Big Medicine’s Hawk loves fellow Vancouver bands the Villains, b-sides, and Red Herring

len mackave photo

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON NOV. 29, 1985

By Steve Newton

“People are very surprising,” says Hawk, lead singer/songwriter/rhythm guitarist from Big Medicine. “They show their true colours when you look different, you know. But friends are friends in spite of what you look like, and the same goes for music too–if people enjoy the music they don’t give a shit what your hair looks like.

“And I’ve always liked mohawks, so I thought, ‘Hell, I can’t do it when I’m 50, I might as well do it now!'”

Hawk–real name John Beatty–stands out in a crowd. Spikey, coloured mohawks have a way of getting attention. Fortunately for Hawk, the music of his band is also causing people to look–and listen–twice. Currently the group have a four-song tape–recorded at Ocean Sound by Men at Work producer Peter McIan–which is being shopped to industry bigwigs down in California. And the interest from major labels is considerable.

Up until three months ago, Big Medicine were known to Vancouver clubgoers as Rubber Biscuit. But through their co-management in L.A. they became aware that the name wasn’t being favourably received by the heavyweights Stateside. Exit Rubber Biscuit, enter Big Medicine.

Born in Edmonton and raised in Parksville, Hawk started the Island band about five years ago.

“It was just basically an R&B biker band, then we started playing a few XTC covers and things like that. And about two-and-a-half years ago I started writing tunes…again. I’d written tunes before in other bands over the years but it was never very serious.”

Hawk’s original songs helped Rubber Biscuit to place second in the western semi-finals of the 1984 Fame Game. The group that barely beat them out, H.B. Concept, went on to win the Canada-wide competition.

Today, Big Medicine are Hawk, lead guitarist Brian Beatty, bassist Chris Grant (formerly with Attack), and drummer Tim Busey, who was picked up from the Victoria trio Bad English.

“They were breaking up anyways,” explains Hawk, “that was the only reason why we approached Tim. I didn’t want to pull a Bryan Adams, basically.”

Hawk is referring to Adams’ scooping up of former Biscuit drummer Pat Steward, now a full-fledged member of the multi-platinum Adams band. An excellent pounder, Steward left quite a hole for Hawk to fill, although Busey–judging from the band’s showing at the Town Pump earlier this month–seems to have done the job.

At that same gig Steward–still close to his former bandmates–presented them with a gift he picked up while playing Tokyo with Adams: a talking toy Gamera, that turtle-like flying monster made famous in low-budget Japanese sci-fi flicks.

“If you shout at it, it goes ‘Aawwgghhrr’,” laughs Hawk. “It’s hilarious. But it didn’t come across on the mike that well.”

Big Medicine’s set at the Town Pump included a ska version of the Beatles’ “Love Me Do”, and a reggaefied version of Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth”. Although Hawk has a good supply of original material, he still does covers that he really enjoys. And he doesn’t always look far to find them.

“We do a Villains song, ‘Ska Music’, ’cause I’m friends with the Villains, and I’d like to hear their tunes being played more often. And we do a b-sides tune for the same reason. And I’m working on another one by a band called Fab Maverick, ’cause they’re a fantastic band.

“There’s another band that I’m close to, and that’s Red Herring. I think they’re head and shoulders above a lot of other bands in the world. And they’re just going through the same thing we are, you know. They have product on tape, and they’re shopping it–they just have to try and survive until somebody with enough dough likes it.”

To read over 100 of my other interviews with local Vancouver musicians since 1983, go here.