REVIEW in ROCKPORTAAL by Edwin Knip, 10.3.2019:
Sturdy guitar rock with raw edges straight from the Swiss Alps.
The Bad are based in Switzerland, which they proudly showcase on one of the band photos on the back of the LP cover, where the band is playing on the snow of a glacier.
The band consists of the Amsterdam singer/guitarist Eric Noorman, the Swiss drummer Zed D and the singer/guitarist Julia Jones from Latvia.
The band plays a mix of grunge, rock and punk and pushes genre boundaries with their own musical style.
Their new album is available on vinyl as well as a free download from the site of the band (money has little importance as long as the music gets spread).
Straight from the opening sounds of Dinosaur, the distinctive, raw voice of Noorman stands out.
His vocals grab the listener by the collar and force them to listen.
The screaming violent guitars offset his voice, while the drums only play a supporting role.
The recurring theme in the lyrics is that you should enjoy your life to the fullest and not be guided by age-old rules.
Angels rolls with the topic, asking the listener what their drive in life is, what is their passion.
Stop abiding by the rules and power through life, like dynamite.
Money Games is about an obsession that is no longer under control.
Ultimately, all the songs come together asking one big question: “what is it that you actually want to do?”
Do you only do what you want, or do you stay on the beaten track?
The album has five songs on each side, a total of ten titles that together make up for forty minutes of solid rock.
The heavy riffs in combination with the upbeat tempo of the songs create a great album that is definitely worth a listen.
By Edwin Knip, Rockportaal, 10.3.2019
www.rockportaal.nl/the-bad-simply-the-bad
Distribution: Irascible (Switzerland), Platomania (Netherlands), Sonic Rendezvous (International)
Listen to the album on Spotify
The alarm goes off at 5 o'clock in the morning. Only using a headlight can I make my way through the pitch-black dormitory. Slowly, step-by-step, I make my way along the ladder down to the main entrance. Some mountain guides are standing in the doorway, consulting with the hut warden. Why aren’t they on the road yet? I take a quick glance outside. It's snowing! That’s wonderful, fantastic, but so untimely! The hut warden confides in me: "The circumstances do not look good for you guys. The snow may continue a long time, certainly until morning, but perhaps the whole day. With some luck it will be over by 9 o’clock, but for now you can go back to your nest." I climb the stairs again. Will we succeed today? This isn’t our first attempt…
I contacted the other band members a week earlier. "Guys, it’s now or never! This is our last chance to shoot this video on the Morteratsch glacier." The two previous attempts were cancelled at the very last minute because of the weather, but also because it is quite difficult to get four very different schedules to align. A tour close to impossible: we need four people, stable weather, places available in the Boval hut and the equipment ready in time. We forget one little thing and we will be standing in the middle of the glacier for nothing. So we are tuning and checking again and again. Are the drone batteries charged, do we have all the necessary plugs, cables and spare cables? Did we pack the drumsticks? We definitely need a spare pair. At the top of the checklist: "Check checklist!”
Early on Friday morning we stuff Yaro’s Tesla full of equipment: electric guitar, amplifier, tripod, microphone, ropes, laptops, crampons, batteries, spare batteries, clothes, makeup, drone, cameras, backpacks and a complete drum kit with base, snare and cymbals. And to think that we will go up the mountain without a car… We have to set off quickly as Zed will arrive at the station any time and the trains in Switzerland are hardly ever late. We will also be better off reaching Pontresina by 2 o'clock, which would allow us to park the car and drag all the equipment and ourselves up to the cabin in time for a well-deserved dinner. Our third and final attempt, since this is the last weekend that the hut is still open this season.
As we drive I think of my past adventures on the Morteratsch glacier. It is the place where I did the C2 mountain course, which kicked off my life as an alpinist and triggered my move to Switzerland. Could I have imagined then that I will be standing on that same glacier with a drum kit? Certainly not. Sadder thoughts are connected to this place, however, as this is also one of the fastest melting glaciers in Switzerland. Every time I come I am shocked by how much of it has already been lost. It has been the reason for me to stop flying, and not to use a fossil-fuelled car or helicopter for this production. We prefer to drive on electricity and to carry everything up ourselves.
So we leave the car in Pontresina and take the train to Hotel Morteratsch – the place where the tongue of the glacier spread out a hundred years ago ¬¬– we put on our 25kg heavy backpacks and start the climb. The otherwise short climb seems endless as we take more than 3 hours to get to the top… Thankfully, we are just in time for dinner. The hut warden greets us enthusiastically. He has never had a rock band complete with full equipment in his mountain hut, so we get quite a few astonished looks from him and the other guests. After dinner we have to work hard to prepare for tomorrow, the day of filming. We test the drone, go through the scenario, and discuss our schedule with the hut warden. We check the equipment and listen to the track we will be recording for a few times. We hear: "Louder, louder!" We already have fans, even at this altitude!
It is 9 o'clock, and it is still snowing. We take our time at breakfast and Julia puts her makeup on for the show as if nothing is wrong. You never know. If we don’t go now, our schedule is going to be all messed up. We decide to take the risk and leave the safe, warm hut. Who knows, maybe it clears up. I barely get through the door as a pleasant surprise comes my way. A snowball bombardment by my fellow band mates, just for me! Fortunately, I have the base drum, which serves as a perfect shield. Bottom line ¬– never go into the mountains without a base. After our little snowball-drum concert warm up we set off, slightly off-balance with all the stuff we carry. Julia carries the guitar, Zed D the snare, cymbals, amplifier and tripods, Yaro has the drone and other equipment, and I carry the base drum. I feel like it’s snowing less, but I am afraid it’s just wishful thinking.
In the snow and fog we use GPS to make our way. Sliding over ice and rocks, we descend the moraines. Suddenly the fog vanishes, the snow slows and we see the Morteratsch glacier in its full glory! We all let out a great big sigh of relief. Seems like we still have a chance. We fasten our harnesses and ropes (safety first, kids!), and up to the middle of the glacier we go, maneuvering between the crevices.
After finding a suitable location, we get started. We change clothes from practical to stage, build up the drum kit, make test flights with the drone, set the amplifier to maximum noise, and yes, rock & roll, we are ready to go! After an hour of jumping, drumming and droning at 2’500 meters we are exhausted. After the drone has landed safely and not in a crevice, we take some quick pictures and change, and now we only want one thing: get back to the hut as soon as possible for food and rest. But life isn’t that easy. The way back is hard. Whose idea was this again? We reach the hut far too late and don’t actually have time to rest properly, as we need to go back to catch the last train back to Pontresina. But we have to rest for at least a little while and simply can’t get up. We have to gather our strength. Roberto cooks us a hearty rösti and we slowly recover and chat. He has followed us closely with the binoculars and eagerly listens to our adventure. At an incredible pace we get down with our entire luggage, hop on the train and get to the car, and arrive exhausted but satisfied in Zürich.
Aftermath: Six months later the video is published on YouTube. The phone rings. "Eric, they want to interview us!" The largest newspaper in Switzerland interviews us and publishes a short article about our adventure, the first rock concert on the Morteratsch glacier, with a picture of our band, in the middle of all the beautiful snow and ice. We could not have imagined a better conclusion of this project. Let the concert season kick off.
Glacier Video "Spirals"
- Punkrocker drehen auf Gletscher -
- Punk rockers shoot on a glacier -
Zürich.
Samt Schlagzeug, Gitarren, Verstärker und Drohne stieg die Zürcher Punkrock-Band The Bad auf den Morteratschgletscher. Auf 2500 Metern über Meer drehten Frontmann Eric Noorman, Frontfrau Julia Jones und Schlagzeuger Zed D. den Clip zu ihrem neusten Track "Spirals". Sie hätten Glück gehabt, dass es am Drehtag plötzlich aufhellte, sagt Noorman. Das Schwierigste sei gewesen, stundenlang bei dünner Luft voller Energie zu springen. Der Kälte tritzte zumindest Zed D. problemlos. Er sass in Shorts am Schlagzeug. "Er gab am Schlagzeug Vollgas und hatte darum genug warm", erklärt Noorman. Demnächst treten die Punkrocker in der Roten Fabrik in Zürich auf.
Zurich punk rock band The Bad climbed the Morteratsch Glacier complete with drums, guitars, amplifiers and drone. At 2500 meters above sea level, frontman Eric Noorman, frontwoman Julia Jones and drummer Zed D. filmed the clip for their latest track "Spirals". They were lucky that it suddenly cleared up on the day of filming, says Noorman. The hardest part was jumping for hours in thin air full of energy. At least Zed D. braved the cold without any problems. He sat at the drums in shorts. "He went full throttle on the drums and was therefore warm enough," explains Noorman. The punk rockers will soon be performing at the Rote Fabrik in Zurich.
Den erstaunlichen Videoclip zu dieser Geschichte finden Sie auf YouTube:
You can find the amazing video clip of this story on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/y5L9POAj68U
Rocken auf dem Dach eines Tesla
Es ist jetzt bekannt, dass die Schweizer Punkrock-Band nach ihrem spektakulären Auftritt auf einem Gletscher in den Alpen alles Mögliche tun. Im Häfen von Antwerpen schaffen sie es wieder. Für die Promotion ihres Vinyl-Albums "Simply The Bad" klettert Julia Jones auf das Glasdach des Tesla, um ihre Gitarrensoli ganz cool zu spielen.
«Ja, es war spannend, ob das Glasdach es behalten würde», sagt Jones, «... aber ja, Punk Rock, oder? Nichts ist zu verrückt für uns. Tesla selbst wollte nicht sagen, ob ihr Dach gegen Punkrock beständig ist. Wir hatten also keine andere Wahl, als es zu testen.»
Und? «Das Dach hat es behalten, aber die Polizei machten grosse Augen, sie konnten keine Geldstrafe dafür ausdenken.»
Was ist dein nächster Stunt? «Es findet in den Kanälen von Amsterdam statt, wo Eric Noorman die Lungen aus seinem Körper singt, sich auf der Spitze eines schwankenden Bootes balanciert und am Ende ins Wasser taucht, ehhh, stolpert völlig unfreiwillig und landet im Wasser. Wir haben einen neuen Clip in der Nähe der Lämmerenhütte bei Leukerbad aufgenommen, wo Eric Noorman und Julia Jones die unglaublich beeindruckende Landschaft durchquerten, ein bisschen wie in "Lord of the Rings".»
Rocking on the roof of a Tesla
It is now known that the Swiss punk rock band are doing everything possible after their spectacular performance on a glacier in the Alps. They do it again in the port of Antwerp. For the promotion of their vinyl album "Simply The Bad", Julia Jones climbs onto the glass roof of the Tesla to play her guitar solos very cool. "Yeah, it was exciting to see if the glass roof would keep it," says Jones, "... but yeah, punk rock, right? Nothing is too crazy for us. Tesla themselves wouldn't say whether their roof was resistant to punk rock. So we had no choice but to test it."
And? "The roof kept it, but the police were wide-eyed, they couldn't come up with a fine for it."
What's your next stunt? "It takes place in the canals of Amsterdam, where Eric Noorman sings the lungs out of his body, balances himself on the top of a swaying boat and ends up diving into the water, ehhh, stumbling completely involuntarily and landing in the water. We shot a new clip near the Lämmerenhütte near Leukerbad, where Eric Noorman and Julia Jones traversed the incredibly impressive landscape, a bit like in Lord of the Rings."
Album release party: 23 Januari, Kater, Zürich
Tesla Video "Wild"
Starting off as a rock band in the big bad world is always a challenge. However, an even bigger challenge is starting off as an eco-conscious rock band and there aren’t many bands that pay explicit attention to the cost of their touring to the Earth’s atmosphere. But as we all know, the first step is always the hardest and eco-friendly music has to finally start somewhere, so we decided to set a good example to others.
We, the Bad, have now gotten our own black electric car, which we have christened the Badmobile. The Badmobile will be our primary means of transportation during tours, as the batteries hold enough power to get us and all of our equipment wherever we need to go. The abundance of charging stations in Europe gives us the security and freedom of movement that we need.
Moreover, to show our support of green showbiz we’ve shot a music video for our song 'Wild' in which our guitarist and vocalist Julia plays a full song on top of the moving Badmobile. We shot the video in the incredible harbours of Antwerp, complementing the Badmobile with the crazy industrial landscapes. We filmed the video on our short European tour in the summer of 2017, where we drove through different locations, filming 5 different videos as we drove.
A very memorable location for filming, apart from the harbours of Antwerp, was the Morteratsch glacier in Switzerland. We carried all of our equipment up to where the glacier still glistens, each carrying at least a quarter of our weight up 500m of elevation. We were cold, weary and exhausted, but determined to not hard the glacier any more by using any other means of transport than our own power. Thankfully we had the Badmobile to get our stuff as close as possible without helping the glacier melt even more. It is already quite a heartbreaking view, knowing how far it used to stretch out, and seeing how little of the snow white glory remains today.
Eric’s home land, the Netherlands, will have trouble staying above the sea level in the near future, and the least we can do is not to fly for our tours. We hope that we will inspire more bands to follow our example and avoid fossil fuel as much as possible on tour and in everyday life. Rock on and go green!
