Three man Rock band Bad Sign from Croydon, are set to releae their new EP ‘Destroy’ in November. The band are on making their way onto the Rock scene with another EP soon to follow, and taking the UK touring scene by storm. We are lucky enough to have Joe Appleford (vocals and bassist) with us to answer some questions. Check out the interview below.
HTF: Hey guys! It’s great to have you here at HTF. How did the Bad Sign originate, and come together as a band?
BS: Myself & Jon (Guitarist) had been in bands together for years and when our old band broke up mid 2011 we had known Kev (Drums) for a few years and it just seemed right to start something together and things clicked immediately. We went on a 28 dates in 30 days tour a couple of months later and the rest is history as they say.
HTF: Where would you say your musical influences come from?
BS: We all have such varied taste in music, which I think is important because it forms our sound as it is today. In terms of bands we all love and that have been important to us Rage Against The Machine, Every Time I Die & Biffy Clyro have been crucial to how we formed our sound.
HTF: We see you have a new EP ‘Destroy’ coming out soon. What can fans expect to hear from the new material?
BS: This EP is an expression of the more negative experiences of my life so far and has been a real cathartic process as every song on the EP is highly personal for me. I’ve always written lyrics that I could be passionate about, it’s the only way that makes sense to me for it to be genuine and relatable. So expect a passionate record in every sense.
HTF: As a band, how does the writing process go?
BS: There’s two ways for us typically. The first is that I will bring a song with most of a structure already in place to the lads and then we work on it further to refine it and bring out more in the song to put the finishing touches so to say and the second is us three in our rehearsal space and literally just jam. We know each other so well now that we lock in with ideas pretty quickly which is great.
HTF: And, are there any particular songs that you are most proud of?
BS: There are 2 songs in particular on this EP that are very important to me. The first “Father” is a no holds barred account of my father leaving me and mum when I was 5 days old and the effect that has had on me as a man so far. The second would be the title track “Destroy”, which was the most difficult but most rewarding song to write. In short it’s a song about all the negative aspects of me and is really about how we should admit our flaws but also be proud of them because they shape who you are.
HTF: Are there any hopes of an album anytime soon?
BS: We will be following this EP with another EP next year which ties into this release in a conceptual way and then we’ll get to work on a full length from there.
HTF: We see you have recently signed onto new management, Saviour Management. What does this mean for the band?
BS: It marks the next phase for us as a band really, we have always been about playing live and touring as much as we can but there is only so much you can do off your own back so now with us joining Saviour we can make a step up in terms of touring the UK more and the festival circuit etc. and playing in Europe as much as possible also.
HTF: We see you are busy touring often! And have Edgefest coming up, congrats! What has been the best experience of touring for you?
BS: Thank you! We’re really looking forward to Edgefest 🙂 we really do love touring and I think it comes simply from the fact that we’re not just a band put together to make records, we’re best mates first so when we’re on tour we get to hang out with each other all the time whilst doing the thing we love the most. Nothing is better than being on tour!
HTF: More specifically, what do you guys hope to achieve with your music?
BS: We want to make consistently good records that the people that support us hopefully enjoy as much as we do. We want to make each release better than the last and to reach as many people as we can with our music by touring. We’re a band that is not afraid of hard work and we’re willing to graft to make this band as big as it can be.
HTF: And, if you weren’t doing music; Is there any other dream you’d want to achieve, or pursue?
BS: I can only speak for myself on this, I would have loved to have been a professional footballer but sadly not blessed with anywhere near enough talent! 7 a side on a Monday night is about as close as I get!
HTF: Finally, thank you for taking your time to be with us. Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans?
BS: We’d like to say thank to everyone who continues to support us, we’ve been through a lot as a band over the last year and we’re here to work hard and make sure we repay the faith that people have shown in us. There is a lot more to come from us for sure!
