| Bad Rabbits | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Boston, Massachusetts, United States |
| Genres | Pop, Funk, Punk, R&B, Rock |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Associated acts | The Eclectic Collective |
| Website | badrabbits.com |
| Members | |
| Fredua Boakye Sheel Davé Salim Akram Graham Masser Santiago Araujo |
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Bad Rabbits is an American Pop / Funk / Punk / R&B band from Boston, Massachusetts, founded in September 2007. The band consists of Fredua Boakye (Vocals), Sheel Davé (Drums), Salim Akram (Guitar), Graham Masser (Bass), and Santiago Araujo (Guitar). Sheel, Santiago and Fredua are first generation descendants of Indian, Argentinean, and Ghanaian lineage. All five members of the band originally played in the Boston-based band The Eclectic Collective, which in 2007 they reworked and renamed Bad Rabbits. The band released an early demo in 2008 called “The Bad EP” and followed up with their debut EP, “Stick Up Kids,” in December 2009. Bad Rabbits performed as the backing band for legendary rapper Slick Rick the Ruler in 2007-2010. They have been nominated for five Boston Music Awards, winning Best Pop/R&B band in 2010. Bad Rabbits also won the 2010 Phoenix Music Poll award for Most Downloaded Band. Throughout 2010-2011, they have gone on five national tours, including the 2011 Vans Warped Tour. The band is currently finishing production of two separate albums: one with producer Teddy Riley (Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Blackstreet, Bobby Brown, Guy), and one with Oakland, CA, producer B. Lewis. Releases are tentatively scheduled for 2012.
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The five members of Bad Rabbits first came together in 2002 while attending Northeastern University and Audio Institute in Boston, MA. Around this time, Boakye and Akram were performing as a duo, Davé was a member of experimental metal band Irepress, and Araujo was playing in a jam/rock band with Masser. A mutual friend introduced Masser and Araujo to Davé at the YMCA dormitory on Northeastern’s campus. Davé, who had previously gone to summer camp in the Boston suburbs with Akram, had been writing music with Akram and Boakye at the YMCA. He invited Araujo and Masser to jam with them at their practice space in Brockton, MA, where the group wrote in the Summer/Fall of 2002. They performed their first show as The Eclectic Collective on January 16, 2003, at All Asia in Cambridge. The lineup also included RP Thompson on keys and Geoff “DJ Special Blend” Ford on turntables. The band went through various lineup changes but primarily included Akram, Boakye, Davé, Araujo, Masser, Thompson, Ford, as well as singer Noni Kai on vocals, trumpet player and rapper Peter “Afrodzak” Shungu, and saxophonist Robert Oswald. After two independent album releases and a tour in the Fall of 2007 with artist Gavin Castleton, the group decided to call it quits.
Not happy with the direction The Eclectic Collective had taken, the band decided to change its name and overall direction. Ford, Shungu, Oswald, and Kai went their separate ways, and Thompson stayed on as a studio performer for the band. Bad Rabbits takes its name from one of Castleton’s songs, which the group performed while on tour with him.
The band took most of 2008 to write, record, and experiment with new material. They self-released a four-song demo that Fall titled “The Bad EP.” The EP contained the early songs “Trix are For Kids,” “Game of Chess,” and “Vera,” and “The Bad,” which became the song now known as “She’s Bad,” the first song written for their “Stick Up Kids” EP.
In Spring 2009, the band entered the studio with producer Jayson Michael Dezuzio to record their debut EP “Stick Up Kids.” The album was completed in Fall 2009 and released independently that December. The band also entered into a relationship with Boston-based online retailer Karmaloop.com, who distributed and promoted the album through their website. A remix compilation of the “Stick Up Kids” EP was released in the fall; it included remixes from Clinton Sparks, Crookers, Roxy Cottontail, Hot Pink Delorean, and Alex Suarez. Tracks on this release is as follows: "Booties" , "Neverland", "Stick Up Kids", "Girl I'm Like Damn!" (featuring Travie McCoy of Gym Class Heroes), "She's Bad", "Advantage Me" , "Can't Back Down."
Bad Rabbits traveled to Los Angeles in June 2010 to perform at the PacSun Ballyhoo festival on the Santa Monica Pier and meet with several producers. The band spent one day in the studio with producer Mike Elizondo (Dr. Dre, Eminem, 50 Cent, Maroon 5, Gwen Stefani). Karmaloop.com CEO Greg Selkoe introduced the band to famed New Jack Swing creator and producer Teddy Riley. After an initial meeting at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, CA, Riley signed on to produce their full-length album. Writing and recording for the album, which is tentatively titled American Dream, began during their June visit and continued throughout the summer at Encore Studios in Burbank and Paramount Studios in Hollywood, CA. The album is slated for release in 2012. In Spring 2011, the band began work on a new EP tentatively titled American Love with Oakland, CA, producer B. Lewis. The album is also slated for release in 2012.
RP Thompson (studio musician)