Big Boy Bloater

Surrey born Bloater has drawn praise from his contemporaries for his powerful voice and instantly recognizable guitar style, with luminaries such as Imelda May and Jools Holland among his biggest fans.

Jonathan Graham

Big Boy Bloater
With Big Boy Bloater and the Limits' new album, 'Pills,' scheduled for release on 15th June 2018, Big Boy Bloater is the subject of this issue's Guitar Interactive Songwriter Spotlight.

Surrey born Bloater has drawn praise from his contemporaries for his powerful voice and instantly recognizable guitar style, with luminaries such as Imelda May and Jools Holland among his biggest fans. His career has taken him around the world performing with the likes of Carl Perkins, Wanda Jackson and Paloma Faith. Appearing at some of the largest festivals such as; Ramblin' Man Fair, Latitude, Secret Garden Party, Hop Farm, BluesFest, and many more. Bloater has even performed at the top of the World Trade Centre and was once invited to record at Abbey Road by Sir Paul McCartney.

What first inspired you to learn to play the guitar / write a song?

For as long as I can remember I wanted to play the guitar.  There was just something about it that seemed so cool.  My parents got me a Spanish guitar when I was about 9 or 10, but that didn't really cut it for me.  Then my Dad came home from the pub one day with an electric guitar that he scored for a fiver.  The thing was a complete dog!  Hand-painted leopard skin' (yellow with brown spots) and the missing whammy bar had been replaced with the brake lever from a bicycle.  I plugged the thing in and hit a slightly dodgy open G chord and from that moment I was hooked!  Songwriting just seemed to be a natural part of playing the guitar.  Then I found out you could earn money from writing songs and that was it, school was out the window!  Haha - I never looked back!

When you compose a song, how important do you think it is to write for an intended audience?

No, I think it would be arrogant to assume what your audience want to hear, and of course, most bands have a diverse audience anyway, so I honestly don't think about that at all.  I think when writing one of the most important things is to write something I like and would want to hear.  If you're not into it how's anyone else supposed to get excited about it?  Of course, once it is released I then spend the next six months worrying if anyone else will like it, but I expect most people get that release anxiety'!

What was your favourite moment during the writing and recording of Pills