Camp Counselor Alex Interviews BadNraD, Minneapolis-Based Producer

Last Triumph, I discovered rising EDM producer BadNraD. I was instantly into his dynamic ’80s style EDM, songs that weave the listener through time with synth, bass, trance and nostalgia, all the while inspiring and appealing to bring out your inner freaky dance moves. I was lucky enough to connect with BadNraD for a phone interview, and was able to highlight his musical origin, his recent album release show at First Ave in Minneapolis, and more! When and why did you start making music? How did BadNraD originate? I started making music, when I was probably, honestly, that was kinda why I started learning to play piano, was a drive to create my own, rather than play other people’s music. That was probably around 7 years old. And then I wrote my first song around 6^th grade, and I was making fun of my brother (laughs). I was upset with him, just being a kid. So I made music for that! And then once I got into junior high, a friend gave me a copy of Reathers, which is a software for your computer to make music.  and that started pouring me into electronic music. Very cool! Did you do any other gigs with different bands before BadNRad? I used to have a different name in like high school, early 2000’s, but by mid 2000’s I started calling myself BadNraD, and that was my first serious endeavor. I did join a band called Honey Stick in like 2007 I think, and that’s the only thing I’ve really done seriously. I’ve been doing BadNraD stuff probably since 2008. I didn’t really release any of my stuff though and get a manager until recently. Awesome. Glad you did! What is the significance of your name? It actually comes from a Gameboy game, called Bad N Rad, (laughs), and in high school I traded with a kid for a Gameboy Camera, and then he ran the memory out and I was pissed off, and the only thing left was the Bad N Rad game, and I just sorta loved the way it sounds, and the ring to it, so I decided to make it one word to sorta signify that I am just one person, because sometimes people are kinda like, well if you’re Bad, who’s Rad? (laughs). So that’s why it’s one word! That’s fitting! Your music definitely has a synthy, ’80s pop sound to it… what is your biggest influenced that themes the sound that you have? I think it’s partly from movies that I grew up with, with certain soundtracks and songs from them. I used to get obsessed with certain songs, and listen to them over and over. And that’s why I guess each song is different from the other- I’ve taken aim and just ran with it. So from a lot of movies and video games, and then growing up playing keyboards, it all sorta came to me. Also, there’ an element of 90’s and early 2000’s rave music- and that’s how I got started, really, was making music with that stuff. and then I’ve expanded more and fleshed out to song writing. https://player.vimeo.com/video/185987312 Can you talk more about your song-writing process? So literally everything is done by me. I play keys; I’m a multi-instrumentalist. I play keytar and can do a bunch of other instruments. I’ve really been trying to hone my voice too, because I want to be more self-sufficient and use my own voice. So I took vocal lessons to help my voice too. That’s great! When you perform a show, are you using samples of your studio work, or are you performing it up there live? I would say it’s a hybrid. I wouldn’t consider myself a DJ, but there’s elements of that live remixing, and also my singing on top of all that, and I definitely do improvising, and I’ll play guitar over the beats I’m DJing. https://player.vimeo.com/video/144089297 That sounds like a lot of fun. Last month you released a new album, Deep End, and had an album release show to coincide with it at First Ave in Minneapolis, how was it? It was awesome! I mean to be able to release my album at First Ave, you know where Prince got his start, I mean that’s something you can tell your grandkids about, that I headlined there. It was a huge honor, and a lot of people came out. They said they were blown away! I hadn’t played a show in a while, and wasn’t really sure how it was gonna go, but they people were getting down and having a blast, so I loved the reaction, and the whole show was so much fun, it was awesome. Upcoming shows? I’m putting together my fall / winter tour now. I’m looking to play with the Geek, and RV, a duo from Paris that’s coming through here soon. So there’s that, and I have a few other shows around the Midwest, in Duluth, and also in Wisconsin. What festivals have you performed at? I’ve played at Bassgasm, it was a big thing at First Ave, with a bunch of electronic artists. I played at Summerfest, in Milwaukee, that was a big adventure and a lot of fun. That’s such a huge festival, with so many artists, so it was super cool to play there. I also did a  big New Years show with EOTO, at the Skyway here in Minneapolis, that was super awesome to open up for them. And lastly of course, you haven’t (yet!) performed at Summer Camp, have you ever attended? You know, I’ve always wanted to for sure, but I don’t go to much festivals; my goal is to play at them. So I can both perform and then also get to be there as a fan. It’s definitely been a goal of mine to play there for years.   Like BadNraD on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/badnrad/  ]]>