Bad Beats: Keepin' the Northwest Rockin'

One reason we started Garagerocktopia was because we love history. If the TV biz ever got around to letting us keep just the channels in our packages that we actually watch, it would be the five or so channels about history. We love history so much, we didn’t fall asleep or ditch history class.

With garage rock, there’s about 50 years worth of history. We love that there are common threads running from the Kingsmen all the way to Ty Segall. And because its history is so long, artists and bands can shop from a very long timeline for inspiration and influence.

 

Bad Beats is one of those bands that checks in a little further to the right on that garage rock timeline.

That wouldn’t entirely clear at first listen. The Vancouver, B.C.-based band well-blends all of the elements we so love about garage rock – snazzy guitar, enticing keyboards and song hooks that keep the songs in your head for a good while after you’ve listened to the song.

Adam Payne, guitarist for the band, is one who got into garage rock when he heard some of the more recent bands of the genre.

“My first exposure to garage rock was in the ‘80s and ‘90s,” Payne revealed to Garagerocktopia via Skype. “I started listening to bands like the Nomads and the Cynics, bands that covered the ‘60s bands.”

And, Bad Beats doesn’t sound exactly like a straight-up retro band. Listen carefully and you hear some very 21^st century melodic touches. Payne said that was because the later waves of garage rock were more of an influence than the ‘60s guys, though he’s not really trying to replicate the garage rock revival sounds, either.

“What comes out, comes out with Bad beats,” said Payne. “I’m more influenced by the ‘80s garage revival stuff, so that’s why our music might sound a little heavier. I also grew up listening to punk, hardcore and metal.”

That doesn’t mean he ignores the ‘60s. As often happens with musicians and serious music lovers, we start digging for the roots – who inspired the people that we like. After all, very little in rock and roll is truly original – it’s all stuff that’s been there that gets tweaked by the next bunch of artists.

“Later, I did buy some of the Back From the Grave compilations,” said Payne but he made clear it’s not the sum total of the music he makes.

The other members of Bad Beats are Cam Alexander on vocals, Richard Katynski on bass, Derek McDonald on keyboards and Michael Nathanson on drums.

Canada has produced its fair share of cool garage rock bands. The Haunted, one of Canada’s best known, cut “1-2-5,” a song about as perfect a an example of garage rock as you can get. Other great bands from the ‘60s include the Ugly Ducklings. Perhaps Canada’s best contemporary contribution would be King Khan, whose two bands, the Shrines and the B-B-Q Show, have a quirky yet accessible brand of garage rock.

But Payne says he doesn’t look to tradition or to national pride. He just wants to make good rock and roll.

“We just have to do what we do. There were some great singles from Canada in the ‘60s, but there’s not much in the way of garage rock is going on now,” Payne commented. “Even our record label is from Europe (Soundflat out of Bonn)” to bolster his claim, Payne pointed out the aforementioned King Khan has set up shop in Germany.

Payne assembled the Bad Beats after a previous group disbanded. That group performed a garage revival style, a sound that Payne wanted to continue.

“I was playing in a group called the Hathaways,” Payne recalls, “which lasted about a year and a half. After that, I searched for people who were playing the same kind of thing. So far, I write the music, Cam writes the lyrics and everybody else puts their touch in.”

And while the music is still taking form, there's plenty to chew on already. "Knock Yourself Out" is a torrid rocker that very well recalls Swedish bands like the Creeps, but with a beat all its own. Also check out their version of the "Watch Outside," in which Bad Beats takes ownership of the Mono Men song.

As a fairly new band, Bad Beats has slowly developed a following. While they haven’t yet scored a primetime slot on the CBC (though the venerable broadcaster has recently made some contact with the band), they are getting airplay on college radio stations on both sides of the border, as well as play in podcasts and on internet radio stations.

Vancouver is, by many accounts one of the coolest cities in North America. If you’ve watched any American TV shows, you’ve probably seen what the city looks like since so many series, for reasons we don’t really need to dive into, are filmed there. But we’ve never met anyone who visited Vancouver and didn’t rave about it. We’ve also met a few Vancouverites ourselves, and from what we

can tell, they are crazy proud of their city.

But according to Payne, Vancouver also has a big downside if you’re trying to your rock and roll band a little more known.

As magnificent as Vancouver is, the road to other cities where, if you want your band to be successful, is a very long one, with Canada’s population density being one of the lowest in the world, especially in the West.

And yes, the two other great rock and roll cities of the Pacific Northwest – Seattle and Portland – are fairly close. But with them, one of rock and roll’s most sinister arch-enemies – bureaucracy – raises its ugly mug.

“The closest big Canadian cities are 12 hours away,” Payne lamented. “And of course, Seattle is only about three hours down but it costs a lot of money to get the work permits.”

None of this is enough to deter Payne, though.

“Bad Beats has only played in Vancouver so far,” Payne explained, “though we’re hoping to perform in Europe the next spring. There’s not much of a scene here right now, so we’ve been looking at Europe because there’s a lot more going on there.”

Bad Beats are not Payne’s only musical involvement. He also plays with a punk band, Bishop’s Green, which is popular in – where else? – Europe. Payne, at the time of the interview, was getting ready to tour there.


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