BY TAYLOR SCHWEITZER
For a small town band, having the chance to sing on stage in a bar is rewarding. To have people sing and dance along to their music, though, is the cherry on the top.
On March 19, headlining band, Bad Reed from Paris, Ont. played at The Boathouse, a pub and restaurant in Kitchener. The band had people dancing and singing throughout their set. From playing cover songs to a few tunes of their own, Bad Reed got the audience’s attention by jamming on the guitar and playing some keyboard solos as well.
Bad Reed features Sydney Sollazzo on vocals, Austin Sharpe on bass, Graham Walker on guitar and Costa Chatzis on percussion.
The band released its first album, Bad Reed EP, in June 2015. The three-track album includes Punch It, Slackjaw Romance and Cassava.
The band said it didn’t take long to come up with a name. They wanted to keep it short and simple so people would remember it.
“There is no meaning behind our band name,” Walker said. “We just were sitting around playing with words one day and Bad Reed seemed to stick with all of us. It’s easy to remember, so we decided it was good.”
The band enjoys playing and writing songs in the alternative rock music genre, but they are into many different genres of music. Lyrically, the band shows that throughout their own songs and covers.
“People should go to a Bad Reed show because it’s always musically different,” Sollazzo said. “We make sure that people will have a good time. That’s why when I take a break from playing keyboards I am dancing and jumping around. Energy is everything.”
The band is majorly influenced by bands like Alexisonfire and Tool because of their heavy music and powerful meaning.
“I think I can speak for all of us on this one,” Walker said. “The reason why we are influenced by these bands is because they are those rocker-punk type based bands. As I say that, technically, I don’t think they could be labelled in any specific genre because they are so different. We love that because we know as a band, people will pay attention to new sounds every night.”
Playing in bars night after night, hoping to make their dream come true, can be difficult. It takes persistence and determination.
“If you want something bad enough, you will do what it takes,” Chatzis said. “As a musician, it’s going to take a while to get known and get to where you want to be as a band. In life, everything takes practise, especially being in a band.”
For more information, visit their website at www.badreedband.com/.
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