Big 10-4 'Testing the Atmosphere' album

The name came to Dan Verduin even before the band, back when he was doing open mic nights as a student at the University of Central Florida, before adding his older brother Matt on guitar (“I needed someone I could trust and he could certainly play”), James Russo on drums and newest addition, bassist Matthew Reed.

The ham radio sign-off BIG 10-4 perfectly describes the group’s positive, upbeat vibe on their Universal Republic debut, Testing the Atmosphere, a sound made for arenas that grafts soaring guitars, lush melodies and seductive rhythms onto a narrative lyrical style that recalls the bands he listened to growing up, from Bon Jovi, Van Halen, Boston and the story-telling showmanship of Billy Joel to modern rockers Counting Crows, Third Eye Blind and fellow Orlando act Matchbox Twenty. The album was produced by the legendary Matt Wallace, who has applied his hit-making touch to the likes of Maroon 5, Train, Faith No More and the Replacements, among many others.

Once you hear rocking anthems like the first single “Walking Disaster” and “Long Night (Sleepless)” as well as emotional, flick-your-cell phone torch songs such as “Tangled” and “Oxygen,” it seems only a matter of time that BIG 10-4 will translate their incredible regional success in their home state, where they regularly sell out 500-seat venues and open at the local House of Blues, to national recognition.

“I try to tell a story so that, by the end of the third verse, you get the point, the whole picture is painted,” says Dan. “Matt Wallace called it ‘raising the chalice.’”

And raise the chalice they do, with the cathartic guitar and piano soundscapes bringing out the intense emotions of the writing, which deal in real-life issues like self-doubt (“Walking Disaster,” “Long Night [Sleepless]”), the contradictions of being a rock star by night and still having a day job (“Irony is Thick”), the sturm und drang of romantic relationships (“Super Powers,” “Smell of Familiar,” “Oxygen,” “Long Distance”) and the frustration of not being able to speak your mind (“Hold That Thought”).

“The subject matter is all close to home,” admits Dan. “It’s all truth, stuff I’ve gone through with family, with women. I write personally, based on what goes on in my life. I like to paint movies, describe rooms, recall conversations… fill in the spaces.”

That means, there’s plenty of longing that takes place in smoky, late-night bars fueled by alcoholic consumption, love at first sight across a crowded room, as well as the inevitable pain when the reality doesn’t live up to those lofty dreams.

For BIG 10-4, that passion is as essential as the air they breathe in “Oxygen,” part of the primal elements, musical and otherwise, that went into recording Testing the Atmosphere in Los Angeles at producer Wallace’s home Studio Deluxe.

“Matt is one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met,” marvels Dan about the process of working with the famed producer. “He’s mellow and happy-go-lucky, but so focused at the same time, a natural at rock & roll and getting great sounds. His home studio was a smaller room in which we could relax and make sure we got the things we needed to out of it. It was a great vibe, a very comfortable situation, with lava lamps all around.”

While many of the songs were written by Dan even before the band came together, they crystallized in the recording sessions. “We did a lot of one-on-one pre-production,” he says. “Matt taught me a great deal, whether it was not over-thinking the lyrics or just repeating certain elements to make the song structures more effective. He’d give me homework to do every night and we’d come back the next day to rewrite. We evaluated every track that way.”

BIG 10-4’s method is to come out with a strong beat and rhythm, like the opening tom-tom drums in “Walking Disaster,” which bring the audience right in to Verduin’s tale of self-doubt about his group’s entrance into the major leagues. “I know you have to take the punches,” he says of achieving success in the music business. “I hope for once I’m not a walking disaster… I won’t let people get inside my head.”

Unless it’s through highly personal songs like “Irony is Thick,” about waiting on tables during the day and playing the rock star at night, the “evidence of a late-night fast-food binge” in the Taco Bell wrappers at the side of his bed when he wakes up in the morning. “I’ve been thinking about you/Being worried about me/And now I’m worried about me,” he sings, the vulnerability coming across loud and clear.

The band’s rhythmic feel is evident in the funk-driven, reggae-inflected cadences of “Undertow,” which Dan describes as “my own cynical philosophy… That’s me up on the soap box telling you what I think.”

“I really enjoy the booming toms and cool beats that shoot through you and get you going,” he continues. “People understand that song immediately. I love to get those syllables in the lyrics lined up to bounce perfectly off the rhythms.”

Dan has now added piano to his songwriting, guitar-playing and performing, which can be heard to full effect in the hyper-romance of “Smell of Familiar” (“In a crowd of a million/She’s the smell of familiar”) and the closing “Oxygen,” in which BIG 10-4 break love down into its elemental power in a style that’s been compared to Elton John. “I don’t know if these are the answers to questions of your loneliness, emptiness, your loss of direction,” he sings.

“The songs allow us a release at the end,” explains Dan. “We put all of our energy in the last verse to sum up the themes and let people know the point. I enjoy that catharsis, especially when it translates into performing. We like to run around and hit our instruments a little harder, a little heavier, to deliver the final summation.”

In other words, you have to see BIG 10-4 live to get the full effect, as the band prepares to bring their show on the road to a town near you.

“Our live approach is this: I tell everyone to find the melody and the rhythm and have a good time,” says Dan of winning over new fans. “And then we can learn the words to the songs later. We’ve very open to the audience. We’ll hang out all night until the last person leaves and talk about it. Every place we’ve ever played, we’ve taken it over… because we genuinely love meeting people.”

BIG 10-4 is ready for you… are you ready for BIG 10-4?

“This is our first shot and, as far as I’m concerned, our only one,” says Dan. “We really don’t know what we’d do if this doesn’t work out. We’d be pretty lost because we put everything into this. I waited around until I found the right people to fit the right parts, and we’re there.”

Now that’s a BIG 10-4.

“Would you validate me/Before you break me in?... Will you recreate me with a thicker skin?” “Walking Disaster”

Dan Verduin: Vocals, guitar, piano
Matt Verduin: Lead guitar
James Russo: drums
Matthew Reed: bass

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Big 10-4 - Testing the Atmosphere