Rob Newland – Badland Bandits – Uber Rock Interview Exclusive
Written by Matt Phelps
Sunday, 01 December 2013 03:30
“As Plymouth slips away, they’ll not be back again. They’re sailing off towards the promised land.” So sang the mighty Saxon back in ’84 on the classic ‘Crusader’ album. Now Plymouth’s premier Rock ‘N’ Roll outlaws, Badland Bandits, are set to be sailing to America themselves when in January next year they’ll head off like Heavy Metal Pilgrims on a mission to stamp their own brand of musical debauchery across the State of California. I recently had a chat with bassist Rob Newland to find out a bit about the Bandits’ history and how they’re gearing up for their forthcoming stomp down Sunset Strip….
Hey Rob, thanks for talking with us today, first of all could you give us a quick introduction as to who’s in the band?
Hi, no problem, it’s a pleasure. So I’m Rob Newland I play bass, Dave Crane AKA DC on the guitar, Adam Vickery on lead vocals and Skins (Dan Skinner) on drums.
And a quick bit of band history to follow that up. When and how did you guys get together originally?
Well me and Dave met in School when we were about 14. We were both musicians in different bands. We were always talking about doing a project together. We used to jam together a lot and wrote a few tunes, totally different to Badland Bandits at the time. When we were about 18 we moved into a flat in Plymouth where we jammed a lot more and partied like there was no tomorrow. I knew Adam back from Primary school and randomly met up with him in a pub around the same time. He came to ours one evening and after a jam and a few beers in the kitchen we decided to put a band together. My band at the time was Shoot The Duke, a pop rock trio and they decided to call it a day so I was eager to start something new. Our mate James Cranch drummed for us for a bit. Then Skins joined the band. We all knew Skins through mutual friends and Shoot The Duke used to play shows with his old band No Archy so he fitted in right away.
Who would you cite as the main influences that you lot draw from when it comes to penning Badland Bandits material and styling the band?
That’s a hard one, going back a few years ago people always labelled us as Glam rock, I don’t know if it was the crazy hair, the leather jackets or the fact that we are all Motley Crue fans. These days I feel our music has matured a lot. We have always taken influence from the best ’80s rock bands in the world but these days our newer songs take influence from a wide range of musicians. Anything from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Buckcherry and Guns N’ Roses to newer upcoming bands such as Heavens Basement and Airbourne. Skins in a massive punk fan so I think he gives Badland Bandits a bit of an unexpected twist sometimes. I find it hard to answer because I think out of our wide range of tastes we have fashioned a new unique sound.
I’ve seen you live a few times, each one always seems a little better than the last. Confidence is not something you’re lacking as a unit. How have you found the learning curve from where you started to where you are now as a band?
Thanks a lot. We are always looking for ways to improve each show. I think one of the biggest learning curves we learned from playing anywhere that will have us is that you can’t please everyone. At first we were always worried if people liked us or not. We now have a different attitude. As long as we have fun then it’s a rocking show in our eyes. We learned that there is no point in driving all the way to London and standing on a stage with a new audience in front of us and worrying if people are liking it or not. You just have to do your thing and have fun with it. If people don’t like our music too much we can at least entertain them with a high energy stage show to make them smile. So I guess what I’m trying to say is although being Bon Jovi is every band’s dream, we learned to just be Badland Bandits, the four of us doing what we set out to do. I suppose that made us more confident but also it brought us closer as a band.
You’ve got an impressive arsenal of songs already under your belt which I firmly believe you need to get out there for people to hear. How’s are things going in that department? Might we see a physical product from Badland Bandits sometime soon, or even individual songs available to download?
Ok we have been really slack on the production side as we thrive off of live shows. But, we are in the process of recording 4 new tracks that we are all really proud of. They will be released at the end of December along with our first ever music video for the track ‘Bullets’. We are really excited about the video, it will be done locally but I can’t say where yet so you will have to wait and see. I can tell you that it will be very high up so there’s a clue. We start shooting it in a couple weeks. They will be available to download for free off of our Facebook Page.
You toured through Europe last year. How did that experience go for you and what did you take away from your taste of life on the road in Europe?
The first thing I will say is supporting Lord Bishop Rocks was the best experience of my life, the second thing I will say is that it’s not as glamorous as it sounds. 19 shows in 22 days covering Germany, Hungary, Italy, Bosnia and Czech Republic is not easy. The response was so amazing and I saw some beautiful places and met some amazing people. It was the biggest moment for us, our first ever tour. We got treated like kings everywhere we went. For some reason they respect musicians a lot more over there. I can honestly say every single show was outstanding. Half way through we started to feel the pain though, free beer and about 3 hours sleep every night starts to make you feel a bit confused. I was trying to order beer in German when we were in Italy. Thank god for Mick, our tour manager. He really looked after us with the language barrier, made sure we ate well and made sure we got home safe to our hotel every night. Apart from Berlin where we got so ridiculously lost as he had left early. No matter how rough we felt, how tired we were, how pissed off with each other we were, as soon as we got on stage it was all forgotten and all of us put on the best performance we possibly could. We were invited back to a lot of the venues this year, in April we toured Germany and Holland. I can’t tell you how awesome it felt to see people a year later turning up in a Badland Bandits T shirt. One place I would like to mention is a biker bar in Augsburg called Bombig. Run by Tommi, the president of the Hells Servants. I can’t explain how amazing this place is. Tommi is one of the nicest blokes I’ve ever met. When we played last year he said make sure you come back. Now we are booked in to play there every April. We play to around 150 people just on a Thursday, next year he wants us on a Saturday and he thinks we will pull double the crowd. He gives us free beer, takes us out for a steak dinner, gives us endless Jack Daniels during the show, puts us up in a real cool hotel and sends us food before we get our 3 hours sleep. If you are ever going to come see us in Germany, that’s the place to be. Lord Bishop Rocks were an awesome bunch of guys too, we learned so much from them. We picked up performance tips and learned how to be a more professional band. Simple things like go out and promote with flyers but more importantly after a show, go and talk to everyone. Get your flyer and business card to everyone that’s interested in you. Get them to follow you on social networks, sign up to your news letters and let them know when you will be back.
2014 looks set to start in spectacular style too as you’re heading off to California for a number of dates in January. How did that come about and how are you feeling as the time to fly over comes closer?
We are supporting Lord Bishop Rocks again. Bishop messaged me to see how we got on headlining Germany and he just offered it to me. Simple as that. Obviously my answer was hell yeah! This tour is crazy for us as we are playing some of the most famous venues in the world. We always talked about how cool it would be to play the Whisky A Go Go, that was the dream and now it’s come true. It’s the birth place of Guns N’ Roses, Motley Crue and all our idols. The ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ video was actually filmed there. Originally we signed a contract for 8 shows but now it looks like we are doing about 12. Words can’t describe how amazed and excited we all are. We are really upping our game for this one, hence the new tracks and music video. We have been rehearsing twice a week and writing a lot of new material. It’s also going to be nice to get out of the cold. I’m doing a big sun cream shop before we go. I have no idea what to expect but only good things can come from this.
What can the people of California expect from Badland Bandits? Here’s your chance to tell them why they should try and make it along to one of the shows…
You can expect a hard rockin’, high energy party, louder than Motorhead. An ear popping, eye catching performance with crazy guitar solos, groovy bass lines, stadium sounding drums with a high range vocalist. Some of the best sounds in the world come from England and we won’t disappoint. We have always been described as the party starting band so expect a lot of beer, a lot of whisky, a lot of dancing, and a lot of cheering. Expect to wake up with a hot girl, a bad hangover, and a Bandits CD as our music will still be in your head.
So we’ve seen that there’s a lot to be looking forward to but what would you say has been the biggest achievement for you guys so far?
With touring and competitions aside, I think our biggest achievement is our music. We have changed so much over the years and have finally found a new direction to follow. I’m really proud of all the guys. After this long we are still just as motivated as we were when we first started, if not more. Our new sound is something special to us. It’s tough being a rock band in Plymouth too. Everyone just wants to see cover bands these days and we are getting less and less places to play down here. But we won’t give up. It’s too fun! I think keeping the ‘buzz’ has been hard but we have managed it some how.
And finally where do you guys want to be in 12 months from now?
I was asked this question just after we supported Bishop in Europe and I said I see us headlining Europe. That happened. In 12 months I see us headlining California, Europe and hopefully somewhere new. Brazil, Australia and Japan are our next project. Rock is supposed to be real popular over there. Either way we are not going anywhere so you might as well join our party.