the first bad credentials interview - by dagmar s for plym sqeak 'zine #2
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1. when did you start making music?
We’ve been together since about May last year so we’re about to celebrate our first anniversary, which is paper.
2. how was the band formed?
We’d been playing together in another band before Bad Credentials and we thought it would be boring not to carry on. And basically James had one riff left over that we’d never used in our old band so we based our whole new band on that in the hope we could come up with some more.
3. how did you come up with your band name?
With difficulty. We got offered a gig before we had a name so we had to come up with something quickly... Our friend Paddy suggested Bad Credentials and we liked it more than anything we’d come up with ourselves.
4. how often do you rehearse?
Not as often as we should, as anyone who has seen us live can confirm.
5. who writes the lyrics?
It varies from song to song but it often ends up being a team effort one way or another.
6. how does your music and the lyrics work together?
I think we do sinister/angry and happy/party in equal measures so our songs end up ranging from metal-inspired tracks about serial killers to unashamed pop-punk about hangovers… Do they work together? We’re still not sure.
7. how did your band find its unique sound?
We never set out to have a specific sound but we all like catchy punk rock and we’re all partial to big rocky riffs. I guess the clichéd answer is we sound a bit like all of our influences thrown together.
8. what are your influences?
Pretty wide-ranging. The Wildhearts, Ramones, Social Distortion, Metallica... Even though we’re a punk band first and foremost, between us we listen to everything from folk and country music to thrash and funeral doom so we probably sound like a confused mish-mash of genres, sometimes in the same song!
9. what are your songs about?
Nothing too big and clever. Drinking, women, having a good time, er, serial killers, war… We touch on politics now and then too but we’re definitely not that ‘type’ of band. We’d much rather have fun and pull rock-star shapes on stage than try to push our opinions on people.
10. what's your view on the punk scene in Plymouth and the wider spheres of the south west?
It’s pretty healthy at the moment and it’s only getting better, right? It’s really exciting to see great young local bands like These Creeps making a name for themselves and of course we’re very lucky to have promoters like AWOL and White Cider putting on regular shows here in Plymouth. There’s also now a bunch of good venues all supporting punk shows - The Underground, The Junction and The Fortescue in particular. I think the punk scene here is as strong as it’s been in years right now.
11. which were the high and low points of your band career?
The high point would probably be getting our debut EP released last month - we’re all pretty proud of it. And the low point? Ah it’s all been good so far, but we’re only one year old so plenty of time for some lows yet.
12. why did you decide to make this type of music?
Because we all love punk rock ‘n’ roll, big riffs and loud noises - and we’re not technically gifted enough to handle too many chords at once.
13. who or what is the driving force in your band?
Without sounding cheesy we just do it for fun, to let off steam and to hopefully get in free to some gigs we’d be going to anyway if we weren’t on the bill.
14. what are your future plans?
Gigs, gigs and more gigs hopefully! We’ve got enough new songs already to record a second EP so it’s either do that later this year or figure out some way of getting enough money to record an album. We’re also hoping to play a few gigs outside Plymouth soon and do some festivals next summer.
15. ASK YOURSELF AN EXCITING QUESTION AND ANSWER IT
Errrrr….sorry, we’re not imaginative enough for this one
We’ve been together since about May last year so we’re about to celebrate our first anniversary, which is paper.
2. how was the band formed?
We’d been playing together in another band before Bad Credentials and we thought it would be boring not to carry on. And basically James had one riff left over that we’d never used in our old band so we based our whole new band on that in the hope we could come up with some more.
3. how did you come up with your band name?
With difficulty. We got offered a gig before we had a name so we had to come up with something quickly... Our friend Paddy suggested Bad Credentials and we liked it more than anything we’d come up with ourselves.
4. how often do you rehearse?
Not as often as we should, as anyone who has seen us live can confirm.
5. who writes the lyrics?
It varies from song to song but it often ends up being a team effort one way or another.
6. how does your music and the lyrics work together?
I think we do sinister/angry and happy/party in equal measures so our songs end up ranging from metal-inspired tracks about serial killers to unashamed pop-punk about hangovers… Do they work together? We’re still not sure.
7. how did your band find its unique sound?
We never set out to have a specific sound but we all like catchy punk rock and we’re all partial to big rocky riffs. I guess the clichéd answer is we sound a bit like all of our influences thrown together.
8. what are your influences?
Pretty wide-ranging. The Wildhearts, Ramones, Social Distortion, Metallica... Even though we’re a punk band first and foremost, between us we listen to everything from folk and country music to thrash and funeral doom so we probably sound like a confused mish-mash of genres, sometimes in the same song!
9. what are your songs about?
Nothing too big and clever. Drinking, women, having a good time, er, serial killers, war… We touch on politics now and then too but we’re definitely not that ‘type’ of band. We’d much rather have fun and pull rock-star shapes on stage than try to push our opinions on people.
10. what's your view on the punk scene in Plymouth and the wider spheres of the south west?
It’s pretty healthy at the moment and it’s only getting better, right? It’s really exciting to see great young local bands like These Creeps making a name for themselves and of course we’re very lucky to have promoters like AWOL and White Cider putting on regular shows here in Plymouth. There’s also now a bunch of good venues all supporting punk shows - The Underground, The Junction and The Fortescue in particular. I think the punk scene here is as strong as it’s been in years right now.
11. which were the high and low points of your band career?
The high point would probably be getting our debut EP released last month - we’re all pretty proud of it. And the low point? Ah it’s all been good so far, but we’re only one year old so plenty of time for some lows yet.
12. why did you decide to make this type of music?
Because we all love punk rock ‘n’ roll, big riffs and loud noises - and we’re not technically gifted enough to handle too many chords at once.
13. who or what is the driving force in your band?
Without sounding cheesy we just do it for fun, to let off steam and to hopefully get in free to some gigs we’d be going to anyway if we weren’t on the bill.
14. what are your future plans?
Gigs, gigs and more gigs hopefully! We’ve got enough new songs already to record a second EP so it’s either do that later this year or figure out some way of getting enough money to record an album. We’re also hoping to play a few gigs outside Plymouth soon and do some festivals next summer.
15. ASK YOURSELF AN EXCITING QUESTION AND ANSWER IT
Errrrr….sorry, we’re not imaginative enough for this one
