because you can carve out your niche without stepping on other people’s toes. And then I guess history, in 20 years, will tell us if people attribute a band to a scene.
What should people expect from Saturday’s Where Else show?
JF: Well, the cassette is being released, so there’ll be an actual physical object. And it’ll be a home crowd for all the bands. And it’ll be a Saturday night, rather than a Monday. Even though the turnout at the Shacklewell Arms was amazing.
KP: Yeah, it feels like a culmination of the build up to this compilation being released. You’ve got Fruit Band - endless energy - and you’ve got Jolt and Debdepan, they are just killers. Honestly, on Monday, it was packed. It was just great music, a great place, and cool people. So if the energy is like that, then I’m really excited for what potential it has on Saturday night.
A Margate Sampler is on sale through Bandcamp now. The launch show for the compilation takes place at Where Else tonight, August 16. Tickets are available now on their own or bundled with a cassette. Proceeds from the sale of the compilation will be donated to the Music Venue Trust.
