Over the past 18 months, the music world has opened up for Toronto based trio BADBADNOTGOOD and they’ve spread themselves into it. Their jazzified hip-hop is bold and bodacious, and is getting loads of attention. A Youtube video featuring the band alongside Odd Future’s Tyler the Creator has gotten nearly 1 million views. They backed Grammy winning Frank Ocean at last year’s Coachella Festival, and have laid down tracks for hip-hop legends like Ghostface Killah. Having released two “studio” albums, and two live albums for free on their website, the lads are currently conjuring twisted and hypnotic ruckus rhythms in Toronto, and smashing out the live goods at numerous shows. We caught up with Ottawa-raised, badbad bassist, Chester Hansen to talk about their project and the upcoming show at Ritual on Saturday.
Apt613: You guys met up at Humber’s School of Music in Toronto. I’m sure that there were many deadly players in the program, so what was it about each other’s playing that attracted to you to each other? Was it a matter of vision, chops, sound, or a mix of all three?
Chester Hansen: Well I guess it was a lot of things combined. The fact that we all listened to hip hop, and specifically current hip hop was something that really brought us together initially. A lot of jazz school kids tend to listen to a very narrow range of hip hop, like J Dilla and Tribe and that’s it sometimes. Although they are obviously amazing artists, there’s so much happening in hip hop these days that it’s a shame not to be checking out a broader spectrum.
We all also greatly admire each other’s playing. We all came from different backgrounds musically but we really had a connection musically, even from the first jam session we had where I’m pretty sure we played a few jazz standards and fooled around trying to play Lemonade and Assmilk.
Apt613: The style of the band has been described as hip hop/jazz and it’s no secret that part of your innovation has been to “jazzify” and improv on hip-hop tracks. What is it about the aesthetics of hip hop that you all find attractive?
CH: I think we admire hip hop because it is one of the simplest forms of music sometimes, but it has so much power. A great lyricist can rhyme over a 4-bar loop of an old soul sample and a drum break for 5 minutes and it can be as riveting as an 50-piece orchestra playing a symphony.
Instrumentally, hip hop is one of the most interesting genres as well. The mastery required to create a great beat is truly underrated in most circles of musicians. The feel and composition of beats influences us a lot in our composing and playing. From a jazz perspective, the simplicity and strength of hip hop gives us a lot of room to expand and re-interpret songs.
Apt613: The energy on the latest record, BBNG2, is unbelievable. Listening to this record right now as I type these questions, I can’t get over how fresh, pulsating and dark it sounds. From the filthily-banging syncopated groove on “Vices” to the morbidly superb “CHSTR” to the sparkling and vertiginous “DMZ” to the Freddy-Krueger-in-sparkle-pants lullaby “CMYK” (the break in this track is just ridiculous) the album really is a jaw-dropping smorgasbord of sounds, rhythms and themes.
Was most of the album recorded as improv sessions based on heads and skeletons, or are the songs more structured than meets the ear?
CH: Thanks a lot for the compliments!!! Most of the songs have a large amount of improv, but they all have structures (some rougher than others). For covers, we try and retain the original feeling and mood of the song, while adding some of our own ideas.
Apt613: I’m especially surprised with the quality of the recording; it sounds very clean crisp and deep in the headphones. Because it was done in just a few sessions, did you live mic the room and then do a bunch of mastering afterwards, or what?
CH: We recorded all in the same room, because everything was direct in except for the drums. Because we only had 8 hours, there were actually a lot of problems with the recordings that we didn’t realize initially. However, Matt, our keyboardist and a friend of ours Matt MacNeil managed to mix and master it to sound 1000 times better than it was at first.
Apt613: Can you tell us a little bit about guitarist Luan Phung, who plays that wild solo on “You Made me Realise” and sax player Leland Whitty?
CH: We all went to school with Luan, he’s an amazing guitarist and overall musician and rad dude! Leland’s an amazing musician. Both guys are a real pleasure to play with, and they’re way more talented than we are so it’s always a motivating experience. They have played a couple shows with us and actually Leland is going to be joining us this Saturday in Ottawa!
Apt613: What was the reasoning behind giving the album away as a free download? Did you guys think about doing a pay-what-you-can kind of deal, or…?
CH: We just really wanted to get our music out there. In this day and age the amount of people who are paying for the music of someone they’ve never heard of is very small. It’s important that people can listen to your music for free, then if they like it maybe they’ll buy a t-shirt, or vinyl or something and genuinely want to support. A bunch of people have donated on our website after downloading BBNG2 which we’re super grateful for! We will continue to release music for free as much as possible and if we charge for something we always want to make sure it’s 100% worth the price.
Apt613: Chester, you grew up here in Nepean. How did you get into music and what role, if any, did the Ottawa-area play on becoming the bassist you are today?
CH: I got into music really early on, my parents signed me up for piano lessons from the age of 5. I went to Canterbury High in the music program there. I got somewhat serious about bass in my final year of high school, and spent most of my time jamming with friends and playing in all kinds of bands. I would say the people in Ottawa had a big role in my musical development, I had a lot of very talented friends and amazing teachers over the years.
Apt613: What can we expect from your show at Ritual on Saturday night?
CH: Energy, craziness, positivity. Moshing maybe? And loud music. We’re debuting a bunch of new material that isn’t recorded and has never been played in Canada before so it will be a great time!
BADBADNOTGOOD play at Ritual this Saturday, January 23rd with Emoticon Dawn (feat. Ian Keteku) and DJ Magnificent (Double Barrel). Tickets: $12 in advance available at Compact Music(s), The Record Centre (Hintonburg), Vertigo Records, and online at www.WORLDFAMOUSMUSIC.net.
