There was a band in the 80s called The Thompson Twins. They were a three piece band consisting of a girl and two guys. None of them were named Thompson and none of them were twins. Fast forward to 2010 and a band named Bad Mary was formed consisting of a girl and three guys. None of them are named Mary and the band is far from bad. Well, unless in the sense of “Man, those cats are bad!” The bad has turned into one of our favorite music discoveries here at the magazine. This hard working punk band has a wicked sense of humor and a work discipline that other bands could take a few notes from. Covid shut down every band/artist in the world and really killed some major momentum that the band had going on. It didn’t discourage the band, but made them more determined than ever to crank things right back up when the world re-opened. 2022 saw a lot of new music releases from the band. 2023 looks even brighter for the band with not only more music releases on the horizon, but their second tour of Japan is in June. I sat down with bassist Mike Staub for an insightful talk about all things Bad Mary, also known as Bad Mary 101.
You guys are very active on your social media. The way to do things nowadays is not the same as it was say 20 years ago. You’re very content heavy and you always seem to be releasing a song or EP. Is there a method to that madness?
Mike Staub/Bad Mary: The way social media and the internet works today is you have to keep feeding the beast. With us, we understand that but at the same time while we do have a plan, it’s a little loose. Being able to work with Dana has been very rewarding to get input on what to do. It’s not super regimented, so everything is really flexible. We like to meet the deadlines that we set for ourselves. You have to stay in the news cycle and you can’t give too much time between releases. This isn’t a cop out answer but it really is both. We have these songs to get out and we think an EP. Okay when do we put that out after and after that, what else do we think we need to do. Do we want to do a cover? Do we just want to put out some singles? Then, what about a video? It’s great that as a band we can sit down and figure out how to do all this. You know, make it fun but yet reduce the grind at the same time. In 2013, we put out our first album Better Days by ourselves and recorded it in David’s studio. Then we decided to do another full record and we talked to a producer around 2015. The producer said we should break it into two eps. We did three EPs and then another full album. After that, in 2019, we did two cover EPS and some singles. Now, in the spring of 2023 we’re going to release another EP.
It sounds like you guys were just gaining some steam when Covid hit.
It was hard because we’re a band that likes to put stuff out. We like to have at least one release, if not multiple, in a year. When we couldn’t get together to do that, it was really difficult. There’s this weird time vacuum between 2020 and 2023 where it feels like no time has passed. It’s like this weird thing where I’m still mentally in 2020. It was tough for us because 2019 into the beginning of 2020 was looking to be a very, very good time for us. We had just done our first tour of Japan; we released an album in 2019 called The Return of Space Girl that we’ve been working on over a year. We go into 2020 and we started playing these shows that were totally packed! There was this great local scene growing and then everything shuts down. You’re not starting again from zero but it definitely feels like you’re starting from a bunch of pegs down. To use a car analogy, it’s like you had to kick it from neutral to first. The car was running, but it just couldn’t go anywhere. Luckily, Amanda and I are married so we live in the same house. We did live streaming and did what we could to keep ourselves singing but we couldn’t get together as a band for a better part of a year. Yeah, it was tough.
It gave artists time to focus on their craft that they normally did not have. Now that things have opened up, we’re seeing a lot of art from music to books to all sorts of art coming out of that lockdown.
It was certainly strange. I think to cope with the constant dread and anxiety of everything that was going on, a lot of us turned to art. By the end of 2020, it started getting very exhausting because the itch to go out and play live was there. I think that’s why we were able to hit the ground running once we were able to get back together again.
It seemed like you guys were incredibly busy in 2022.
Yeah, to say the least!
You were live streaming, there were new songs, Twitch and more. It looks like you’re starting 2023 on the same note with lots of plans. Is the new EP Trash and Glamour the first thing on your agenda?
Yes, we have the Trash and Glamour EP coming out sometime in the spring. The last three singles that we released will be on the EP and we will have another three songs on there.
Going back to Japan is also on your “Things to Do In 2023” list! So many bands would love to get over there and tour and you guys are going back again which is awesome
The first tour that we did 2019 was like doing the impossible. We jokingly talked about if we ever left the states what country would we like to go play. The UK always comes up, Canada comes up, we were getting played on radio in Australia for a while but Japan was always on the list. I studied abroad in Japan and Amanda and I had our honeymoon in Japan. It’s a country that I always appreciated a lot culturally and artistically entertainment-wise. I speak a little Japanese and I’m trying to get better every day. We’re under the punk rock umbrella, but we’re not hard punk or poppy pop. We’ve been joking around calling it glam punk more recently punk and roll gets thrown around.
How did the first Japan tour happen?
This was really strange! Amanda and I were in Walt Disney World on vacation. I was checking my Facebook as I was waiting on Amanda and I found out we were getting played in Japan. A DJ over there, Mike Rogers, was playing us on his radio show, I think in Tokyo. We reached out to Mike and we thanked him and asked how we would book a tour. He gave us some names; we contacted them and started putting our plans and thoughts together. We had done festival gigs and weekenders here and there, but our first official tour was actually of Japan which is funny. Our plan was to go back in late 2020, possibly a Christmas time thing, but then we couldn’t get back because of Covid. Even when stuff started opening, Japan pretty much weren’t letting people in for a while as far as touring or outside musicians. Eventually they told us we could come, so we’re booked and we’re about 3 months out. To have it happen once is pretty amazing but to be able to go back is kind of what kept us sane. We put a lot of hard work into going back. We’re still getting played on the radio over there too
I love how you’re keeping the fans involved by doing things like the Japan tour shirts and the gift box. It’s really cool to give the fans a chance to get something that you brought back with you from Japan.
We know that a lot of people won’t be able to go over there but this allows them to have a piece of the tour. We have a tour shirt and we’re doing the gift box thing again but a little different this time around. This time we’re doing it more like a lottery. We’re going to draw two people from our Twitch or Patreon and two people will get a box. It’ll probably be a little bigger than last time, but it’ll be stuff handpicked that we got over there. It could be a t-shirt, CD or something that we pick up from the store or Kit Kats from Japan which are on another level. I bought some games that I got over there last time so it was really cool stuff. It might be stage stuff like a set list. You’re right; it’s all about giving the people here that kind of experience. This was part of our tour and we want you to be part of the fun.
A quick side note, I know exactly what you’re talking about as far as the Kit Kat bars go. We have a store here called World Market and they get those in from time to time. They are just off the charts.
Yeah, they have green tea, sweet potato; I think there was a rum raisin one and a cherry blossom flavor. It’s wild and I love it!
Do you find yourself putting together a different type of set list for Japan?
It depends on how long our spots are. We’re going to play the fastest, loudest set that we can and after we’re done we’re going to go take a nap (laughs). The sets in Japan are going to be about 30 minutes and we don’t really think about differentiating them. A good 30 minute set in the United States is a good 30 minute set in Tokyo.
Yet another event you have this year is the 10-year anniversary of your debut album Better Days. For that, you’re going to re-record some of the tracks off of it. How did that idea happen?
This is an idea that we had floating around for a while. Wouldn’t it be great if we went back and re-recorded them? We could freshen them up and give them a new coat of paint. I was joking and, I’m a bit of a wise ass, I said what if we called it Better(er) Days? This was actually supposed to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the band which is 2020, but it works out nicely that it’s the 10th anniversary of the album. Amanda says the songs have grown over the past 10 years. How we play them live now is very different than how we played them live back then and how we recorded them. This is going to be a lot of fun to do because there are a lot of harmonies that we put on them now that aren’t on the recording. David grew up in England and he’s a huge Queen fan. If you listen to the original version of “Tie Your Mother Down” off of Sheer Heart Attack, it sounds way different than either of the, in my opinion, better live versions. Bill’s been drumming since he was four years old and he’s 69 now and he is still absolutely killing. The guy plays harder, faster and better than any other drummer that I’ve met and I am kind of biased because he’s my father-in-law. His influences are from the ‘60s ’70s and ’80s and it’s amazing to hear that in his drumming. His influences are The Beatles and Vanilla Fudge and he’s been in hard rock bands all his life. David grew up in England and he was lucky to experience the first wave of punk rock out of the UK as it happened. Amanda and I are 90s kids and we grew up listen to 90s rock music. Amanda’s showpersonship is very much derived from her time in musical theater. It all comes together in this weird mix of nonsense. I think I went on a very weird tangent from where your question started (laughs) it all comes together in this concoction and I think our songs show that a lot.
I think it’s so much cooler when a band has such diverse tastes that they can bring them to the mix instead of everybody coming in and they have the exact same influences. I do believe you can hear that in a band.
If you don’t listen to a bunch of different things like that you’ll never be able to come up with the wild mix like some of what we do like the newer songs like say “The Floor Is Lava.” I think staying in your lane when it comes to listening and appreciating music is very dangerous.
The game the floor is lava has been around forever, but was that song influenced by the Netflix show?
Unfortunately no, although we would love for them to use our song if they would like but that’s not why we did it. Amanda always jokes around that she would love to be a contestant on the show with the band. What’s even funnier is that when we play it live, we encourage the people in the audience to try and play it. Although not everyone gets it, there will be a few who stand on the bar stool or try their best to get off the ground. We usually proclaim a winner at the end of the song. David teaches Theater Technology and Production at a university on Long Island. He had a class where the students had to come up with a game and they come up with the floor is lava and they were the inspiration behind the song. I believe that some of them may have actually been in the video too.
Anything else on your radar that we didn’t touch on that you want to add to the interview?
Once we get back from Japan, we’re going to try and get out there and play shows in the states with other excellent bands. As for 2024, we have no idea (laughs).
We always end our interviews with something fun called 3 For The Road. It’s just three fun, maybe not so common questions to throw at you. If you could have any person, actor, actress, cartoon character, whoever, be the sound of your inner voice, who would it be?
I am kind of a living cartoon character; I kind of vibe that way. It’s a weird mixture and it can be like a Mickey Mouse or Super Mario. A lot of times I relate to Spiderman, who is my favorite comic book character. My other voice like the way Peter Parker or Spider-Man thinks or talks about things. I would love to say Batman but I’m nowhere that cool (laughs) Plus a little bit Goku from Dragon Ball Z. Maybe a little Deadpool if I’m feeling extra wild that day
If you could play any character in any movie or tv show, who would it be?
I don’t want to use the same answer multiple times, plus I think Tom Holland does an excellent job as Spidey. I am a huge cartoon guy, game player. I don’t want to take Spidey again although that would be my first go to. I would have loved to have done Super Mario in the new movie and I’m also a big fan of the series Mega Man and he is my second favorite video game character of all time. I would love to be able to provide a voice or something to that character.
We have lost a lot of iconic music figures of the last few years. If you could go back, as far back as you choose, and be able to sit down and just talk with any musician, who would it be?
I think you would get different people based on different parts of my life. If it was from my early teens, I want to say Kurt Cobain. Later, it would be all of the Ramones and they’re from very close to where I’m from. We would speak the same language and have the same accent. I would like to talk to Bowie. I think his ability to change over the years and become incredibly different record to record, but still be himself authentically is amazing. In the last handful of years The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust has been such an influential peace on what I love about songwriting.
Well, that’s a wrap! Mike, thanks again for the great talk today and I, along with many other fans, can’t wait for all of the stuff that 2023 has in store for the band!
Johnny, thanks for all of the support that you and the magazine have given us. It really means a lot to all of us.
Bad Mary is lead vocalist Amanda Mac, with her husband Mike Staub on bass, her dad Bill Mac on drums, and her Hofstra University professor David Henderson on guitar.
Interview by I’m Music Magazine Owner/Editor Johnny Price
