The Bads, (Brett Adams, Dianne Swann) have enjoyed an impressive musical history since they began working together in London in 1992 as The Julie Dolphin.
Says Swann, “When Brett and I started writing together in London it was pretty magical.. ...we had this musical telepathy which was exciting”. The pair often write separately, but always with the collective project in mind. They are currently recording their third album as The Bads - this collection of 12 songs has the working title of ‘Travel Light’. They are seriously excited about the direction of this batch of songs, “ we have taken a few twists and turns in style over the time we have been writing and recording, and these songs make total sense with that history in mind.”
There’s a modesty to The Bads who, as The Julie Dolphin toured extensively in the UK, opened for Green Day, Oasis and Radiohead among others, clocked up strong memories of unique experiences (“seeing Frank Black in the audience when we played at the 100 Club in London” and “collaborating with Tom Yorke [Radiohead] on The Bends Sessions and playing keyboards on Street Spirit at the Astoria would have to be up there”). The band received accolades from the tough British music press for their album “Lit” and 2 EP’s.
Under the name Boom Boom Mancini, they signed to boutique US label Almo Sounds, run by the founders of A&M Records, Jerry Moss and Herb Albert. They were label mates with Gillian Welch and Imogen Heap and Ozamatli and fitted well into this eclectic mix until Jerry and Herb decided they didn’t like the way the music industry was heading and decided to close in 2001.
Since their return to live in New Zealand in 2003, the duo has released 2 albums as The Bads, (2005’s Earth from Space, and 2009’s So Alive) toured the country extensively, and opened for The Jayhawks, Lucinda Williams, The Swell Season and Rodruez Y Gabriella. They have also produced music for the TV Series, Hunger for The Wild and Coasters. They have had songs licensed in TV shows in New Zealand, Australia and the US.
Both have lent their talents to other prominent NZ musical projects in the last few years, making scheduling time for Bads projects tricky. Brett has spent many hours in the studio recording with Tim Finn, lending his guitar and vocal talents to his last few studio albums, and has toured throughout Europe, Australia and the U.S with Tim in his touring band. Brett was a part of 2012’s NZ winery tour as guitarist for the headlining act Gin Wigmore. Dianne has performed throughout the country with Dave Mcartney’s Pink Flamingos, Australia with Tim Finn, and with New Zealand’s folk foodie, Flip Grater.
Dianne and Brett are determined to grab some quality time for their favourite project, The Bads, in 2012 and are excited to start adding the new songs into their live repertoire and still feel that childlike thrill at composing a song and seeing it through to it’s full potential in the studio and in a live setting.
They hope to release Travel Light in June 2012 and can’t wait to unleash the songs on eager ears.
“songs breathe with rustic charm and fine tunes”… **** Russel Baillie NZ Herald
“In this New Zealand Music Month there are a lot of albums which broadcast on a narrow emotional/songwriting frequency, but the Bads -- with the kind of musical maturity which only comes from years accrued -- have a sense of diversity and dynamics which is very appealing indeed” Graham Reid Elsewhere.co.nz
If you've never heard of Kiwi group the Bads, you've still heard of the Bads - it wouldn't make any sense for a record this accomplished to come from nowhere. The core of the group is duo Dianne Swann and Brett Adams - and together they've been playing since 1992. Formerly known as the Julie Dolphin (and a few other incarnations in between), The Bads' second album finds them in top shape, with a flawless country-indie-rocking-popping blend that doubtless led their appointment as Lucinda Williams' support act of choice. Swann's voice is magic (no wonder Thom Yorke recorded a duet with her!) though the voices in harmony are better still. Enjoy the Bads while we have them - it seems the whole world wants a piece of them! MC Cheese On Toast.…
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The Bads "So Alive". New Zealand release April 27, 2009.
Neil Young, Dusty Springfield, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Jimmy Webb, David Bowie, Simon & Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley, T-Rex, Led Zeppelin, Husker Du and Willie Nelson.
Those were the names given by Dianne Swann and Brett Adams as early musical interests. It doesn’t mean that all of those artists inspired the music of The Bads, but it does mean that those legendary names made a crucial impact on the musicians at a crucial time.
Dianne Swann and Brett Adams have worked together since 1992. Swann you will remember from When The Cat’s Away – NZ’s successful 1980s vocal group. But she had already established herself as a writer in the group Everything that Flies, an act she is still proud of, pleasantly surprised people remember the band’s material. Adams has recently been playing guitar for Tim Finn and back when he was 19 he played with The Mockers.
From The Julie Dolphin, as the pair first called themselves in London, to Boom Boom Mancini and now to The Bads.
Says Swann, “It was pretty magical when Brett and I started writing together in London when we wrote the stuff for The Julie Dolphin...we had this kind of telepathy which was exciting”, the pair often write separately, but always with the collective project in mind. Adds Adams, “what we do now is quite different to what we did in The Julie Dolphin, a lot less noisy anyway but it does not feel like any radical change to me”.
The thing that is not different is that the song comes first. So Alive, the new album by The Bads is filled with gorgeous melodies and pop songs that shimmer with a country vibe, with indie intentions, with straight-ahead rock; clean guitar lines mixing with quirky ideas. Pitch-perfect harmonies sitting inside precise rhythms – each song feels like a mini-masterpiece that has been worked at, honed, cradled, loved, learned and forgotten then learned again.
“It probably falls in to the rock/alt-country label”, reckons Adams. Or, as Swann says, “Rockin Poppin Altin Country!”
So Alive certainly feels like that – and it feels very alive too. Where previous album Earth From Space had a majestic sweep to it and a grace that was felt across several listens as songs made themselves known, the tunes that make up So Alive have an urgency, whether it’s the Bic Runga-of-Birds-like ‘Pack Your Demons’ or the country shuffle of the title track.
Both Adams and Swann are not concerned with being identified as “NZ musicians” – but they are Kiwis and the good music of The Bads is made here. Swann says it started out “as just a kind of antidote to the disappointment we experienced in the UK. We recorded Earth From Space at home mostly...and were not even really serious about putting it out...then once we put it out on a small label and thought ‘bugger why didn't we make more of this?’ Earth From Space found fans, among them Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan who introduced the band to an Australian audience on TV and raved. Music from the same album was used in American TV Series Kyle XY and The Unit, and also lead to the band composing for the NZ TV series Hunger For The Wild. (The title track from the new album falls out of that work.)
Right now the band is right into playing live again and the new songs do have a more live feel to them. “I guess also we have just given into the fact that we love Alt country or country rock or what ever the hell you might like to call it...and we are not holding back!” says Dianne.
The not-holding-back will see twists of the duo’s shared love of Wilco (‘Gracious’) mix with the melodic/harmonic sweet simplicity of the first Goldenhorse record (‘Say Your Goodbyes’).
The feeling that The Bads has moved from a good project to a great band is clear on every track of So Alive, and there’s certainly no shame in it being a Kiwi album – as ‘Helensville’ very much celebrates, taking Split Enz-y mandolin and the feel of George And Queen to create a bit of country-bumpkin busking.
There is a sense of childlike wonder, of discovery, in the songs created by The Bads. And there’s also a feeling of actively adding to the canon of song, of taking a melodic idea and placing it down not only for people to listen to but for it to be part of a larger something – part of this thing called music that we all love.
There’s also a modesty to The Bads who, as The Julie Dolphin, opened for Green Day and collaborated with Radiohead. Dianne has some strong memories of unique experiences (“seeing Frank Black in the audience when we played at the 100 Club in London” and “collaborating with Tom Yorke [Radiohead] on The Bends Sessions and playing keyboards on Street Spirit at the Astoria would have to be up there”). Brett has tales of playing with Tim Finn and The Mockers. But what is most important – to both – is playing strong songs. That comes, as Dianne sums up, “by being inspired by writing, by wanting to write the best songs you can”.
So, you have the new album by The Bads – arriving four years after Earth From Space and 17 years after the two songwriters responsible first started working together. Good things take time.
www.thebads.com
‘So Alive is released 27 April 2009 on Mana/Warner Music