Today we’d like to introduce you to Bad Guru. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Many of us have been playing in a band together since our baby-faced days. During university years, stars aligned for 3 of the eventual 5 to attend a guitar class together where:
1. Joey (guitarist) was pretending not to know how to play for an easy “A”
2. Sierra (lead singer) was forgetting to practice the songs and somehow still managing said easy “A”
3. Quinn (drummer) was brewing with resentment for his disciplined “B” status
As fate would have it, good vibes attract, and our interests became so naturally aligned as three integral parts to a band were handed over on a cosmic platter. Meanwhile, Blake (bassist) was grinding heavy tool riffs in the sweet sanctity of his apartment at the same school. After separating for an honestly less vibrant time, we all trickled back to Atlanta after our various rendezvous. Ethan (guitarist) hit up Joey to do some open mics, thus stoking an idea to be born – It’s time to get the band together. Four years later and were still Bad Guru. Due to our history, we honestly spend half of the band practice shooting the shit before getting down to business because we genuinely love each other.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
This likely resonates with everyone. #*&% COVID! Our shows were canceled, practices were either postponed or half-loaded, our typical cover songs began to lose their luster, and uncertainties were laying heavy. As with most things, this time was both a gift and a curse because during this time, our original ideas were starting to bubble. We proliferated our own sound and got our floating headspace ideas to full song completion. We were able to use the jam to both stays sane and progress as a band.
The biggest life shatterer was the death of our very dear friend. As he was living with Joey at the time, he was subject to our gnarliest, rawest practices and never once seemed bored or inconvenienced. Truly that one-of-a-kind energy, genuinely spirited soul. When he died, the grief and resulting existential questioning was the impetus for the foundation of album 2.
We try to take the chaos that is our human existence and transmute it to a higher form. It’s so therapeutic to make sense of it all through subconscious feeling and creative expression.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We’ve got a versatile sound where we can be the heaviest band at the alt rock show or the grooviest band at the heavy metal show. Our music spawns from the mistakes & resulting meaning made, the recurring hopeful realization of splendor, and the awestruck experience of the complexity of life.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
The real location for Hawkins lab from Stranger Things is next door to our band practice space and before we found this out, we had MAD suspicions some dark, ominous activity was going on in there!
On a deeper note, Our singer is a legit mental health therapist and the collective consciousness felt through those experiences heavily influences the lyrical content of our songs.
Imagine mindfully walking with people through their worst nightmares by day and moonlighting as an excessive wild child rock band by night. The band name itself sprung from that inner conflict of light and dark wolves. Living in moderation, refraining from being subject to attachments, and separating oneself from emotional whims through questioning your own reality. It all makes so much sense. But to live through excess and ample experience? To boldly love each other regardless of potential pain? Feeling everything, in all its depth and intricacy. Doesn’t that all make sense too? When you listen to us, you’ll feel the pull of chaos and order, of dark and of light. Life isn’t simple, and our music reflects that.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.badguruband.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/badguruband/
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5Xvj6eoWm1zeyrnNWu3x5l
Image Credits
@oliviabowmanphotography
