Perth alt-pop act Bad Weather may have only been on the scene for the best part of a year but this new artist is already making some serious impressions. After their first single Teenagers In Love scored airplay on triple j Unearthed and strong praise from presenters last year, Bad Weather have now unveiled new single All I Know, which they’ll be bringing to the stage with a launch show this Friday, February 19 at The Bird. While listeners might be familiar with the pop sensibility, glittering synth and electronic sounds of previous releases, this track shows a step into deeper territory both lyrically and musically. BRAYDEN EDWARDS caught up with Bad Weather to find out the story behind the song, how it will be brought to life on stage on Friday night and what we can look forward to next from the act.
When you started Bad Weather as a project was it much of a different direction from music you had previously made? And how has your style changed since then?
I think it’s been a more honest expression of myself that isn’t compromised by anyone or anything else. Sonically it’s also a huge difference! It’s really all over the place, but I like that. I always say I don’t really adhere to genres when writing and that idea became essential when starting Bad Weather.
How do you go about writing songs and particularly this new single? Is it something that happens more naturally on a computer or with an instrument?
It changes all the time, depending on the song but it usually starts on a computer. I’ll program a drum beat or make a droney sounding synth and start putting other elements on top of that. With All I Know I think I had the drum parts written and had just bought a capo for my guitar. I was messing around with it and one of the first things I played was the opening guitar part on the song and knew immediately there was something there.
What was the message behind this song about and what was it that made it stand out to be released as a single?
All I Know is a song about reflection. It was written in my bedroom during the lockdown of last year which coincided with a breakup. I had a lot of time to sit with myself and think about this new reality that was happening on a global scale but also the new reality I had to come to terms with on a personal level. Originally it was going to be an EP track, but when me and my band started playing it live I noticed it always got a really great crowd reaction. People would always sing back the ending which felt very anthemic and so I decided to just put it out as a single.
And musically, how would you say it is different from your previous singles?
Musically it’s different to previous singles as it was one of the first songs I’d written where I’ve started with a chord progression on guitar. With most of my other singles guitar has been one of the last things added to a song, but with All I Know it was one of the first. I also like the fact that the song ends the way it starts. I hadn’t done that before, but I feel it really works for this song.
And how are you going to go about bringing songs like this to life onstage? It must be quite different performing it live when you have to do so many things at once!
I’m really lucky that two of my best friends are my session musicians and very talented at what they do. I work pretty closely with them on how we can best deliver a song live. There’s a lot of layers to my songs so we play with a click track and my drummer also has a drum pad that he triggers samples from. It’s a really hybrid show of live instruments meeting technology.
What’s on the cards for the rest of 2021 and beyond? Any more new music or live shows to look forward to?
I’ll be releasing an EP this year. I just want to try and push out as much music as I can for people to invest themselves in. I’m also really hoping we can tour this year. Because of current affairs, it’s so hard to try and plan anything but that would definitely be a tick on the bucket list.
