Bad Sign’s new EP Destroy is out today! Ahead of the release of it, we caught up with vocalist/bassist Joe to find out a bit more about the band.
Cheers for the interview – can you introduce yourself and tell me a bit about the band?
My name is Joe (Appleford) I’m the vocalist & bassist in Bad Sign. We’re a three piece rock band from Croydon, South London and we’ve been together for just over 2 years now.
You’re currently getting ready to release your new EP Destroy – how would you describe the writing and recording process for it?
The writing process for Destroy was very focused as we had a concept for the record before we started writing in terms of lyrical content and then built songs around the concept of the negative events that have taken place in our lives so far but trying to make the overalls point that you need these things to shape who you are.
Which track are you most proud of?
I’m immensely proud of all 5 but in terms of the tracks most personal to me it would have to be Father which is about my father who abandoned my mother & I when I was 5 days old and the track Destroy which is essentially me explaining the things I don’t like about myself but as I said earlier, explaining that these flaws make me who I am and I’m partly proud of them.
Were there any tracks that were more of a struggle to get down and perfect?
We’re quite lucky I guess, in the sense that we don’t struggle with writing. We write what we want to hear first and foremost and have never really considered writing for a specific audience. It’s great that people like our music and are on our wavelength, I think that is what music should be about. That way you connect with people in a real way that leads to longevity.
Are there any interesting stories to share from the studio?
We love being in the studio because it’s the opportunity for us to be as creative as we want and try different things. The best thing is that our producer Neil Kennedy is now a really good friend of ours so in the studio we’re having banter all the time and because we’re that close there is total honesty so if something doesn’t work we can be upfront which leads to better material I think. It’s a great environment to create in.
If you could work or collaborate with any artist or musician, who would you choose?
I think it would be great to work with someone outside our usual zone like The Roots or Odd Future. We’re big fans of hip hop so a crossover type project would always be interesting or even someone like London Grammar. Anything outside of our comfort zone would be great.
If you could have any band cover a Bad Sign song, what would it be?
Once again I’d go for artists outside of our usual zone … I’d love to hear London Grammar change up one of our songs or Frank Ocean that would be amazing.
If you could play anywhere in the world, on any lineup, what would you choose?
A big goal of ours is to play in America and hopefully we can make it happen. There are a few bands we dream of playing with … Rage Against The Machine, Every Time I Die, Biffy Clyro, Muse & Foo Fighters are probably the ones we’d most love to play alongside.
What has been your best experience in the industry?
Our best experience has probably been hearing one of our songs Confession being played on the BBC radio 1 rock show with Daniel P Carter recently. That’s a show we’ve listened to for years and to finally get on it, it felt really surreal, like how did a little band like us get on here!? It was a great moment for us and everyone who continues to support us.
What’s the hardest thing about being in the business?
The hardest thing is being self financed. We have no label backing for anything so we have to work day jobs to generate the money needed to push us forward whilst also trying to balance touring enough to be still out there in the public eye. It is a lot of sacrifice in terms of our social lives and not being able to do things that normal twenty something’s do but we would never moan about it. It is the way it is for now and we are more than willing to graft and work hard to get where we want to be. We aren’t in this for “15 minutes of fame” we want to be a band for many years to come. We want to make consistently good records and have longevity that is the key for us.
And finally if Bad Sign could put their name to a product, what would it be?
Well we are all pretty obsessed with burritos so I would say Bad Sign Burritos!
