WL 372 - Sunday, July 22 - 11pm
Purveyors of: self-destruct

I really hope you didn't think Halifax was all cute and cuddly 'gee golly we just like to drink and be nice to people.' Yeah, I know know, pop explosion and all that, but you're going to change your tune when you see a guy pounding on the drums so hard he starts bleeding and vomiting.

How'd you guys end up coming together to form Be Bad?

We originally had agreed to meet and have an improv space-jam of looney tunes at CKDU FM during one of their live 3am timeslots. This was in 2004. We had a good time. We recorded it and released it immediately. Things continued from there, however we started writing songs rather than just "FEELIN' IT" like The Grateful Dead.

I've always thought of Halifax as more of a pop town. What's the hardcore/noise scene like there?

Things have been growing and it supports itself. Plus the hugely successful appearance from California's Bastard Noise last month is sure to fuel the fire/inspire. But honestly I feel more in tune at the moment with a national no(w) wave scene with bands like Shearing Pinx, Ice Cream, Suspira and White Lung on the west coast, Fucked Corpse, DD/MM/YYYY, Quebexico and Varge in Ontario, Aids Wolf, Hamborghinni, TTTTTTT, in Montreal ADDED to the love I feel for Divorce Records, Attack Mode, Torso, Vennt, The Hold, Gilbert Switzer in Halifax, Nova Scotia. No two bands sound the same but just to know there are talented insane artists everywhere with a similar attitude is reassuring.

Are there any lines drawn, or is the whole music scene there a big happy love in?

I feel too focused on Be Bad to really understand scene dynamics anymore. I can't say I have any complaints.

The Coast called you guys a 'band to keep your eye on' in 2006. How does it feel to have eyes on you now? Are you dressing better?

Sweatpants no underwear.

What's all this craziness on your site about vomiting from exhaustion on stage and bleeding on stage?

Our drummer is hypoglycemic and he pounds (in a sober state) until his vomit and low-sugar blood leaves his body. It's really satisfiying to watch and be a part of.

Is it really worth it?

You don't really have a choice. It's not about meeting girls and having a fun haircut. It's more about compulsion and desperation. The ideas behind what are being done are serious (or at least important), and therefore when things go too far and reach and uncomfortable level you need to keep hammering forward.

I also hear you have a tendency to sacrifice virgins too, is that true?

We approach high concept art like barbarians or cavemen. But we're not terribly scary guys. Led Zeppelin crossed over to the darker side and had a rough go toward the end, perhaps because of it. Some of the artwork might be a little Kenneth Anger influenced but we're not going to make the same mistakes Jimmy Paige did. I suppose some images are directly from Satanic sources. The naked men and women on the inside of the new album in particular. But we are more from the Sonic Youth school of "Satan is Boring". Like the guy in full Zebra print suit from Heavy Metal Parking lot said "Send all that punk shit to the moon", which is what we did and where we met Sun Ra. We worship more interesting omnipresent beings.

Is your band name meant to be a tounge-in-cheek stab at self deprecation or a call to arms?

I would say the name comes from old rock and roll slang the best
example would be the African psych rock group Ofo & The Black
Company's song "Allah Wakbar" the chorus is "Brothers. Sisters. Be Bad
Be Bad Be Bad Be Bad never never never never DO bad. Love is you. Love
is me." Another fine example would be when the MC5 moan in their 1968
John Lee Hooker cover of "The Motor City is Burning" (when it really
was): "I'm a white boy but I can be bad too!" You could even use
Michael Jackson's "Beat it" as a reference point if you needed to.
Originally the title appeared to me on an old pedal from the 80's; it
was the name of one of the effects in a crude multi-effects box. It's
ambiguous and ominous and rings slightly like Bad Brains with the
double 'B' alliteration sound which many bands enjoy. However in
numerology each word adds up to 7, so you get "77" which was of course
the year punk broke and Elvis died on his toilet. 77 represents: Wise
counsel, body as temple, mystical powers in action, purity in mind,
body and spirit, Master Mystic, loving detachment, holy emptiness,
turning away from the masses and towards Spirit, Presence, conscious
union with God, mystical marriage,  electricity of Awakening,
universal intelligence. Yes a "call to arms" could be appropriate: "Be
Bad or Be Bored, you cannot have both!"

by Ryan McLaren