Big Character Has Big Plans

by Joan Killough-Miller

Guns, wedding gowns and cold beer might seem an unlikely combination, but they coalesce in the title of the debut CD by Big Character, a Boston-area rock band that lists six WPI alumni among its personnel. Lead vocalists Brian Chu and Noel Christopher, both 1992 graduates, play keyboards and guitar, respectively. Their management team, Snarling Frog, is a collaboration of four WPI grads: Steve Coscarella '92, Mike Cronin '91, George Kalavantis '92 and Ed Minasian '93.

The title of the CD comes from a sign the band's drummer spotted in front of a General store in Maine. "It summed up the past year for us," explains Chu. "One band member got married, and Noel was held at gunpoint during an armed robbery." And the beer? "It's just typical cold beer." The band's name was inspired by a book Chu read about student protesters in Tianamen Square. Some of the students wrote their words of protest on posters using small characters. Others, who wanted their messages to stand out, wrote them in big characters. For its logo, the band chose the Chinese character that forms part of the word for revolution or change.

Engineers by day, they rock out at night in Boston clubs like The Attic, Phoenix and Mama Kin, the Lansdowne Street club owned by members of Aerosmith. Their all-original songs can be heard on radio stations WFNX and WBCN, as well as stations at Emerson College, Boston College and Brandeis University. Worcester-area fans got a chance to hear them live in April when they played Sir Morgan's Cove on Green Street.

The band also hosts an annual cruise around Boston Harbor. Last year's cruise attracted 300 fans; when they sail again on July 13, Noel's parents, Jody and Assistant Professor of Mathematics Peter Christopher, are bound to be on board. "It's every father's dream, isn't it?" remarks Christopher of his son's career in rock and roll. "Actually, I find the music quite listenable, although I have to pay attention to make out the words." A devoted fan, he attends many gigs. "I have the opportunity to go places I wouldn't ordinarily go." Brian's brother, George Chu '95 (who, like Brian, was an All-American wrestler at WPI), is also a big fan.

Mama Kin's monthly magazine described Big Character as "Grassroots sound with strong emotional lyrics, as well as a heavy edge...." The five-member band, which also includes a lead guitarist, a bassist and a drummer, describes itself as progressive pop alternative rock, "or anything you might decide to call it." Their influences include Nirvana, Blue Hole, Midnight Oil and other alternative bands that evolved from the punk music style of the 1980s. Chu and Christopher harmonize on lead vocals and write lyrics, which are mostly personal and introspective.

"This was a natural for me; I've been doing music all my life," says Chu, a business analyst for Harvard Community Health Plan. A quiet, determined individual, he is the founder and the driving force behind Big Character. At WPI, Chu played keyboards at campus parties, rousing his Phi Kappa Theta brothers to sing along on Billy Joel's "Piano Man" and other favorites. Christopher, his neighbor in the fraternity house, would occasionally join in on guitar. The more gregarious of the two, Christopher was a classical string player who found he couldn't abide life without music. An award-winning viola player at Shrewsbury High School, he was president of the orchestra and an All-State, All-District musician who sometimes picked up a cello or bass to fill in for absent band members.

"When I got to college I thought it was time to put that away," he says. "I figured I should either get serious and get into an orchestra, or get out." After his freshman year, Christopher says he was going crazy without an instrument, so he "borrowed" Chu's guitar and started teaching himself to play. "I figured, if it's a string instrument, how hard can it be? Actually, it was easier than I thought. I didn't give Brian's guitar back for a year. He probably never missed it."

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"If only one-tenth of one percent of the world likes your music and you're playing it really well, then you're a success." -- Brian Chu '92

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Christopher eventually bought his own guitar and started taking lessons. After graduation, he was hired by a local manufacturing company, but soon lost his job as part of a major layoff. He currently manages the Boston Billiards nightclub in Worcester while he seeks to pick up his engineering career again. Chu continued to compose, sing and play -- solo and with cover bands -- after receiving his diploma. He made enough money to equip a modest home recording studio and cut a five-song demo tape. Listening to the tape in the spring of 1993, Christopher was struck by his friend's growing maturity as a performer and songwriter. In particular, he was touched by Chu's composition "Think of Me," a song the band performs often these days. "I saw Brian moving in a direction where I could fit in," he says. When Christopher found out that Chu was advertising for musicians in the Boston Phoenix, he forced his way into the newly forming band.

"I harassed him so bad," says Christopher. "I bothered that guy for weeks. I wouldn't take no for an answer. I played for him. I sang for him. I tried to convince him that I could do it, that he needed me." Chu finally agreed to accept Christopher on a trial basis.

"Two or three months later, we had jelled completely as a band," Christopher says. "It was clear that it was the right decision for both of us. We were on the same page." Their four fellow alums, who had backed Chu in his solo endeavors, incorporated as Snarling Frog and threw themselves into promoting the band. With a demo cassette and a lot of legwork, they waged a persistent campaign for club dates and radio airtime.

"We put it together like a project plan," says George Kalavantis, "and split up the duties." Mike Cronin audits expenses, income and revenues from promotional hats and T-shirts. Steve Coscarella works on booking gigs, along with Ed Minasian, who also writes the band's newsletter, Big News. Coscarella handles the band's e-mail account (bigchara@usa1.com) and homepage on the World Wide Web (http://www1.usa1.com/~bigchara/). Kalavantis and Coscarella manage the database of more than 600 fans, which is used for mailings and marketing analysis.

Is your average rock band this methodical, this technologically evolved? "Most Boston bands last six months - a year if they're lucky," says Christopher. "Many can't even get together $500 to make a demo tape to take around to clubs." Although Web pages are not uncommon for bands, Christopher claims that WPI graduates have a technological edge. "We were logged on when others didn't even know the Web existed."

"Having a management team is a luxury," Christopher continues. "Most bands have to call around, book their own gigs. Snarling Frog does the business end; we just have to make suggestions about where to play, how to grow."

The band's progress is carefully monitored and discussed at biweekly meetings. Although it is clearly a team effort, Christopher credits Big Character's success to Chu's vision, know-how and perseverance. "He's a machine," he says. "The other night he came in with a 30-page printout on what the band has accomplished so far, with charts, graphs and a cost analysis of where we've played, what the pay was, and where we should be playing the most to maximize profits. I guarantee you, no other band in Boston has somebody doing this. That's certainly our WPI education at work!"

Chu, the realist, says the band's journey has been intense, but fun. His advice to aspiring rock stars is to persevere, and don't get offended at the inevitable criticism. "There's lots of different tastes out there," he says. "If only one-tenth of one percent of the world likes your music and you're playing it really well, then you're a success. You need a strong belief in yourself and your music."

Big Character is at work on a second CD and would like to expand beyond the Boston area, possibly playing colleges on the East Coast. Christopher says he would give up his job and go on the road "in a heartbeat." Chu's dream is a record deal with a major label, and a chance to work full time in music for at least a few years. "This is his thing," says Christopher of Chu. "No matter where his career and his life take him, he will always be doing music."