Interview and music review with Bad Reed

Brantford, Ontario pseudo-rockers Bad Reed channel a multitude of popular and obscure influences into unique snapshots of passion. Their sound – accessible, yet elusive guitaring, strong, hypnotic bass, percussion with groove and mystique, complimentary keyboards and Sydney Sollazzo’s crooned confidence – reaches into the pockets of jazz, blues, progressive rock, reggae, Latin, and even electronica for its identity. Bad Reed strip-searches music’s history and implants modern zest, akin to acts such as The Black Keys, The Mars Volta, and Esparanza Spalding.

          Bad Reed is Costa Chatzis on percussion, Austin Sharpe on bass, Sydney Sollazzo on vocals and keyboards, and Graham Walker on guitars. The group emerged in October 2014 from the ashes of their previous act, progressive rock/metal band Bulwark. While Chatzis and Sollazzo were recording and performing with math rock band Matter of Taste, Sharpe and Walker were exploring their musical horizons in metal and rock. After Matter of Taste called it quits and several member changes to Bulwark, conjuring a new ethos and beginning a new journey seemed necessary. The quartet hunkered down in their rehearsal space for several months to hone their craft and prepared for an adventure into unknown territory: Bad Reed.

          Bad Reed is engaging and danceable. Bad Reed is passionate and justified. Bad Reed is happiness and strife. Bad Reed is harmony and dissonance. Bad Reed is confidence and uncertainty. Bad Reed is overcoming the odds and getting even. Left and right, up and down, red and blue. Bad Reed is coming for you… 

                                                               Music Review: 

Listen to “Punch It” being played on Kiss 104.7 FM [Sponsored by Exposed Vocals]

Bad Reed are a four piece alternative rock band hailing from Brantford, Ontario. They formed in October, 2014 from the ashes of their previous progressive rock/metal group, Bulwark. Their sound encompasses many genres with elements of blues, reggae, jazz, prog rock and electronica. The powerful vocals of Sydney Sollazzo form a core feature of their music.

This track, Punch It, is a slow building song that starts off with just picked guitar before vocals, drums and bass enter in a 6/8 time signature. There is also a subtle, low end synth and thick electric guitar chords low in the mix that add texture to the sound. Sollazzo’s vocals immediately captivate, with a tone and singing style reminiscent of Alanis Morrissette combined with the power of singers like Amy Lee from Evanescence and Paramore’s Hayley Williams.

The verse has an unusual chord progression giving the music a slightly exotic vibe. It leads to the main hook based on a famous passage in the Bible: ‘For now we see through a glass darkly….’. The dynamics are very effective here, with the beat building up to a stop then re-entering, a swirling synth melody added extra melodic interest. After a short synth section, we hear the second verse aided by flashes of psychedelic wah-wah guitar which extends into the final repeat choruses.

Overall, this is a powerful and memorable song by a band who have combined their many influences into a unique and potent sound that they can call their own. The band are all excellent musicians and, in Sydney Sollazzo, they have a vocalist that truly helps them stand out from the crowd. With further material as good as this song, they have everything it takes to become hugely successful.

By Alex Faulkner

I’m 34 and a freelance music journalist, as well as a composer and producer. I’ve written reviews for UK newspapers and music websites. I run my own blog, reviewing the best new bands and artists . I’m very passionate and knowledgeable about music and that shows in my writing.

Exclusive Interview:

Exposed Vocals: How did you hear about Exposed Vocals? What made you decide to sign up?

Bad Reed: Somebody recommended us to you guys over twitter!

Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?

Bad Reed: I grew up in a small town, with nothing much to do but listen to music. I found myself more interested in conveying my thoughts and feelings through music rather than language.

Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?

Bad Reed: The name Bad Reed, to us, is a symbol of how society grooms the natural world into something useable, and even then it doesn’t always work. A reed was once a living thing, unhindered and purposeful, until man needed it. We were groomed by our masters and still have trouble finding work! (ha-ha)

Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?

Bad Reed: We’ve always thought that our fans should choose how much they want to pay. If someone wants to give us $10 for our EP thats great. By giving away our music for free, it encourages people who wouldn’t normally buy our music to download and listen to it, which can equate to more fans and earnings down the line.

Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?

Bad Reedt: Motivation and hard work. We all have drive and initiative, but it’s how we channel it, and continuously push ourselves both in musical as well as business aspects. It’s a fine balance that comes with practice, dedication, and organization.

Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?

Bad Reed: The “ideal” version of any piece will seldom be recreated live. Instead, we’ve learned to embrace the uncertainty of live performance and use it to our advantage. The stage is not the studio!

Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?

Bad Reed: We toured Ontario and Quebec in the Summer of 2013. One of the most memorable experiences was hauling the trailer over Montreal’s MANY cobblestone roadways… Betty (our band vehicle) will never forgive us for what we did to her suspension that day.

Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?

Bad Reed: A symbiosis of the artists/songs we’ve heard and the endless well of musical ideas in our heads serve to keep us busy with writing all the time. The process changes every time, as it should, but there are strong motifs from piece-to-piece.

Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?

Bad Reed: We do! Our website is www.badreedband.com ! From our website you can find our YouTube, Bandcamp, SoundCloud, and any social media outlet you can imagine!

Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?

Bad Reed: Cry Me A River by Justin Timberlake, S.O.S. by Rihanna, and some obscure Australasian math rock bands.

Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?

Bad Reed: I would invest in a band house complete with recording studio and make albums until my face fell off. A year off for me means a year dedicated to furthering our music.

Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?

Bad Reed: Free and paid online advertisement used in conjunction with social media, music reviews, interviews and, this is important, Word-Of-Mouth. Putting a face to the name is crucial so get out there and  get socializing!

Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?

Bad Reed: Frank Zappa, The Mars Volta, and King Crimson at The Palladium on Hallowe’en 1979. Cause that’d be badass.

Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?

Bad Reed: Promoting our new self-titled EP out June 13th, plenty of shows for our fans to attend, and some stuff we’d like to keep up our sleeves for the time being. 😉

Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?

Bad Reed: I’d probably be face down in a ditch in New Mexico. They’d find me with bath salts and chicken burgers in my system and no ID.

Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?

Bad Reed: The first album I ever bought was Word Of Mouth by Ludacris. When i saw the parental advisory sticker on it, I asked my mom to advise me on the matter, so she bought it for me…And I was never the same…

Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?

Bad Reed: We’re all twenty-somethings, so it can be difficult at times to schedule our lives around our passion, and not everyone understands that. But the key is communication between us. Being in a band is a four-way relationship, so we’re always talking to each other.

Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2015?

Bad Reed: New innovative music, plenty of gigs for the Summer/Fall, and a whole lot of fun!