BIGMCENROE (FKA MCENROE) SET TO RELEASE NEW AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL LP, BRANDON, AUGUST 6, 2021 VIA PEANUTS & CORN RECORDS
EACH EPISODE OF BIGMCENROE’S ‘BRANDON’ PODCAST WILL EXPLORE AN ERA OF HIS FORMATIVE YEARS AND EVERY SECOND EPISODE WILL PREMIERE A NEW SINGLE. ALONG WITH THE SINGLES, EPISODES WILL ALSO FEATURE TWO MORE TRACKS FROM THE ALBUM AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH THE PODCAST
LISTEN AND SHARE FIRST SINGLE “88 SKATE POSSE” HERE
BUY / STREAM “88 SKATE POSSE” VIA BANDCAMP
LISTEN AND SHARE EPISODE 1 OF BIGMCENROE’S ‘BRANDON’ PODCAST VIA
UGS MAG // APPLE PODCASTS // SPOTIFY
Photo Credit : Ian Beer // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
bigmcenroe (Rod Bailey, formerly known as mcenroe) returns with Brandon, his first new solo music since 2014’s Burnt Orange. The longtime hip-hop producer and Peanuts & Corn label head used the album as a chance to make a musical scrapbook - memories of being a teenager in the late 80s and early 90s in Manitoba’s second largest city of 40,000 people. The album details his discovery of new friends, alternative music, girls, skateboarding, and finally hip-hop. Brandon is a collage of these memories with short songs and commercials from radio and TV of the era.
bigmcenroe will be taking his listeners on a guided journey of the album with a podcast of the same name. The ‘Brandon’ Podcast follows Bailey’s highly successful Peanuts & Corn Podcast series from 2020 which aired courtesy of ugsmag.com. The Brandon LP is an autobiography and document of bigmcenroe’s teen years (1987 - 1992); growing up to discover music, friends, skateboarding, and girls. In the podcast, bigmcenroe will walk the listener through the album, track by track, over 7 episodes with guests who were there in Brandon and can describe its unique vibe as a small town with a vibrant counter culture community. The podcast can be found under the ugsmag.com label and on all podcast platforms.
Each episode of the podcast will premiere a new single, which is available to buy and stream on all platforms. In addition to the singles, each episode will also include a couple of tracks from the album that outline a specific era of the ‘Brandon’ story. Those additional tracks are available inside the podcast exclusively. Episode 1 of the ‘Brandon’ Podcast drops today.
LISTEN AND SHARE EPISODE 1 OF BIGMCENROE’S ‘BRANDON’ PODCAST VIA
UGS MAG // APPLE PODCASTS // SPOTIFY
The first single from Brandon LP is “88 Skate Posse”, a track about the skateboard scene in Brandon in the late 80s. “A whole bunch of kids all got into the sport and the counter culture vibe of skateboarding in Brandon, and formed a big group of friends,” says bigmcenroe. “At the skate spot you would find 12 year olds learning about skating and music from skaters as old as 25, and everyone knew each other. I wanted to get those memories onto tape.”
LISTEN AND SHARE FIRST SINGLE “88 SKATE POSSE” HERE
BUY / STREAM “88 SKATE POSSE” VIA BANDCAMP
“88 Skate Posse” Single Art // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
MORE ABOUT BIGMCENROE
bigmcenroe (Rod Bailey, formerly known as mcenroe) started out as Roddy Rod, making beats with his friends Patrick (nka Pip Skid) and Tyler (nka DJ Hunnicutt). They were high school buddies in Brandon who shared a similar love for music and began to make their own. In 1992 they formed the group Farm Fresh, opening up for three punk rock bands from Winnipeg. From there they played as much as possible – playing punk shows, rap shows, folk festivals, provincial fairs, High School and University events, and benefits. They quickly amassed a following in Brandon and Winnipeg where Rod had moved to pursue his studies at the University of Manitoba. Farm Fresh won a Battle of The Bands as well, proving more popular than classic rock, punk, metal, country, and world beat in a small agricultural city.
While living in Winnipeg, Rod began producing other acts in the hip-hop scene. While working with Farm Fresh, he also produced acts such as Mood Ruff, Different Shades of Black, and Frek Sho. When Farm Fresh finished its first independent cassette it made sense to start a label with Rod's production as the backbone. In December of 1994, Peanuts & Corn Records was born. In the mid 90s, while finishing his degree, Rod was able to release seven cassettes and redefine the hip-hop scene in Winnipeg. Peanuts & Corn tapes consistently topped local independent sales charts and Farm Fresh was able to broaden their fanbase outside of Manitoba, touring across Canada.
In 1998, Farm Fresh had begun to run its course and Rod began to think about going solo. He began writing and recording The Ethics EP and mcenroe was born. Since he had graduated from University and was beginning a big paying network engineering job, he was able to scrape the cash together to press this release on CD and 12" vinyl. This represented a turning point for Peanuts & Corn - no more home dubbed cassettes, strictly professionally pressed and mastered releases. Over the next few years, several new artists and group combinations were added to the Peanuts & Corn roster, all produced by mcenroe. These include fermented reptile, Park-Like Setting (of which mcenroe is a member), Hip-Hop Wieners, Gruf, John Smith, Birdapres, and of course Pip Skid and DJ Hunnicutt.
In 2000, Rod moved from Winnipeg to Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2001, he completed four projects: Solo albums by John Smith, Pip Skid, Gruf, and the Peanuts & Corn Factory Seconds compilation. P&C releases began to get serious attention from hip-hop fans around the world as underground hip-hop websites quickly zeroed in on their quality and unique, fresh appeal.
In October of 2001, Rod was laid off from his high paying engineering gig. While his co-workers were quickly dusting off their resumes, Rod hopped in a van and set out to tour Canada. The P&C family, also known as the Break Bread Crew, was astounded at the turnout and support they received across Canada. It was clear that Rod was up for doing music full time.
On the release front, mcenroe released The Convenience EP in 2002 to critical acclaim. While his long awaited full length was supposed to follow just a few months later, the business side delayed that a full year. In 2003, at long last, mcenroe’s first full length album, Disenfranchised, was released. A strict solo record (no guests), mcenroe put everything he had into a record that would quickly become P&C's biggest seller ever. His humour, insightful lyrics, and unique production was praised in publications such as Exclaim! and The Village Voice and the record was nominated for a Western Canada Music Award in 2004. mcenroe released The Paper Champion EP in 2010 and Burnt Orange, his 2nd full length LP, in 2014.
BRANDON LP TRACKLIST
01 - 87 Moving Out
02 - 87 First Day
03 - 88 Skate Posse
04 - 88 1200 Baud
05 - 88 The New Music
06 - 88 Tyler The Styler
07 - 89 Big Green Limousine
08 - 89 Alternative Kids
09 - 89 The Apprentice (Girl 1)
10 - 89 Brandon After Dark
11 - 90 The Cure (Girl 2)
12 - 90 I Won’t Give In
13 - 90 The Weekend (Girl 3)
14 - 91 Bombs On CNN
15 - 91 I Wasn’t Ready (Girl 4)
16 - 91 Rhyme Machine
17 - 91 In The Spot
18 - 91 Brandon Punks
19 - 92 So Not Ready (Girl 5)
20 - 92 Another Effing Jock
21 - 92 Brandon The Planet
22 - 92 No Cliches (Farm Fresh)
BIGMCENROE ONLINE
TWITTER
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
BANDCAMP
PEANUTS & CORN ONLINE
BANDCAMP