Greetings! Salutations! Hello! I hope all of you cool cats and kittens are doing well out there (let me know if you want to chat all things Tiger King). We have a brand new music interview coming your way, and I’m excited to share that there are several music interviews currently in the works. It’s my goal during this time to support and share the work of independent artists. In these interviews, I will ask all of these artists to share how they’ve been spending their time during self-distancing.
Please welcome NYC-based duo BAD to Positive Publicity. BAD is comprised of Julia Brex and Jackson Hoffman. Having met in high school, the two have been writing and recording music together for over eight years. While they mainly focus on pop songwriting and production for other artists, BAD was formed a year ago and born out of a passion for funk music. BAD have garnered acclaim for their infectious music, having been added to H&M and official Spotify playlists.
Following the release of their acclaimed single “Sweat”, which received multiple playlist adds, the duo are set to release “Dirty Laundry”. The funk pop track is a playful take on airing out your deepest secrets in a relationship.
The duo reveal, “We all have baggage that we carry with us, so before you get too deep into a relationship with someone, you want to make sure they can handle all of the parts of you.” The tongue-in-cheek track features kaleidoscopic synth soundscapes, a vibrant horn section and layered vocals.
Inspired by their love for funk grooves and pop sensibilities, BAD pulls elements from throwback funk and soul, 90’s and early 2000’s pop and R&B and contemporary pop and hip-hop. The duo express, “We essentially want to be what a Prince and Max Martin collaboration could have been!”
A frequent theme throughout BAD’s music if an overall sense of fun, lightheartedness and self-empowerment, with the utmost desire to make people feel-good and move.
Hit BAD with that follow on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
This is a question I’ve been asking in recent interviews – during this time of social-distancing, how have you been doing? How have you been spending and managing your time?
We’ve been hanging in! It’s certainly a tough time for all of us, but thankfully we are healthy and that’s all we can really ask for. Luckily it’s not too hard for us to collaborate virtually, and we’re planning to continue working on new music! We’re also trying to stay active and stay grounded as best we can.
The word BAD evokes many different types of feelings and emotions – how did decide on this name for your duo?
We thought it was kind of funny to introduce ourselves by saying “we are BAD”. I think the name came from a place of us just not taking ourselves too seriously. Plus the word “bad” can sometimes mean the opposite! We have a song called “B.A.B.” which stands for “bad ass bitch,” and I think that’s the energy with which we like to carry ourselves.
Tell us about the creation of Dirty Laundry.
“Dirty Laundry” started as a concept idea and a separate track that Jackson had made. One day he came up with a melody that used the words “dirty laundry” perfectly over that track, and from there we just filled in the rest of the blanks. We recorded all of the instruments and vocals in Jackson’s basement just the two of us, and then had Philip Lassiter arrange and record the horns.
Where does your passion for funk music come from?
We both got super into funk music in our college years…maybe because of our parents’ influence? It’s hard to say how it started, but we just fell in love with artists like Stevie Wonder and Prince, and started making our own funky music!
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