Who are the Bad Examples? The Bad Examples are a 4 piece band
who recently released their 2nd CD Cheap
Beer Night on Waterdog Records. Their first CD Bad
Is Beautiful has received international recognition. The band's association
with Europe's CNR Records helped to earn them a spot in the regular
rotation of The Count Down, Europe's version of MTV, as well
as major European tour dates. All this without major label or corporate backing.
The band's first release Meat: The Bad Examples was an inexpensively produced cassette release sold between sets. The first time I saw the band, they were doing a backup slot in Fitzgerald's. Though the band was a little rough, there was a definite quality to the outfit that attracted my attention. I was fascinated with front man Ralph Covert's ability to catch the audience's attention and hold it. Even more impressive was the fact that half the audience seemed to know the words to most of the songs. After their set, Ralph started circulating through the crowd, pressing the flesh and hawking his Meat, and passing out Bad Examples buttons. (Plans are currently in the works to re-release Meat on CD with some bonus tracks in a box set projected to be released mid-April). Watching him do his bit, I knew that this was a force to be reckoned with.
The next time the band came to my attention was when a friend was playing Styx's Edge of the Century, and I heard a song I was sure I recognized. Sure enough, the credits listed Not Dead Yet as being penned by R. Covert. As a couple of years had gone by, I figured it was time to see these boys again. The band had just released Bad Is Beautiful. The presentation was a LOT more polished, the room was packed and the show was great! (though at times the crowd's rendition of the songs was louder than the band's!)
On Cheap Beer Night the band went for a "live" recording and finally captured some of the songs that make their shows so much fun to experience. You don't just see this band, you "experience" them.
Ok, all that history stuff said, it's time to get to the Meat of the matter.
Pirates, witches, Frankenstein's monster, Wayne & Garth, World War II flying ace, folks in black face, tourists, guys in drag, and even someone dressed as "Pickles Piekarski." My wife and I went to see the Bad Examples at the Abbey Pub, but instead of Pickles, Terry, John & Ralph, we got "Pickleena", "Bubba", a tourist and the Flying Ace. We fully expected to have a good time, but that wasn't adequate preparation for what we experienced. On the down side, we could NOT tear ourselves away until the lights came on so we got the baby-sitter madder than a wet cat. The band had released their second album, Cheap Beer Night on Waterdog Records, just the night before. It was Halloween. And dementia reigned (and it really was raining).
The things that go into generating that kind of chemistry can't well be explained in a magazine article. You'll have to figure that one out for yourself. One thing I did notice was that while the band has a definite "style", each song has its own life. This band's performance dynamics come across as well as they play their instruments. One of the biggest pitfalls that bands fall into is that every song sounds like the one before it. The Bad Examples manage to avoid that trap.
However, there is more to being a successful band than the ability to put on a great show. Fortunately, those mechanics are easier to describe and the guys in the Bad Examples, as well as the folks at Waterdog Records, agreed to talk to me and describe the steps they've taken.
The Bad Examples are a 4 piece pop band led by the charismatic, witty songwriter Ralph Covert on guitar, lead vocal and frontman chores. Supporting Ralph in his efforts are John Duich (guitar & vocals), Pickles Piekarski (bass & vocals), and Terry Wathen (drums, percussion).
Looking back on the interviews with the band, the point that they seemed to be making was the sense of purpose displayed. This goal orientation appears to be present in all members of the band.
Another recurring concept was the idea that the business is a tool that you use to achieve your goals. I asked Ralph when, in his mind, The Bad Examples became a business. His reply was that, "the first gig the band did we received money. That was the point that the band became a business. I strongly believe that you always have something to sell. That's why we decided to produce our first record Meat - The Bad Examples, which we released from the stage. The thing I learned from Meat was that once you released a product it took on a life of its own."
On the subject of managers, Ralph's perspective was a bit different from others I have heard. First he rattled off the 3 kinds of managers a band is likely to need.
(1) A stage or production manager. "Until the band starts filling 15,000-30,000 seat venues, a stage manager isn't really needed."
(2) Business manager - "A business manager is someone you hire to manage your money. That means there has to be enough money not only to pay the manager but also have money for them to manage."
(3) Personal manager - "The longer you wait to hire a personal manager the better off you are. If you can attract someone's attention early, you have to give up a larger percentage of the property and control to compensate that person for the extra risk they are assuming. Additionally, the longer you wait the more you learn about the process. This in turn helps you to focus on what you want to do and where you want to go. Any manager that is going to 'sweep you off your feet' is looking after his/her agenda, not your agenda."
When asked about lawyers: "Lawyers are a tool that you use to do a specific job. Lawyers are exactly like record companies. They are the businessmen you use to accomplish a specific goal. When you have a negotiation that requires that expertise, you want to find an attorney you can afford, who is suited to the specific situation. However, you need to be specific about your requirements in the negotiation. If you go to a lawyer and say 'Negotiate me a contract' you are subjecting yourself to the luck of the draw."
I asked Ralph to share his thoughts on producers. Predictably, I was given an "it depends" answer. "It all depends on what you want to accomplish. Meat was co-produced with Jeff Murphy, engineer at "Short Order Recorder". On Bad Is Beautiful we were looking for someone who knew their way around a studio and could show us what went into making a first class album. Michael Freeman fit that bill perfectly for us. When it came to Cheap Beer Night we wanted to display the raw essence of the band. Tim Powell did a fabulous job of recording the project. So basically, the mixing process consisted of us saying 'Yeah, I like that'. It was a little scary releasing Cheap Beer Night because there really isn't any place to hide with this kind of record. I'm sure there are going to be records where we're going to want someone who will take some creative direction and focus for us, and others on which we are going to want to explore ideas of our own."
One of the harder hurdles to overcome, particularly in the early stages, is: Finance. As these guys has been more than cooperative, I decided to ask how they attacked this hurdle.
"In the beginning, each member of the band contributed weekly dues of $10.00 / week. This, plus the money we made doing shows, paid for Meat, Bad Is Beautiful and the assorted other items you need in order to promote a band. The motor home was financed by taking a bank loan.
Whlie reading the liner notes in Cheap Beer Night I noticed that they had turned down offers for sponsorship by beer companies. Why? "I really don't agree with the way beer is marketed. Condoms, however, are a different story."
One of the band's strengths is the diversity of the material. I asked Ralph how many songs are written per year and how many of those actually get worked up.
"My goal is to write 100 songs in a year. How many of those get worked up depends on how much time the band has to rehearse. Generally, it's somewhere around 10 or 15 songs. When considering performance and dynamics, my feeling is that every time we work on a song, everyone's first goal is to let the song speak, to come up with an arrangement, atmosphere, and an environment that gives each song its own personality."
Overall, my strongest impression in talking to The Bad Examples, and the folks at Waterdog Records, is a sense of purpose, direction and fun. The goals are well communicated, which allows them to work together as a team to achieve the things they want to achieve. Truly, whether this band makes a huge amount of money or not, (and I earnestly hope they do!), they are a success.