We caught up with BAD DAY BLUES BAND ahead of their performance at the ISLE OF WIGHT FESTIVAL.....
We saw and fell in love with the sonic output of this wonderful blues/rock/soul quartet from London at an event hosted by the HARD ROCK CAFE to showcase just 4 acts that will be gracing the Hard Rock stage at the ISLE OF WIGHT FESTIVAL which runs from 21st to 24th June.
We caught up with Adam on a fine Sunday afternoon, he'd been out doing terrible things (cos he's such a badass) and once he calmed down, we posed some questions to him, read on to see how we got on....
You’re called the Bad Day Blues Band, your catchphrase is “sometimes it feels good to be bad” are you ALL bad? And if so, how bad are you?
Ok, so if you are actually an FBI type person then you have to tell us before we answer that. Otherwise you can’t send us to prison. That’s legally probably a fact. We’re not bad people really, just have bad habits. That feel good :)
Being a bunch of badasses, when was the last time any of you did a ‘good deed’ like helping an elderly lady over the road or fishing a ball out of a tree for a kid?
Sam (Harmonica) has helped a LOT of old ladies in his time. He he. he heh hehe.
Your music can only be described as epic….you fuse blues, rock and soul and have a singing bass player and a standalone harmonica player amongst your arsenal, how did you come to settle on your musical style?
I don’t think we’re settled yet. Big believer in fate. Things move and shift until they work. When it starts to work can someone let us know :)
Tell me a bit about the influences that you all bring to the table?
Well we met down the blues bar in soho and so you think it would be just blues but it’s not really. In fact our names quite misleading as we’re more of an original rock n roll band. But that’s a stupid name for a band isn't it? The Bad Day Rock n Roll band…..actually….
Yeh, we like classic rock stuff, anything from the 70’s, a lot of american bands like Little Feat and Delbert McClinton (who we had the pleasure of supporting recently in NYC, “Clang” name drop there). Basically we like music that makes your balls shake with adrenaline or makes you close your eyes and remember the one that got away.
In your opinion, what is THE perfect song?
Tough question! Obvs it’s personal and depends what mood you’re in but theres some songs that keep you coming back, some songs that might be the perfect song for that type of feel or style. AC/DC’s ‘Highway to hell’ for example might be the perfect song for driving to in a ford mustang. Or Bobby Bland’s ‘Aint no love in the heart of the city’ might be the perfect song to listen to on the tube late at night when your ex girlfriend is ignoring your messages. oh the best middle 8 ever written is the middle 8 for Every breath you take. Just the middle bit though.
I reckon that one of you, maybe more, have a guilty pleasure that they would like to share with us for this interview feature? If the culprit won’t stand up and tell us, would another band member spill the beans on their behalf?
I don’t think any of our pleasures make us feel guilty. We have no guilt. No regrets. We’re awful human beings aren't we….
Ok maybe some 80’s music. Nick likes "Return of the Mac". He downloaded it properly and everything.
It’s not every day you get to chat to a band that has just recorded an EP at Abbey Road studios, I want to know ALL of the details please…..
Weirdly exactly as we expected really! Those guys are proper pros, it’s a big step up from Happy Larry’s recording studio, where the engineer roles in an hour late, keeps disappearing to the loo for a fix and then takes most of the days trying to mic up the drums.
The Abbey Road guys are ON IT. We were lucky enough to have Chris Bolster engineer for us, he’s worked with people like Foo Fighters, Paul McCartney, Ozzy Osbourne and many many more. The equipment is all top quality and the sound is just amazing.
Studio 2 had someone recording in when we went so we only got a quick peek. We had a sneaky look in all the studios just to compare them all and they are all awesome.
The plan was for to go and do a single in one day. However we got in there and the guys had set everything up all ready and we were feeling good, so we managed to get five tracks down. And that’s not live either, thats five properly overdubbed tracks, drums, guitars, bass, harmonica a vocals. Basically we smashed it which is why we are really proud of the EP.
We did think we could add maybe another 3 or 4 songs to it that we had already written and release it as a full album but that just didn't feel right, those five songs belong together and so an EP was what it was meant to be.
Oh and Fruit! They had a bowl of really nice fruit in the studio. Which was nice.
What do you think about the resurgence of vinyl? Are you planning on releasing your new EP on this format?
I like the concept of vinyl a lot. Some of the records being produced now are really beautiful works of art and that’s before you even listen to them. We would love to release a vinyl but to do it properly is more expensive at the moment than digital releases, we looked into it but thought maybe keep the vinyl release for the next album, which will be a whole new ensemble of songs which we are writing now in between shows and should be out next year. Not sure on which label yet but watch this space.
You’re playing the Hard Rock stage at Isle of Wight festival on Sunday 24th June, what can the audience expect from your set?
We’ll be going all out....
- A game
- Rock n roll
- Loud
- Catchy tunes
- Sing alongs
- Dirty cool feelings
We are basically the perfect festival act!
The IOW festival is fast becoming the place to be seen, especially for bands, what is it about the festival that makes it so special?
There are certain festivals that everyone knows about. IOW is in the top 5 prob in the world right? Yeah it is! I think the crowd are very important, musicians feed off the crowd and in turn put in special performances, so the stage is definitely set…
Are you planning a trip to Pilton Farm (Glastonbury) next year?
Yup. Loads of people have asked us about that! Maybe we are a good fit? I had a chat with one of the areas about putting us on. Nothing concrete yet, so if anyone’s reading this, get in touch, we’re well up for that. Failing that we’ll be their in a tent somewhere partaking in our bad habits.
Please tell me the BEST way to survive a music festival, your answer MUST contain the words ‘sex’ ‘drugs’ ‘rock n roll’ ‘mud’ ‘cider’ and ‘candy floss’
What all of those words? That’s not even possible to make a coherent sentence with those words!? Ok hang on…
Take some 'cider' flavoured 'candy floss' and 'roll' it in the 'drugs' you get when you have 'sex' in the 'mud'. 'Rock'.....!
Your new EP is available to buy right now, are you planning an album release anytime in the near future?
Oh yes. Sorry I said that already, early next year....
Some of the songs we’ve got already are really really really really good. Like REALLY GOOD. Like when you hear them you will go, “Bloody hell, that’s good”.
If Bad Day Blues Band were placed in a cage to battle it out to the death, who’d be the victor?
Our drummer, the mighty John Otway. AKA the captain. Legend has it he can’t be killed by conventional means….
What does the remainder of 2018 and 2019 hold in store for the Bad Day Blues Band?
Well some big festivals in the summer, which we are looking forward to. We’ve just partnered up with some unbelievably cool instrument and amp manufacturers, so we’ll be doing some cool stuff with them towards the back end of 2018. Lots of shows up and down the country. A couple top secret big events in early 2019 that we’re not allowed to talk about yet and we think we’re going back to the states for some shows probably before the summer in 2019. Then I guess that brings us back round to IOW 2019!! I imagine we’ll be headlining main stage by that point…
We'd like to thank Adam for sparing the time to chat to us, I understand whilst he was doing so, he was administering chinese burns to his neighbours children (as he's such a badass!)
We wish the band every success at the Isle of Wight Festival and for the remainder of the year and look forward to the full length album which is due out early next year (you heard it here first!)
Keep up to date with the band's whereabouts and news by clicking on the various social media links below;