Three Strikes Later, Bad Objection demand one more thing, to Let 'em Be!

Ricardo’s fifteen years old, stuck at school listening to some nonsense iterated by the teacher. He’s bored and all he’s got in mind is music. God damn heavy ass punk rock riffs is what he wants to learn, not the boring old history of Canada. Problem is, Ric’s not at a Rock N Roll High School, but he has friends with whom he’s playing with, practicing relentlessly in hopes of one day playing shows and hopefully to be one of the greats in music history to say the least. 

Fast forward to 2024, I met with Rick and Jake, their bassist in their practice room a while ago, smoking cigarettes while joking and laughing around. I wanted to find out, how did it all start? 

‘’It all started with my Dad, he was and still is a big Elvis Presley fan, in fact back when we were in the car, he would constantly play us oldies tapes, those classic rock hits and more rockabilly songs. He also had a big band during the 90's rivaling amongst giants in the Canadian scene. My cousin also played in a big punk band and so around eight years old I started taking guitar lessons but I found it mostly boring and so around fourteen I hoped back on guitar because my brother Aldo was getting into it very much and started playing in a band. I thought man I can do this shit, I don’t need no teacher, I’ll just figure out my way.’’ 

''Alright folks get up and sing with us'' -Jake

I had to know, was his brother an influence to him and the answer was yes but although his brother stuck to rock and roll mostly, Ric wanted to showcase a more punk, horror rock à la Alice Cooper, with a touch of goth and metal sounding riffs. So forth he stuck his fingers on the fretboard for hours and while at it, he started singing and learning how to go on rocking like his idols before him did in the past. As time went on, his classmate Chad Baker joined in on bass and form then on, they formed what is now known as Bad Objection. The drummer’s seat was vacant and while auditioning, one man would catch their attention, his name was Pedro, and somehow while they rehearsed together all three, they succeeded in breaking a TV Speaker which was enough to convince Ric that he had found the people he needed to take his band on the road.

Around 2023, Bad Objection were set to play their first opening show, au Petit Campus and I happened to be at their very first show by hasard. Things didn’t go quite as planned as the boys were stressed out and while playing a couple of technical errors occurred yet they kept on going and finished their set triomphant. While nothing majestical, they’d played their first ever set in front of people. 

‘’I remember being stressed the fuck out and when my guitar stopped working on stage I was so pissed and yet so nervous I just kept on going while fiddling about trying to make it work. What did also get me was how nonchalent the crowd was. Luckily everything clicked back up and we got to finish’’ he tells me laughing it out.

‘’So you got to play and while technical problems occurred, the rest went well, no stage fright, or memory blank no nonsense’’ I ask

Infamous Van Horne show along Truck Violence

‘’Yup, everything was good for the band, from then on we knew we were ready to go on the road and try ourselves in the Montreal Local Scene.’’ he recalls, ‘’I do know that although we’d booked a show with friends of ours, we knew no one else in the scene since we were from North Shore so I proceeded to get into every Facebook group to find shows and promote the band’s image. At times it was so hard to get a single booking and we had no content to show so things started slowly but a couple months passed by, and we then really started getting our name out there, we opened more and more shows, we played in all kinds of venues, Traxide, Barfly and many more.’’

Their first headlining show was at Sala Rossa and while they’d encountered positive and negative comments on the road, they didn’t give a fuck, they kept on going. As time went by they really got a hang on how to get the crowd all rallied up and chanting. The trio developed a songwriting dynamic and they slowly learned who to write anthemic songs and perform like their idols. Getting gigs was very hard at the beginning, hours had to be spent marketing and asking bands to play but one night, everything changed, they got to play with Lucy’s Delirium and Truck Violence at a sold out show and from then on, the people knew Bad Objection were great and offers came ringing at their door to play everywhere around town. But as time went on, a new problem would soon arise, tensions began to form and over the year twenty-twenty three, Pedro would be fired and Chad would amicably decide to quit the band to follow up with a new band in the hard core scene. 

3 Strikes You're Out cover taken by Simon

‘’ Before the change of lineup, we got to release 3 Strikes You’re Out which was a great learning process where I got to work with Julian, who plays in Mooch, for the recording, mixing and mastering. Back then it was done in his mothers basement and so we were quite shy because people upstairs could hear us, but we managed to go on and then there were the pictures taken for the album and all the business side of getting merchandise and cd’s printed.  Everything was well and the shows got heavier and more packed, I really thought well that’s great we got it going! And then I found myself back alone around twenty twenty-four in Bad Objection, I kind of got stressed but I knew I couldn’t quit. I saw so many bands die out and some just give up, I thought man fuck that, I don’t want to work nine to five all my life, I want to play guitar and give people the time of their lives. So I started looking for a bassist and a drummer. I got Jake up on bass and Palo on drums. Basically I knew Jake from back then and Paolo asked me if he could play with us as he’d been taking pictures of our shows a lot and wanted to get back on drumming. With the new lineup, it got a bit easier as I could easily bring up ideas and the boys just hopped on and laid down the sauce. ‘’ the singer says while looking away at Jake goofing around.

‘’So what are the future plans?’’ I ask while lighting out a cigarette.

‘’We are looking to go abroad across Canada, USA and maybe Europe and all but nothing’s confirmed, we still just minded on getting new material recorded and keeping the shows going. The more shows I play the more photographers I meet and I realize that having more people take pictures of the band helps us reach out easier and thus building a bigger community around the band. We might want to engage in a heavier scene maybe like the Hard Core scene, we are in the talks with people who can help us get bigger around but for now we’re focusing on new material, more merch and bigger shows I’d say’’ 

Fast forward today and we have now heard their new EP called Let Me Be. I have listened to the four songs a hundred times by now and I have to say, they kept their promise, they got heavier stuff out, while remaining very anthemic and the dynamic of the band is at its best. Jake and Ric remind us of The Rolling Stones incredible duo while singing the choruses and their riffs are majestically mirroring those of our favorite punk and metal bands that shaped the eighties and nineties. Paolo is a saint on drums, stroking at the right time with intensity and precision! The picture of the EP is quite simple this time and was taken by Matteo who’s played in the Nirvana reminiscing band  Evergreen. Yet the boy’s screaming face echoing madness is quite the soothing image paired with songs demanding nothing more than to fuck off and let them be. Whore is a song that was played a while ago during shows and Curb Stomp was recently issued as a single preparing us for the heavier stuff to come. I was greatly surprised as I listened to Where Were You which reminded me of Something in The Way with its soft voice and dizzying hypnotizing riff. Ain’t Like Me brings back the old radio trick at the beginning and then opens up the menu with nothing more than a satisfying iconic punk riff and bedazzling screams as they state that we are not like them.

Bad Objection's youngest fan rocking out at Batiment 7.

Saturday April 19th, I witnessed them play dress up in all white blouses and ties and proper pants for their EP release show, reminding me of the bands in the sixties playing on popular TV shows who’d be dressed up clean for the viewers not to be scandalized. Well, we the audience were quite swept off our feets as the night progressed. With Out Of Order and General Chaos opening the night, the crowd was to be riled up as the band would take on the stage at last around ten thirty. Show was supposed to be at La Sotterranea but was moved to La Toscadura allowing more people to come in as it was a All Age show and for sure there would be many many many motherfuckers coming in all dolled up and ready to smash each others face in the pit while the band wails their instrument all around stage.

Let Me Be cover taken by Matteo

Bad Objections' performance was flawless, their intensity was at the Rendez-Vous, their playing was undeniably great and the way they got us all on stage was just sensational. People sang their songs on stage by hard, trying their best to outperform the band but of course no one could replace ric nor jake on the mic. Now sadly, although I love the idea of engaging with the kids and getting 'em up on stage to sing and shove around, I did find it hard to follow at a point not knowing what song was going on since the kids singing sang awfully and incoherently. I believe it wasn’t the point of the exercise that people overtake the stage and push the players at the back while storming ferociously the mics. For it might be nice to have the crowd perform and let 'em be part of the show, I came to see Bad Objection, not a punky ass uncivilised kid trying to impress me screaming out the lyrics he learned by hard while skipping Philosophy classes. I love Bad Objection and they allow the kids to be part of the band, getting 'em up on stage, sharing time crowd surfing and getting us all to sing the choruses all together but they definitely should keep their stage to themselves most of the show. Other than that, the night was epic, and having followed them at pretty much all their shows, I can definitely say they are getting better and better and I can’t wait to see what unfolds for them in the future. New merch has come in, CD’s are coming off the brand new EP and who knows, vinyls are rumored to be upcoming too. 

You can be sure to see me with one of them in my tote bag if ever and if you missed their EP release show, well they are playing April 25th at La Sotterranea with all bands featured on the bill to celebrate their individual releases. For the near future, Bad Objection show no signs of slowing down, hoping to take on Canada at large and hopefully go beyond borders and for sure they will be playing Van Horne again this summer. For the time, Let Me Be will have to suffice as of new material but I'm pretty we can expect to hear new songs in their setlist this summer. See you next show.

Ps. All pictures except album covers have been taken by Solane , go check out her profile for more insane pictures of the band.