Bad Rabbits

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Bad Rabbits
Background information
Origin Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Genres Funk rock, R&B
Years active 2007–present
Associated acts

The Eclectic Collective

Irepress
Website badrabbits.com
Members Fredua Boakye
Sheel Davé
Salim Akram
Graham Masser
Santiago Araujo

Bad Rabbits is an American 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 West African 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, titled "American Love" with Oakland, CA, producer B. Lewis. American Love was released on May 14, 2013. On 9th October it was announced the band will be supporting Don Broco on their headline UK tour in late 2013.

Early History

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, went their separate ways, Kai and Thompson stayed on as a studio performers for the band. Bad Rabbits takes its name from one of Castleton’s songs, which the group performed while on tour with him.

Discography

The Bad EP (2008)

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.

Stick Up Kids EP (2009)

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 are 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."

We Can Roll Single (2012)

The first single from the American Love LP, the "We Can Roll" 7" is a one-sided vinyl single, with the iconic "BR" logo hand-printed onto the blank b-side. Each copy comes housed in a jacket that is hand screen printed with a 3D spot glitter and each record is individually numbered. Tracks on this release is as follows: "We Can Roll"

American Love LP and American Dream LP (TBD) (2013)

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 titled American Dream, began during their June visit and continued throughout the summer at Encore Studios in Burbank and Paramount Studios in Hollywood, CA. It is unknown when this album will be released. In Spring 2011, the band began work on a new LP titled American Love with San Jose, CA, producer B. Lewis. The album was released on May 14th 2013

Members

Current members
  • Fredua Boakye - vocals
  • Sheel Davé - drums
  • Salim Akram - guitar
  • Graham Masser - bass guitar
  • Santiago Araujo - guitar
  • RP Thompson - keyboards (studio musician)

Discography

Albums
  • American Love (2013, Bad Records)
  1. "We Can Roll"
  2. "Can't Fool Me"
  3. "Dance Moves"
  4. "Get Up and Go"
  5. "Take It Off"
  6. "Dirty"
  7. "Fall in Love"
  8. "Doin' It"
  9. "Sayonara"
  10. "Royal Flush"
  • American Dream (TBD, Bad Records)
EPs
  • The Bad (2008, self-released)
  • Stick Up Kids (2009, self-released)
  1. "Booties"
  2. "Neverland"
  3. "She's Bad"
  4. "Stick Up Kids"
  5. "Girl, I'm Like Damn! (ft. Travie McCoy)"
  6. "Advantage Me"
  7. "Can't Back Down"
  • Cover Sessions (2011, self-released)
  1. "Sextape" - originally by Deftones
  2. "Human Nature" - originally by Michael Jackson
  3. "1979" - originally by Smashing Pumpkins
  4. "Walkin' on the Moon (ft. Moe Pope)" - originally by The-Dream
Remix albums
  • Stick Up Kids Remix (2011, self-released)
  1. "Booties (Alex Suarez Remix)"
  2. "Neverland (Luther x Roxy Cottontail Remix)"
  3. "She's Bad (Gadi Mizrahi & Soul Clap Remix)"
  4. "Stick Up Kids (Crookers Remix)"
  5. "Can't Back Down (White Indian Remix ft. Cody B. Ware)"
  6. "Girl, I'm Like Damn! (MA5TER BA55 Remix ft. Travie McCoy)"
  7. "Can't Back Down (Jayson DeZuzio Remix ft.Jay-Z)"
  8. "She's Bad (Willie Green Remix)"
  9. "Stick Up Kids (Tastemakers Remix)"
  10. "Neverland (Fresh Direct Remix)"
  11. "Stick Up Kids (Hot Pink DeLorean Remix)"
  12. "Can't Back Down (Odie Remix)"
  13. "Stick Up Kids (Clinton Sparks Remix)"
  14. "Advantage Me (Jeremy Comitas & Jayson DeZuzio Remix ft. Jesse Korman)"
Singles
  • "Can't Fool Me" from American Love (2013)
  • "We Can Roll" from American Love (2013)
  • "Fall in Love" from American Love (2013)
  • "Doin' It" from American Love (2013)
  • "Dance with You (ft. Teddy Riley & Clinton Sparks)" from Dance with You - Single (2013)
The music video contains a extended version of the song
Other songs
  • "Trix Are for Kids" (2008)
  • "Advantage Me (ft. Brandon Wronski)" from PacSun Summer Music Mix 2010 (2010)
  • "Booties (Big Chocolate Remix)" (2011)
  • "Can't Back Down (Blunt Sinatras Remix)" from Turnt, Volume 1 (2011)
Collaborations
  • "Gangsta Party (ft. Ninjasonik)" from Cody B. Ware's Welcome Home (2011)
  • "Sailboats" from Chuck Inglish's WRKOUT. (2011)

References

    External links

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