Sweet Talk with Bad Bad Hats

Interview by Sydney Hise

Minnesota band Bad Bad Hats aren’t strangers to bubblegum, sticky sweet pop music. With two previous full length albums and multiple EPs chock full of upbeat song after upbeat song, newest album Walkman is no different. Members Con Davison, Chris Hoge and Kerry Alexander are back and brighter than ever. Ease Up’s Sydney Hise had a chance to catch up with lead singer and guitarist Kerry via Zoom to chat about candy bars, middle school mixtapes, and being the wingman. Read below:

Ease Up: First off, how are you? How are you doing?

Kerry: Doing great, just been hanging out. It’s an exciting day today, because Con - our drummer in Bad Bad Hats - he’s going on a trip, so Chris and I get to babysit his dogs. So dogs are here, we’ve got some fluffy friends for the week, so we’re feeling good.

EU: Do you have any future plans that you are excited for? I know you guys are obviously going on tour and you’re releasing an album, but is there anything else you’re super excited for?

K: Those are probably the two main things. It’s very exciting to think about going on the road, which you know, because of last year, we’re still feeling like we wanna prepare ourselves just in case things don’t happen, but we hope they do happen. We’re very excited to see people in person and go back to some of our favorite venues, and towns, and restaurants. 

EU: Your first show is really soon, right? It’s [August] 12th, right?

K: Yes, and then we kinda have a month off to hang out, do our thing, and then mid-September things are going to start picking up again. And yes, I'm also very excited about the new album and for people to hear some new songs.

EU: Is there any song in particular that you’re most excited for people to hear?

K: That’s tough, because a lot of them I really like. I think we just filmed a music video for one of our new songs, the song is called Milky Way, and I think the song is great for many reasons, it’s just a fun song. That one would be good. It’s ten raucous-but-lighthearted tracks and we hope there’s something for everyone. I may be excited for the last track on the album, that one kinda came together in the studio, like, day of. I had written the song and we started recording it and we were like, “This is not great, this isn’t good, this isn’t going the way we hoped.” And then Con came up with the guitar part, and then, I was like, “That’s it, that’s the direction.” I just scrapped the verses and wrote new verses on the spot, and it was a magical, fun thing in the studio. Maybe that’s the one I’m most excited for. 

EU: Let's talk a little about that song, that song is phenomenal. Just that first line, “I’m a dancer, born the month of Cancer.” is so good, and I feel like it just encapsulates the entire feeling of the song. That song is so beautiful.

K: Thank you!

EU: Were you born in the month of Cancer? Are you a Cancer baby?

K: Yes, yep, I just had my birthday, July 20th. I got into the zodiac later in life, and I’m not into it as much as some people are and everything. I kinda love the zodiac vibe, asking people “What's your sign?” 

EU: That song is so heartfelt, just like a Cancer is, so it makes complete sense. 

K: I guess what I was gonna say about Milky Way is that Con’s drumming on that song is the best showcase of his drumming skills, and he kind of is the star in the music video, which I think is perfect for that song.

EU: You can definitely tell that he has inspired some of the interludes and little instrumental parts on the album.

K: Totally.

EU: Even listening to Sofa Bed (by Con) and comparing it to some of the tracks on the album and that sort of ambient noise almost, is really cool to see.

K: Yes! Yes.

EU: Which is amazing, because he’s so talented.

K: Oh, he is! I think it’s great, because on Lightning Round, Con was in the band but had just joined, so he just played drums for us on most of that album, but then we did another session where we did Nothing Gets Me High, Absolute Worst, Wide Right, those three I think were the big three, and that was our first time being in the studio with him and working together with him, and it was just so obvious from the start that there was such a great synergy between the three of us and our producer Brett Bullion. And because Con is a songwriter himself, obviously, I think he has a good ear for what kind of things suit the song itself and will help the vocal and will help the overall vibe of the song, because we’re always thinking about the song itself. I think sometimes we talk about how the Bad Bad Hats process is like building a chair, or something. Like I bring the wood, I come over and I am like “I got this great wood, here you go,” and then Chris does the heavy lifting; he does a lot of the actual playing of the bass and we make him do a lot of the guitar stuff. And then Con, Con is there to smooth everything out - he sands it, he stains it. We’re a team.

EU: Speaking of Chris, you and Chris are married.

K: We are, yep!

EU: How does that dynamic make it easier or harder to write love songs, in terms of presenting ideas to each other that potentially could be about your relationship, and also in terms of writing about love in the state of mind of a fresh teenager in love while you’re in a long term relationship?

K: That’s my favorite kind of love song, but it’s obviously been quite a long time since I was a teenager in love. But in some ways though, I am currently in love with and married to someone I met when I was 19, and so, I think for me - I like writing about unrequited love, that’s like my favorite subject matter, but I haven’t experienced that though in about 12 years, more than that, probably. It’s been awhile, high school, basically. To me, I think it’s like, most of the time, I think of it like writing a story or a script or something. I try to just tap into those feelings and remember what it’s like in those moments, or reference pop culture or reference things my friends are going through. And I like that! I was really into watching that show Songland - it’s like a songwriting competition - and I really love Ester Dean and how she really doesn’t write that much confessional songwriting, she’s like, ‘I like to create any world I want to in a song’, and I feel like I can really relate to that as well. I'm not always writing, “This is exactly my experience”, but I like that within a song, I can tell any story that I want to. At the same time, I did want to challenge myself to write more about my relationship and being in a long term relationship. I think that mostly came up on Lightning Round. Absolute Worst is that song. Makes Me Nervous - I wrote and Chris was like, I really like this song because I think it touches on this experience of when you're single, and independent and you go on a mountain top and your phone dies and it doesn't matter because no one’s waiting at home. But the second you’re in that relationship, it’s like, I need my phone to be working because what if my person is trying to contact me. So like, that shift of like, someone in the world that relies on your presence in their life. So that was interesting, I was like, “Did I write that song? Cool, great.”  I don’t know if that answered the question.

EU: No, it did 100%. I think my favorite thing about your guys’ entire discography is that it’s all so lighthearted in a very teenagery way. And I mean that in the nicest way humanly possible!

K: I actually really like that, because that’s my favorite emotion to tap into. 

EU: So like how wine and cheese go together, do you have any album recommendations that go well with this album?

K: Oh! That’s a great question. I’m trying to think of what we were listening to when we were working on the album. I know when we first started working on the album Con had recently discovered and was obsessed with Sure Sure. And especially the song Lowlife, that was a big reference point. And Lie Lie Lie, we were listening to that a lot. Which is just great pop songwriting. But also we had this idea in our heads that this album was going to be a rock and roll album, and so we listened to a lot of like, Cars, so like Just What I Needed. So I know we were listening to that. Sometimes we’re like, “Who do we sound like?” We're not sure sometimes. 

EU: You sound like Bad Bad Hats, there’s really nothing in the market right now that sounds like you guys, which is like, the best thing. 

K: That's actually cool to hear, because, you know - oh! Cake, we were listening to a lot of Cake. And also, maybe this is not weird, but it’s kind of funny to me that I'm obsessed with Catfish and the Bottlemen. It surprises me kinda, but it also doesn’t surprise me because it’s so reminiscent of like, bands that I was into in middle school and high school. Like Franz Ferdinand, and it reminds me of that kind of era of rock. That sound is so nostalgic to me. 

EU: What were your top three favorite artists when you were in middle school? 

K: So, in middle school, probably Alanis Morissette, Jagged Little Pill. Michelle Branch’s The Spirit Room was my favorite album. Avril Lavigne was obviously getting lots of spins. But then, after that stage, Feist was number one. Ingrid Michaelson, I loved loved loved Girls and Boys. Heavy rotation at Kerry’s bedroom. I think Feist and Ingrid Miichaelson were probably like the top two. I love all of that era, like Nada Surf and the Strokes and Regina Spektor. So many great bands.

EU: Would you say that all of those artists inspired you to become an artist yourself? Were there pieces of writing and things that you could see yourself potentially doing? 

K: I always say that Michelle Branch’s The Spirit Room was, to me, definitely the catalyst. I always loved music and I was obsessed with boybands like Nsync, Britney Spears, and the Backstreet Boys, all those. I was getting into poetry kind of, as much as you can be when you're 9 years old. But I couldn't see myself being like Britney Spears, I really loved her but I’m not like Britney Spears, so I could never - like the thought of being a musician never crossed my mind, really. Until Michelle Branch’s The Spirit Room came out. Her whole vibe was singing pop songs, like great melodies, but playing the guitar. She proudly wrote her own songs. I think that is the moment it clicked in my head that like, “Oh, maybe there is a lane I could be in and do something similar.”

EU: Amazing! I love that. You mention movies in the song Gloria Love. Was this song inspired by a certain character or genre?

K: So, this song was mostly inspired by the feeling I get when I put my headphones on, I put on a cool outfit for no reason other than, “I’m gonna put something nice on today.” And you put your headphones on, and you put your favorite song on and you just go walking, you just go walking down the street, and you’re strutting to the beat. And you turn and you catch your reflection in the glass of a skyscraper and you’re like, “Dang, I look good. And I’m vibing out right now.” That’s what that song is meant to capture- that feeling. 

EU: You had a show in Minneapolis a couple nights ago, didn’t you?

K: It went pretty good! You have to play a song for the first time at some point, it’s gotta happen, and it went pretty well though, all things considered. It’s usually like, a total trainwreck, because you’re like, “Here we go!” YOu can practice it but you cannot replicate the feeling of, “Everyone’s looking at us and we gotta play this song right,” But it actually went pretty well! It’s also one of those things where nobody knows it, so you know it’s gonna be a lot more fun when people know it and are singing along. 

EU: It’s also a lot less nerve-wracking when people don’t know it because then it’s like, “Oh, I’m playing the song to people who don't know whether it’s right or wrong.”

K: Yes, exactly, so that helps in some ways.

EU: Priority is the longest song you’ve ever released, does it hold more weight to you for that reason? Is that song heavier to you for that reason?

K: I think it makes sense that that one is the longest one, because that so I write love songs for a living, as I say. But I wanted to write a song about the death of my dad, that’s what Priority is about. He died when I was 16. Um, and so it is a love song in it’s own way. It’s the first time writing about that situation, so I think that yeah, it is heavy in that way because it’s touching on that subject matter. So I think it is fitting that it is, you just sit with it. It is a little bit longer, take a little bit more time to kinda tell that story and create that world. I am really happy with how that song turned out. The guys encouraged me to record that one and have it be on the album. I was kinda like, “We don’t have to put it on there,” and they were like, “No, we gotta record it, it’s so great.” So I'm glad I was convinced to do that one.

EU: This might be an odd question, but Quarter Past could be taken platonically, or romantically. Was it written one way or another?

K: It was written platonically, but I knew it has room to be taken however. People are always like, “What is this song about?” And I'm happy to tell them, but I think that’s a fun part of songwriting, that peo-ple can take a song and hear something different in it than you intended. And I don't want to stop people from having their own story, that’s great. I’m glad this song is working for you in this way.

I really wanted to write this song, because I’ve had so many close female friendships that I so value and I feel like I wanted to tell a story about  being the wingman for your friend, going to a party. Even platonically, there’s a jealousy sometimes, and wanting your friend to spend time with you, instead of someone you think isn’t even good for them. So just those complicated feelings of like, you know, “Hang out with me! Let’s just have fun the two of us!” Wanting your friendship to be enough for someone, which is, there’s sort of like a heartbreak when a really close friend finds a partner who is good for them, and you lose that closeness you had with a friend. Even though it’s good for them, like the heartbreak of not wanting to lose your friend to a romantic relationship, basically. I’ve often been the wingman for my attractive friends. Like, please don’t make me go to the party! I don't want to go, you’re just going to abandon me. The main thing I hate is when your friend finds someone, and then you weirdly have to talk to that person’s friend. It’s like, “Oh, I’m vibing with this guy, so talk to his friend.” Like, no.

EU: How has the pandemic changed the way you’ve gone about releasing this album?

K: Ah, it actually, I’m not sure how much has really changed, because I think it timed out where we pretty much didn’t have to delay anything or do anything too crazy. I think we finished the album. I think we did Only Static and Quarter Past were the only ones we had to do, so we quarantined and met up and finished the album in June. That was a question mark, whether or not we could finish. But then we finished. And then we shopped around to some labels, but that came together pretty seamlessly.

EU: Do you want to talk about that a little bit? How has that been?

K: It’s been awesome! We were on Afternoon Records in Minneapolis for our entire career up until to this point, and we loved everything about it. It was pretty much our friend Ian running the label, and we really liked that close relationship where it wasn't too big, and Ian was our friend and it felt like we had a similar philosophy. But it’s a small label, and Ian is like, a very entrepreneurial person, so he’s like, always busy with other stuff, so he was starting to go down a different path himself, really. And so we thought, maybe it would be nice to try being on a different label. When we started the process, I think we talked to Joe, from Don Giovanni almost immediately. Right off the bat, I got very similar vibes to what we had with Ian. We seemed to be on the same wavelength, like a really good fit. We knew from the start that that would be a really good spot for us to be. We’re excited, we’re happy, it’s looking good.

EU: Amazing! Last question, so you have a song called Milky Way. Do you have a favorite candy bar that you would be eating at 3am?

K: My favorite candy bar is a Twix. My parents worked in academia when I was young and I would go to the university to their office and they’d give me a dollar so I could go to the vending machine to keep myself occupied while they finished up work. I would always get a Twix bar, and I would sit in a rolling chair, and I would spin around and nibble off the chocolate from the edges. Then take the top, scrape that off, eat the little cookie...take my time - that was my me time with my Twix. 

EU: Is there anything else you want to talk about? We’ll open up the floor for you.

K: Lightning Round, we love that album, and that was an album we got to spend a lot of time on, and really explore tones and sounds. I love so many of those songs, but something about, you try to avoid it, but something about the sophomore album thing, even with us as a little band, we felt pressure to come back, gotta give it to the people. We’re such a small band that no one really cares, but you know, even us. Our label was like, “Here we go!” There were just so many thoughts and expectations and all of that. I feel like with this album, especially with everything that has happened, we’re feeling so grateful to be a working musician and to play shows, and coming back to shows and being like, “Wow, this is so magical; we’ve missed it so much.” We’re in a good mindset with the album. We really like these songs. I;m glad to hear you’re enjoying them. We’re excited to get back on the road and have new music to share with people. So we’re feeling happy! It feels like a happy, fun album, and we’re feeling that as well. 

EU: Oh my goodness, I need to ask you about Detroit Basketball! Did someone actually blow your money on the Pistons?

K: No, I think the song started with the line, “Got a new job in a senior position, then I threw a party and cried in the kitchen,” I wrote that line, and then I was like, that’s a really fun rhyme. So I made a list in my notebook of things that rhyme: kitchen, mission, Pistons. And then it went from there.

EU: Thank you for working with us for a third time! I appreciate it.

K: Thank you!