“‘Hell is empty and all the devils are here.’ I couldn’t help but think of this quote when I heard the opening to “Plum Gut,” the new single from Big Scary Indian. It sounds like a thousand demons emerging into the night on horseback, shrieking like bloodthirsty banshees as they come to take your soul. Then suddenly the track explodes into a raucous swirl of noise and guitar pyrotechnics, equal parts heavy and bouncy. Roshan Reddy has come to save the day.” – Mike Waite, Slow Breathing Circuit.
Big Scary Indian is the art-rock outfit created by Brooklyn and Nashville based musicians Roshan Reddy and Cheikh Proctor. Combining dense textures with digital manipulation, this project combines intention and sponta-neity, attempting to push guitar driven music into unknown territory.
Several years in the making, This EP is a blend of live drums, erratic electric guitar, nylon string guitar techniques, and sample-based elements. A concoction of improvised demos and obsessive deliberation, each track is layered with intentional drums and the instruments woven through-out via trial and error.
Reddy grew up on a horse farm in the southern half of Delaware, where he not only had a lot of time to work on music, but to read. He developed a particular interest in prehispanic conquest Mesoamerican philosophy and he would talk to a close friend on the phone for hours about it. The name “Big Scary Indian” came from that same friend who used the term to talk up Reddy to his peers, telling those that didn’t know him yet that he was “a big scary Indian”. Reddy found it hilarious and ended up using it as his handle on social media – it only really ended up as his project’s name by chance. He was playing a last minute show and needed a band name and since it was already his handle, he just rolled with it. Reddy is Eastern Indian on his father’s side and mixed Lenape & European on his mother’s side. The friend that originally came up with the name has since passed away and the Big Scary Indian moniker now serves two purposes to him – to unapologetically take up space in scenes sparsely populated by poc and to honor the memory of his late friend. Musically the project is a repository for all of Roshan’s juxtaposed musical influences in an attempt to find balance between the two.
Cheikh Proctor is Senegalese/African American and grew up in New York City. Roshan and Cheikh have known each other for 7 years – initially Chekh was brought on to the project as a backup drummer for when the ‘former soon to become main time” drummer at the time, Niko Wood, was on tour. However the pandemic soon hit and seemed to shuffle and scatter everyone up pretty substantially. Cheikh went to visit some friends in Nashville for a few weeks just before the pandemic hit and ended up being stuck there ever since. However Nashville is still close enough and Roshan and Cheikh are stubborn/dumb enough to have been able to make it work throughout all the years. They both frequently tour and play together and have plans to do so many more times in the near future.
Insecurity Hits Quote on Big Scary Indian
Big Scary Indian want to let you know that you shouldn’t feel good in 2026! The hyper-commodification of various industries has lead to a lessened quality of goods and services. We’ve gone away from prioritizing, valuing and fairly compensating workers. We’ve even seen setbacks in equality, diversity reproductive health and other areas. While we shouldn’t feel good, we don’t have to feel bad. People can and have used this time to let go of a dream, a person, addictive habits or a way of moving through the world. Its by processing what exists to not feel great about that we can ready ourselves for more positive times that lie ahead!
Even though Big Scary Indian are a New York City band, we did not hear about them until we noticed they were playing with a band we work with in Portland. We happened to be on the west coast and considered changing our plans to see them. While we looked further into Big Scary Indian’s itinerary, we noticed they would be playing the day after the Portland show, in Seattle, which was were we were going to be anyway. So our first experience seeing Big Scary Indian live involved traveling over 3,000 miles across the country to do so!
When we finally did witness Big Scary Indian we were floored how good they were live! For a two piece band to produce such a wall of sound was jaw dropping. Big Scary Indian blend experimental noise rock, math rock and neo-psychedelia with improvisational call and response. Throwing Cheikh Proctor into the mix, who’s drum style reminds us of Zach Hill, (Death Grips, Hella) adds to the bands luster and makes Big Scary Indian a force to be reckoned with. Big Scary Indian are truly one of the more compelling live bands in DIY!
Listening to a Big Scary Indian record is a different but equally rewarding experience than that of their live shows. “You Shouldn’t Feel Good” was composed and recorded over the course of several years and boasts lush orchestral production, intricate melodies and subtle rhythms. The melodies, rhythms and tones blend together and give the recording a warm resonance and immersive depth.
Since seeing the band and meeting them for the first time almost a year ago all the way on the other side of the country we now see them everywhere, riding bikes in the neighborhood, at the coffee shop at the punk show….literally everywhere. Whether you witness the power of Big Scary Indian’s live shows here in New York, on the west coast, south, northeast, or U.K or listen to the impeccable sounding You Shouldn’t Feel Good” alone in your room you will experience one of the most robust, versatile and polished bands around! – Insecurity Hits
Stream “You Shouldn’t Feel Good” by Big Scary Indian
On “You Shouldn’t Feel Good,” Big Scary Indian tell us you shouldn’t feel good but you don’t have to feel bad. This record is more electic than their previous release, “Road to Wrath.” On “You Shouldn’t Feel Good,” One can find elements of neo-psychedelia, folktronica, and indie-rock.
The EP begins with a bit of a red herring in “Athira.” The instrumentation in this piece comes across as more optimistic in tone. As the record progresses, the songs get progressively more moody.
When talking about “Big Scary Indian” Roshan Reddy says, “The songs on this EP are a bit of a departure from our last release, which were, on the whole, more energetic and, for lack of a better explanation, about ‘struggle.’ If I had to characterize the Songs on this EP, they showcase a slightly different and slightly more moody side to this project. Some of the songs are a bit cryptic lyrically and some I think are a bit more straight to the point. These songs deal with letting go of a dream, a person, an addiction, a way of moving through the world – to me thats what most of these songs and, for that matter, what most of my music is about lyrically – letting go – something i’ve struggled with for as long as i can remember. On the production side of things – as opposed to our last release, where I really tried to strip down the elements to just a standard rock ensemble, this release has more going on in terms of ornamentation and production manipulation. I am playing a nylon string guitar for the majority of the tracks and also wanted to experiment with song structuring a bit differently. Ex. Rev. and Athira in particular are a bit of a departure from my usual – verse, chorus, verse chorus – song structure.”
Album Title: “YOU SHOULDN’T FEEL GOOD”
1) Anthira
2) Ex. Rev.
3) Inf
4) You Shouldn’t Feel Good
All songs written by Roshan Reddy
Roshan Reddy – Guitar, Vocals
Cheikh Proctor – Drums
Tom Tierney recorded live drums for “Inf” and You Shouldn’t Feel Good” at Spaceman Sound
Nico Wood recorded live drums for Ex. Rev. at his home studio
Claire Joko-Fujimoto recorded back up vocals on Athira
Roshan Reddy – Recorded and produced all other music
Mark Yoshizumi – Mixing Engineer
Angela Marclpid – Mastering Engineer
