Artist Advent Day 21: Badlands.
Written by: Keyali Mikaela
Introducing Day 21 of Next Wave's Artist Advent Calendar: Learn more about Badlands., an emerging musical force shaped by the transformative waves of technology and the internet. In this exclusive interview, Steven and Trey share insights into their musical journey, revealing how online connectivity has been a pivotal force in shaping their sound and opening doors that might have otherwise remained closed.
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Next Wave: How has technology and the internet impacted your music career?
Steven: I think the biggest thing the internet has done for me is connect me with people that I maybe wouldn’t have met so easily. A lot of the doors that have opened up for me have in part been because of social media and people willing to share what they know. In a lot of ways its what has helped me to connect the dots for what I bring to Badlands.
Sonically, a lot of the virtual instruments and plugins I use can help to create insane sounds. I’m not traditionally trained as an engineer, but I think that works in my favor because I’m just playing around with a sound until I think it sounds interesting to me.
Next Wave: Who are your musical influences or role models?
Steven: I have a lot of musical influences. Some of my current role models would probably consist of Slow Pulp, Child, and The Japanese House. So many great tunes have come from these artists and it helps to inspire a lot of the ideas I bring to the table.
Next Wave: What's the most challenging aspect of breaking into the music industry?
Trey: There are tons of talented people that deserve to have their music heard. Honestly, I think there’s a big mental hurdle around getting organized and putting together the elements that surround the songs themselves. There’s so much that you have to sell to an audience visually before someone even chooses to listen to your songs, and that’s really hard. If you DO connect with the right people, and they DO get past the initial sell and find that you DO have good songs, then I think things start to line up a bit on the industry side.
There’s also a new wave of networking fatigue starting to come from bands and artists, because it’s exhausting when you have to filter out who wants to genuinely connect and collaborate and who’s just trying to climb some kind of social ladder or something. Like yo, Badlands doesn’t have any clout. We can chill though.
Next Wave: Can you share a little about your creative process and how you come up with new ideas for songs?
Trey: This season is really fresh for me as the primary songwriter because it’s the first time in a decade that I’ve intentionally only written from my own experience. I’m not trying to write songs to go viral or meet some growth goal or anything - it’s just my story, formed a little bit to fit in our band.
Next Wave: What song, ep or album of yours would you recommend to someone who is listening to your music for the first time?
Trey: Our first few singles “How to let go” and “A Reintroduction” are out now! We have a full record on the way - follow along online or wherever you get music!
Find Badlands. on Instagram and Spotify.
Get tickets to their January shows here.
Tour Dates:
THURSDAY, JANUARY 11, 2024 @ 7:00PM || BADLANDS. SODA BAR, SAN DIEGO, CA
FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2024 @ 7:00PM || SILVERLAKE LOUNGE, LOS ANGELES, CA
SUNDAY, JANUARY 14, 2024 @ 7:00PM || VALLEY BAR, PHOENIX, AZ
