Big Boss Man

Big Boss Man formed in 1998 when three long-time friends Nasser Bouzida, Trev Harding and Scott Milsom, got together to form the (mostly) instrumental based group centred around some furious Hammond and heavy groove action. Signing to Blow Up Records in 1999, the Newbury based band released their debut album ‘Humanize’ in 2000 which immediately precipitated a worldwide interest in the band, the record being a clear definition of the BBM sound: a hip Hammond hybrid of 60’s R’N’B, Latin, Soul, Bongo-Fuzz and Funk. The record featured Bouzida performing all drums, percussion, keys and vocals whilst Harding and Milsom performed electric and Bass Guitars respectively.

Tracks from Humanize were utilised for the soundtrack for the BAFTA award winning short film ‘Sweet’ which featured Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt (The Mighty Boosh), Big Boss Man also making an appearance in the nightclub sequences of the film.

Party 7 was used by Nike for a worldwide campaign ad for the 2006 World Cup which featured Thierry Henry and Eric Cantona. The debut single ‘Sea Groove’ taken from Humanize passed over 5 million streams on Spotify in 2020.

Their 2005 follow up ‘Winner‘ (Blow Up) was produced by Morgan Nicholls (The Streets / Muse / Gorillaz), who being the son of Immediate Records’ in-house songwriter Billy Nicholls, seemed a suitable fit for the band who fully utilised the studios unique vintage gear: The Who’s Hammond Organ, Steve Marriott’s first guitar; Clavinet and Wurlitzer electric piano, all made their way onto the tracks. The album musically continuing on from Humanize – with 60’s flavoured Funk, Bongo / Fuzz, Latin Soul, French Beat, Boogaloo all in the musical mix. The opening track ‘Kelvin Stardust’ featured in a worldwide ad campaign for Renault Fluence and was used in the TV show Ugly Betty.

In 2010 ‘Full English Beat Breakfast’ (Blow Up) was released. Recorded by the band and mixed by Nick Terry at the Premises Studio B Hackney London. The highly acclaimed third album received many outstanding reviews with it being cited at the time as their best album to date. They extensively toured the album in UK & Europe including an appearance at the Latitude Festival (UK) and with various radio sessions including one for BBC Radio 2 Mark Lamarr’s God’s Jukebox show.

Big Boss Man‘s fourth album ‘Last Man On Earth‘ was released in 2014. The band supporting the release with numerous European live dates, the album was subsequently given an additional limited pressing on 180g red vinyl in 2015. The album received strong UK radio support particularly from BBC 6 Music and BBC Radio 2 presenters that included Craig Charles, Cerys Matthews, Huey Morgan, Gideon Coe, Nemone, Chris Hawkins & Lisa Tarbuck and others.

A solo project from BBM band leader Nasser Bouzida as The Bongolian has released six albums to date on Blow Up Records The Bongolian, Blueprint, Outer Bongolia Bongos For Beatniks, Moog Maximus and Harlem Hipshake and a collaboration with Fay Hallam was released in 2011 (Fay Hallam & The Bongolian ‘Lost In Sound).

Big Boss Man have remixed several artists including for Paul Weller ‘The Bottle’ (v2 Records),

Big Boss Man performed at the Blow Up 25 concert in October 2019 at the 100 Club London. They are currently working on tracks for their 5th album.