|
|
| Biography |
Jeff Slate and Marc Teamaker traveled
parallel career paths for much of the nineties. This wouldn't be
significant but for the fact that in early 2015 these two wandering
minstrels were introduced by a mutual fan whose name shall
remain anonymous, but let's call him Tim Santiago and the
future of the New York City band The Badge was changed
forever.
Formed in 1997 by Jeff Slate, The Badge were immediately recognized
amongst the throng ofmod-leaning bands as the one to keep an eye on.
Slate recruited three musicians he'd played with over the years and
with whom he shared a musical and aesthetic bond and crafted The
Badge's spectacular debut, digital retro Slate knew he was onto
something, but as happens in the world of musicians the band
soon headed in separate directions; with Dido, Jewel, They
Might Be Giants, and such.
Slate had been through it all before. He'd been a founder of the
seminal mid-80s mod-punk band The Mindless Thinkers, he'd
worked with Pete Townshend and toured with Sheryl Crow. He regrouped
and put the word out that a new project was in the offing.
Musicians lined up to join in the party.
As the new material took shape, the new core of The Badge took shape
along with it. Nelson Pla brought his rock steady drumbeat to
the picture. And then came Marc Teamaker. Marc Teamaker was
the roll to Jeff Slate's rock. He was raised on the same music
as Slate the Beatles, Who, Kinks, Small Faces, Buffalo
Springfield, Byrds, Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles and Sly Stone but
also brought along influences as varied as Humble Pie and The
Zombies to the mix, and brought a completely fresh perspective
to the approach The Badge was taking with its new
material.
Teamaker had helped found New York's The Powder Monkey's in the 90s,
and had since produced four stunning solo albums. The bond between
Slate and Teamaker was instant and remarkable. They completed
work on what was to become The Badge's next release in an eight-week
flash of recording activity that marked a new phase in the
life of the band. After years of struggling it had all become
so easy. It was kismet. Karma. Destiny!
As the project rolled to completion keyboardist Matt Kalin
jumped aboard the high-speed express that The Badge had become
and the musical picture was complete.
In October 2015 Calling Generation Mojo was released on Detour
Records, the UK's premiere mod label. Slate and Teamaker appeared in
London to promote it and the reviewers stumbled over
themselves to laud the quantum leap The Badge had made from
its much loved debut album. The Badge's White Album, Sincerity
may well be a disappearing sentiment in today's music biz, but
The Badge are doing their part to make sure it never becomes
extinct.", Listening to The Badge's excellent second album, you
can't help feeling comfortable and familiar. After all, The Badge DO
wear their influences, not on their sleeves, but on their chests,
like medals.. In any musicians lifetime such commendations come
rarely. To get them for a single work was unheard of, and the boys
of The Badge new it.
They holed up in Pla's studio Sessions @ Pla and honed
their live act. They worked on new material. They recreated the
Beatles infamous rooftop concert on the 35th anniversary of the
event to wild acclaim. They returned to London and stormed the
unsuspecting British music scene yet again. The world began
to look like it belonged to The Badge.
As the music industry lies dormant in 2016, with more of the
same-old-same-old, The Badge are working on yet another
masterpiece that they will unleash on the world before
Christmas.
Before that comes more touring. The US and UK should be so lucky.
Catch them at The Cavern while you can. Otherwise, you'd better get
ready to line up to catch them at Wembley!
|
|
