Over the years here at PEDESTRIAN.TV, we’ve slung you recommendations for a truly wide variety of Instagram accounts that you should follow. There’s the spicy celeb gossip accounts, the people doing dumb things accounts, and even the fat wombats just being wombats accounts. And today I bring you another virtual gift – Big Nostalgic Energy.
This Brisbane-based account is run by a guy named Chris, who kicked things off on the grid with a truly iconique image of himself as a kid in 1997 wearing a Spice Girls t-shirt and posing like a member of the band. Wasn’t this all of us in 1997???
Chris tells PEDESTRIAN.TV that the idea for Big Nostalgic Energy came from the huge response he got from his own friends when he posted his 90s and 00s treasures.
“I’d share my collection on my personal page and it would bring back so many memories and make my friends laugh, so I started BNE,” he says of his account’s origin story. “I’ve been collecting pop culture nostalgia since I was a teenager and I’ve always had a fascination with Australian reality TV and celebrities.” I mean, same.
“I go deep into the pits of the internet, Gumtree, and eBay to find pictures, videos and memorabilia that will give my followers Big Nostalgic Energy.”
And for that we thank you Chris, because BNE is honestly a gift. I was first alerted to its existence by my friend Mel, who tagged me in a post about the gone but not forgotten Spice Girls Impulse spray, a hallowed can of which Chris had somehow scored from Gumtree. This is legendary.
This post even inspired me to hunt down a full set of collectable Spice Girls photos (with album!) on eBay. Thank you, BNE.
Elsewhere, recently I was truly taken back to a time in my life thanks to BNE posting about the Channel Nine hit Changing Rooms, which was hosted by Suzie Wilks and featured people swapping houses and making over each other’s spaces. It was must-watch TV, mainly because the redone rooms were always spectacularly bad.
My mum and I would cry with laughter watching the eyes of the homeowners glaze over as they gazed in horror at their new and “improved” spaces. Highlight of my week, every time.
The account owner Chris lives and breathes everything 90s and 00s, and loves things that are deeply Aussie (like this Sussan ad) but also features pop culture icons from around the globe. Even my beloved S Club 7 gets a run on BNE.
Paul, truly the love of my life (in Year 8).
I’m gonna need BNE to post footage from S Club’s many spinoff TV series at some point too.
Once you hit Big Nostalgic Energy, you’ll be treated to Popstars / Bardot / Scandal’Us throwbacks, a treasure trove of Australian Idol goodness, and of course a lot of old-school Big Brother content, including these wallpapers that I definitely racked up Dad’s phone bill trying to acquire for my Nokia 3210 when I was 16.
I could go on and on posting all my favourite things from BNE, but it’s probably a lot quicker for me — and you — if you just go and follow it yourself. But I do need to leave you with a parting gift… this classic edition of the So Fresh compilations.
A icon of the genre, I think we can all agree.
