In recent years, when asked how he was feeling, Matt Bigland’s default response was to shrug and say: “I’ve felt better.” Those three small words hardly graze the surface of the trauma the Dinosaur Pile-Up frontman has endured. He became ill in 2019 with what was initially diagnosed as Crohn’s disease, later corrected to ulcerative colitis. At one point, he suffered internal bleeding, and at another, he was covered in sores. His body changed in ways that made it unrecognisable, from rapid weight loss to what he calls “moon face” – when the face becomes puffy and round owing to fat redistribution and fluid retention – as a side-effect of receiving a huge dose of steroids when doctors were unsure how to proceed.
In February 2021 he admitted himself to hospital. “I didn’t have any power – physically and spiritually – and that was horrible,” he says. “I was super vulnerable. I didn’t feel like me and I definitely didn’t feel like the dude in the band that everyone knew.”
The wider world had no idea of this, particularly as Bigland was keeping off social media. Everyone still just knew him as the frontman of a beloved band known for tearing up large rooms with swaggering alt-rock that was big-hearted and tongue-in-cheek. Forming in Leeds in 2007, they had released four albums and done support slots for British rock heroes from Twin Atlantic to You Me At Six while garnering a loyal fanbase of their own.
Until he shared his story on social media in December 2024, some fans assumed the band had broken up. They hadn’t released an album since 2019’s Celebrity Mansions, and that was made after a tumultuous period when they were broke, burned out and had no label. Bigland was also trapped in what he describes as a toxic relationship. “That was such a pressurised kind of situation, and [it went on] for way too long as well,” he says. “I’m almost certain that the outcome of that was me getting sick.” After his prolonged health difficulties, which also involved him shielding as Covid-19 took hold, he pondered quitting music, but: “I had songs … I wanted to write more,” he says. “I love what we’ve created as a band, and we have such an amazing community. It felt really sad to just throw that away.”
As he regained his strength, he and his bandmates regrouped to write a new album, naming it I’ve Felt Better in honour of what he had survived. It bottles the feverishness of a man desperate to get back to what he loved, but Bigland says that above all, it had to be fun. “I don’t want to moan about all this stuff. There’s some sadder, more introspective parts of the album, but there’s also a lot of frustration I wanted to get out into super fun party songs. It was interesting trying to find a way to articulate my frustrations in a way that made people still want to headbang.”
And in one way, his life had become massively better. He connected with Brazilian punk singer Karen Dio online in 2020 and the pair quickly fell in love, speaking every day even when Bigland was struggling. “It wasn’t hard,” he says of sustaining their relationship. “The fourth time we spoke on the phone, I knew we were going to get married. It was so strange and so intense – that cliche of people being like, ‘When you know, you know’, but it was annoyingly true. Karen became the motivation. When I was in hospital, I was like, ‘I’ve got to just fucking figure this out and get out of here, because Karen’s here.’” At his worst, he would look at a photo of an engagement ring on his phone. They eventually married in April 2022.
There are still challenges ahead. Bigland will soon enter his most intensive period of touring since he became ill, both with Dinosaur Pile-Up and as a live guitarist for the band Dio. A significant chunk of his touring budget is saved for the expensive Chinese medicine that has proved the most effective way for him to manage his symptoms. “With autoimmune conditions, fatigue, stress and bad diet are all complete no-nos – yet that is what touring is,” he says. “I have to be really careful. I’m going to figure it out.”
The ego death he experienced in his hospital bed still rings true. There, no amount of music industry politics or Spotify listeners had any meaning. “Nothing actually matters. The only thing that matters is time with your loved ones. It’s not status or hierarchy or what’s cool or what’s not or material items or anything like that. It’s about time with the people you love,” he says. “I learned about resilience, and I was schooled in that pretty hard. Sometimes it’s not about the biggest show of strength, or the most visible show of strength. It’s about just quietly getting through something.”
• I’ve Felt Better is released 22 August on Mascot Records
