Interview with Big Business; Bassist and Vocalist Jared Warren Talks About… Well, He Gets Funny and Weird

Big Business, as they put it, are “a loud rock band from sunny Los Angeles. They tour, make records, and pretty much do whatever they want. But they do it CLASSY.” Well, we don’t know how they roll, per se, but we can confirm that they certainly have a sense of humour. Still supporting their most recent album, Battlefields Forever, we recently spoke with bassist and vocalist Jared Warren who gave us insight into him and his band through some downright funny responses.

For those not familiar with your band can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?
Warren: My name is Jared Cotilliard Warren and I play bass and sing in the band Big Business. My social security number is 953-22-24178. My bank account number is 5559382761. My mother’s maiden name is Mandible. I’ve had 8 plastic surgeries and love life!

What is your writing process like?
Warren: Usually starts with a long hot bath, followed by a hot bologna sandwich with LOTS of mustard. At that point we’re usually ready focus on the process. We sometimes spend up to 9 or 10 hours straight processing. Once processed, we hand it off to the guys who write songs for us. They’re like those weirdos on Mad Men!

You guys are an extremely heavy band, how does it make you feel when that power and energy you channeled in the studio comes to life in front of a crowd?
Warren: When something you’ve channeled comes to life it’s super-exciting, but it’s coupled with shouldering the responsibility of now having some sort of sound monster stomping all over the crowd, potentially shooting lasers or the like from its eyes. Frankly, that’s a huge liability from a business perspective, so we try to keep the weird science at home.

When you write, do you do so with the live setting in mind or do you write a song just for the song’s sake?
Warren: We write songs with our 17 children screaming their fucking heads off in mind.

Along those same lines, do you take advantage of technology and email riffs and parts back and forth, or do you get together in a room in a more traditional sense and write together?
Warren: We do it missionary. It’s very traditional.

Check out the album ‘Battlefields Forever’ here.

What is the story behind the name of the new record?
Warren: Both Coady and I are in the FBI’s witness protection program as a result of testifying against some people with terrible senses of humor, so we kind of always have our guard up. When there are people trying to murder you it’s a real inconvenience. It’s about no matter how hard you try to do the right thing and then hide and be invisible, there with always be battlefields. Forever.

What do you think of the current state of the rock/metal world?
Warren: I think President Grohl should get off his ass and DO something!

Do you receive a lot of support from your local scene and fans in general?
Warren: I’d like to receive around $100,000 more in support annually from our fans.

Do you have any rituals before you hit the stage? If so, what are they?
Warren: We suck on a pair of socks that we wore at our first show. That way there’s a little bit of every show in every show, bacterially speaking.