Photo Credit: Imani Black
Words By: Alex Gonzalez
Big Fat Cow’s music, though executed spontaneously, stems from the unbreakable bonds of friendship and camaraderie. The Kansas City band—comprised of vocalist and guitarist Noah Cassity, lead guitarist Kole Waters, drummer Matt Chipman, and bassist and vocalist Alex May—has found that their sibling-like bond is the driving force behind their current tour.
On an August afternoon, the group meets at a cozy coffee house in Dallas, Texas, just steps away from Zounds Sounds B-Sides, where they will perform an intimate set. Before arriving in Texas, they had camped under the stars between tour stops. While in Dallas, they’ve swapped a night in the woods for a stay at the home of Greybloom, a band they met online.
Crashing with other bands and creators has become a routine that Big Fat Cow embraces while on tour. “Arriving in a place that you have almost no relation to, and then being treated like family puts a lot of faith in humanity back into you,” Chipman tells CONE. This sentiment resonates deeply with the bandmates, who each have their own unique story about how they came together.
Big Fat Cow originally began as a solo project for Cassity, with Waters often helping out on guitar. “Noah started coming over to my house. He didn’t own a computer, so there was no way to digitize these cassettes that all of his songs were recorded on,” Waters recalls of their first interactions. “So he brought his music over, so that I could turn it into ones and zeros and upload it online. And then it turned into a collaborative relationship, where he’d bring songs, and I would add a little bit. Then that snowballed into me being involved in it as a project.”
Due to the natural way they started collaborating, it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly how the current lineup formed. However, key connections trace the band’s evolution. Cassity and May have been friends for over a decade, so adding May to the band felt like a natural fit. The lineup continued to evolve from there, with Waters noting that Chipman was “roped in from there.”
This seamless integration of the band members is evident in their latest effort, a three-track EP titled Behold the Soil. Released in August, this EP marks Big Fat Cow’s first project as a full band, following Glutton for Punishment—an album released two years earlier when Big Fat Cow was still Cassity’s solo project.
Despite transitioning to an official band, Big Fat Cow has stayed true to their DIY ethos throughout the recording and production of Behold the Soil. “We got to do it all in-house, and we recorded it, mixed and mastered it ourselves,” says May of the creative process. “So we’re still keeping true to that ‘doing it in your bedroom, having fun with your friends,’ sort of vibe.”
The homegrown aspect is crucial to Big Fat Cow’s success. In Kansas City, local musicians and bands often rely on word of mouth and live performances to promote their music and secure consistent bookings. The support from strangers and fellow musicians has propelled the band to new heights within the independent music scene.
“There is no real big label presence in Kansas City,” says Chipman. “Aside from folks that also had bands, or still have bands that are just trying to help their friends out, and they start a really small label. But I would say, like, 80 to 90% of the people that we know put out stuff themselves. They book their own tours, they design their own merch — It’s a very self-determined, self-motivated type of scene.”
Through the members’ hard work and constant search for new sounds, Big Fat Cow has breathed new life into their music with each performance. Among the standout tracks on Behold the Soil is “Cat Call,” which the band members describe as one of the most challenging to create.
For Cassity, “Cat Call” is deeply personal. The song’s intro reflects his struggles, which have manifested in physical symptoms. “I can’t feel my fingertips / No I can’t feel my face / My voice is my feeble / All my words lack grace,” he sings on the chorus.
A version of “Cat Call” originally appeared on the group’s 2022 project, Glutton for Punishment. While the 2022 rendition is a softly sung, minimalistic track featuring Cassity’s lament, the updated Behold the Soil version transforms it with fuller production. The addition of drums and guitars gives the song a more tangible heartbeat, allowing the emotions to shine through more powerfully.
Tapping back into these feelings was no easy task. “Sometimes when you’re illuminating certain topics or reliving certain traumas, it can be difficult,” explains Cassity. “At the same time, if you’re not in the greatest headspace—which you can never tell yourself what headspace you’re going to be in when you actually get around to recording—you can find yourself struggling with interpreting them going into the future. I think it’s worth doing. You can learn from the things that you’ve done or gone through as you enter the recording process.”
Through rehearsals and performances, the members have discovered that adding new elements to personal recordings presents its own artistic challenge. However, their friendship and camaraderie have helped them find the right sounds. “We had to do a lot of reassuring towards each other about what we were doing with these songs,” says Waters. “I think, in a nutshell, that was the biggest challenge.”
Since forming as a four-piece, Big Fat Cow’s musical chemistry has flourished. Their setlists are often extensive, featuring tracks from Behold the Soil, updated versions of Glutton for Punishment songs, and new material that hasn’t been released yet.
“We just couldn’t stop writing music,” says May. “And that’s just a testament to our friendship and our synergy as musicians.”
