Big Monster Fish Hook: 6 songs, 1995
PERSONNEL:
Lisa Blanchard: Voice
Mark Massaro: Acoustic and voice
Brad Rigney: Electric guitar
Engineered by Dave
Produced by Brad/Dave
TRACK LISTING:
1 – Big Monster Moon
2 – Cloud
3 – Super Ego
4 – Doll Face
5 – Vienme
6 – Discrete
“A uniquely original band from Boston, MA. Formed by Mark Massaro around 1995, the group consisted of Mark (acoustic guitar, vocals), Lisa Blanchard (lead vocals, piano, pianosaurus, and acoustic guitar), and featured Brad on electric guitar on the first and second album and Scott Anderson played electric guitar, slide dulcimer, accordian, xylophone, and toy organ on the second album.
“With a large Boston fanbase, Big Monster Fish Hook gained momentum and started playing outside the Boston area as well as opening for respected independent artists like His Name Is Alive, Ida, Spain, The Magnetic Fields, and others. Live performance success brought record label interest and after much deliberation the signed to an independent label (Milk Crate Records). However, shortly after recording their 3rd and still unreleased album during the summer of 1998, the band split up due to internal issues.” — Last.fm
It’s funny how bands end. Big Monster Fish Hook had it all going on, until it didn’t. Where are they now? Are any of them still making music? I’ve no idea. Big Monster Fish Hook left behind barely a trace. Hopefully someone can help fill in the blanks.
“Big Monster Fish Hook was a Boston band. They were friends of mine. I thought they were the greatest band ever. Their names were Mark and Lisa, sometimes accompanied by a gentleman named Brad. People LOVED them. We thought they were going to be huge. Apparently Mark had sent a demo tape to 4AD and Ivo liked it, but Lisa had other goals in life. My friends Noah and Andrew founded a record label (called Milk Crate Records – such a great name) just to put the record out.” — Music from my past
Was this the demo Mark sent to Ivo? Could be.
“There are three Boston bands that 4AD should have signed if Ivo had still been on his game in these year: Mistle Thrush, Difference Engine and Big Monster Fish Hook. Lisa and Mark created something truly special, and you could tell be the crowds at their shows. Drawing in people from the goth, folk, boston rock and LGBT scenes. Everyone loved them. I miss them something fierce, and still listen to them constantly.” — Rick Webb
This is an extraordinary recording. Intense, shadowy, blurry, at once stark and lush, dreamy and all too real. “Vienme” (later released as “Ven A Mi”) into “Discrete” is a powerful closing pair. Dang. You gotta listen this one, trust me.
“‘No hype, no pictures — just a tape.’ So writes Mark. Mmmm, what a tape! Simple and elegant, quiet but emotionally powerful in its directness and sonic intimacy, Big Monster Moon draws from springs as far removed as the Marianne Faithful and My Bloody Valentine and creates an incomparable sound. Everything is strong here, from the sensuous interplay of Mark and Brad’s guitars to the indelible presence of Lisa singing words like this: “I always pick the ones that eat me up/They grind their teeth into the dirt/It will all come back to you/And fill your empty head with rotten jellyfish/And things that make you squirm.” Tender, erotic, beautiful and weird, it’s the best tape I’ve heard in a long month.” — Demo Universe, 1995
4 thoughts on “Big Monster Fish Hook: 6 songs, 1995”
I listened to this and it brought back so many memories. I wrote this:
Lisa, My god Lisa
I don’t even remember your face girl
It’s been 20 years since you came
A colorful angel, a sprite
To that tiny house where Marti had one side
Her mom and baby sister had the other
I was in my final moments of destruction
And Marti lit candles for me
To chill the fuck out – to calm me down
And we did ear candles
She was disgusted by my ear wax
And we listened to your tape in reverence
And we dreamed of being as talented as you
And you came, a whirlwind that the desert had never seen
Sparking Fire Fire Fire
You threw water in my sisters face (thank you)
You couldn’t understand how far we drove from Phoenix to Chandler
For a New Years party
Your Filaberto’s chicken burrito was disgusting
I was disappointed because I wanted you to like Mexican food
We took you to the lake I had never been to
You wanted to see if Mexican Jumping Cactus jumped
It did, You got stung, I helped you pull out the needles
You sang us these songs
Marti and I sat in the moonlight
And silently tried to hide
How much we worshiped you
Then coyotes came and we left the tent where it was
And went home
When you disappeared to join a cult it wounded us
And Lisa, Girl
Marti’s not here anymore
And listening to these songs exploded chambers in my heart
Explosive fucking tears darling
Because there’s no one left to remember their brilliance
I have no words to relate the love I had for you and her
Regardless if no one remembers these songs
Of all the beautiful things the universe has ever created
You singing Marti and I these songs in the moonlight
Is a moment preserved in the Louvre of the Universe
-Jon
Wow…..I recorded these songs (it was one of the first records I did as a young engineer) and absolutely loved this band. I think we recorded it all in one night, or maybe two. There’s one song on here where you can hear the band next door to the studio rehearsing that I wasn’t able to remove from the mix. We did a full length record about a year later which I recall being just as magical as this demo tape. They were definitely the darlings of the local scene for a while back then before Lisa up and left town suddenly (which made us all very sad as she was a lovely person…..still miss her).
Brad also disappeared….he moved down to (I think) the Carolinas back in the late 90s.
Mark is still around and if he’s doing music, I haven’t heard about it.
Scott is around as well and I think he’s still doing music from time to time.
I’m still working in the recording industry making records.
Thank you Jim Santo for posting this. It was such a pleasure to hear after all these years.
To Jon from above comment-your poem moved me….she made quite an impression on all of us.
Just happened to google bmfh as I was thinking about the old days. I echo what everyone has said. Lisa was my first girlfriend and changed my life forever. I spoke with her maybe four years ago and she was still in the cult. Such a bummer.
Hi Kim, glad to hear you were in touch with her. It’s a shame she’s still mixed up with that crowd, but I hope she’s happy. That was such an unexpected turn of events when that happened. I still can’t really believe it.