INTERVIEW: Behind The Scenes With Bad Nerves On Tour

During their “Still Nervous” tour, Bad Nerves played their third show in Amsterdam. Before the concert, we had the pleasure of chatting with Bobby and Jon. We discussed the tour, the Netherlands, and their audience, as well as their latest album and the creative process behind it.

Strife Magazine: You guys just started your tour. How were the first shows?

Bobby: It was wicked, wasn’t it? The first show was in Greece, in Athens, and we’d never played there before. About 400 people showed up. It was such a beautiful place.

Jon: We also played Nijmegen yesterday. That was our first show in the Netherlands. Holland’s always been good to us. It was one of the first places that really got into our music, so we’ve always had a special connection here.

Strife Magazine: Recently, you guys released a new album, “Still Nervous.” What is your favorite track?

Bobby: I mean, I like them all, but if I have to pick one, I’d go with “Television.”

Jon: Haha, what a surprise! Mine is probably “Antidote.”

Strife Magazine: Can you tell us a bit about the writing process for those songs?

Bobby: Well, they’re both very different. “Antidote” was deliberately meant to be obscenely fast—almost too fast to actually play. That was kind of the joke, and then we had to figure out how to play it live. Drums are particularly crazy on that track, and there are small tricks to make it doable. It’s very drum-driven.

Jon: I’ve been playing it for a while now, and, honestly, I think I’ve just now started playing it properly. Haha!

Bobby: Yeah, it’s tough. Just plucking that fast for that long takes practice. On the other hand, “Television” is completely different. It was written in pieces over the course of months, with lots of experimentation. “Antidote” came together in a single day, but “Television” took about three months.

Strife Magazine: Has anything ever gone wrong playing those songs live?

Jon: We want to turn up and play really well—tighter than your average punk band—but we’re human. Mistakes happen, and we don’t take ourselves so seriously that we’re like, “That’s it, back to the drawing board.”

Bobby: We mess up all the time, but that’s just part of live music. It adds to the fun of it. If you take it too seriously and expect perfection, it’s no fun at all. Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes someone will hit a weird note, and we’ll look at each other and laugh. That’s live music, and it makes every show unique.

Strife Magazine: And if you could cover any song from any artist, what song would it be?

Bobby: I mean, the song I would always like to cover probably be Radioactivity, Don’t Try, because that was one of the songs that made us start the band. Or anything by The Beatles.

Jon: Anything by The Ramones. Probably Betray Your Love to More of the World would probably be my choice.

Bobby: I don’t love that song. I like it. I don’t love it. I like Down to the Basement. That’s my favorite.

Jon: Or Bonzo Goes a Bittsburg.

Bobby: Oh, that’s what we – that’s the answer, ain’t it? Because we were actually gonna cover that.

Jon: Ramones, Bonzo Goes a Bit Bittsburg.

Strife Magazine: Did you guys had the change to cover it?

Jon: No. We’ve done a few Ramones covers. We covered Misfits as well. But when he went through a real stage of listening to every Ramones album back to back and we – I’m a massive Ramones fan anyway. And that song is, like, it gives you the chills, doesn’t it?

Bobby: It’s on the album Animal Boy.

Strife Magazine: With so many shows on the schedule, what challenges are you facing?

Jon: The biggest challenge is probably because, you know, we’ve played a lot of support sets. Those are about half an hour or 40 minutes, so it’s easier to keep the energy going. But when you’re playing for an hour, and the music is fast, and you’re getting a lot less sleep than normal, it’s tough. You’re at a venue a lot longer, and everything just takes more time.
Bobby: Staying healthy is important because when you go to bed at 2 or 3 a.m. every night, even if you sleep, you wake up tired, and then you have to do it all over again. It’s like trying to keep control of your mental and physical health.

Jon: For example, when we went to Greece, we played the gig at 11:30 p.m. and then had to catch a flight at 1 a.m. So we got off stage, had an hour, got picked up for the airport, and then flew home. We missed out on a night’s sleep before we even started this tour.

Bobby: After spending six or seven weeks in America, flying five times across the country and dealing with constant time zone shifts, it’s hard to stay healthy. Especially for our vocals and things like that.

Strife Magazine: How do you prepare for a show?

Bobby: Well, we just warm up, stretch yourself out a bit, and just try to get in the headspace of having to perform. It’s really fun, but there is an anxiety to it, which is great because the little nervousness you get is what keeps you on your toes.

Jon: The weird thing for me is, like, I’ll spend the whole day up until the point we go on stage thinking I can’t do this. Then I’ll step on stage. We’ll hit the first note, and it’ll be like autopilot. It’s fine, and it’ll just be like another day in the office.

Strife Magazine: Yesterday, you had a show in Nijmegen. What did you think of the Dutch audience?

Bobby: They were amazing—and tall! Haha.

Jon: Holland’s been great to us from the start. The people, culture, and food are all fantastic. It’s always one of our favorite places to play.

Bobby: I’d love to live here. Everything is so clean and organized. Compared to England, it feels like what England should be. Even the toilets are clean! We just love it here.

Strife Magazine: Lastly, outside of music, do you have any hobbies or ways to relax?

Jon: I like doing martial arts and going around abandoned, creepy buildings. I just love the history of the places, and it’s been a passion for a long time, seeing old asylums and churches all around the world. And documenting them because architecture today kinda sucks. There was some beautiful stuff made many years ago.

Strife Magazine: Do you also take your camera with you to document everything?

Jon: Yeah. Yeah. Although, sadly, Holland doesn’t have that many because everything gets developed very quickly over here. But, like, Germany, Italy is amazing for it. Italy is, like, because there’s a lot of religious stuff in it, and it’s all kinda, left as it was. So, yeah, that’s my two hobbies.

Strife Magazine: How about you Bobby?

Bobby: Well, I also like movies. I enjoy making videos and stuff, which is kind of part of the whole band thing. I guess that’s a hobby for me. I don’t have many other hobbies. I like walking too. God, that’s boring, isn’t it? I don’t know. Mostly just like making things. I like, you know, videos, obviously, music. I need to get some more physical. I’ve also been rock climbing for a while, which I really enjoyed.

Strife Magazine: Oh, really?

Bobby: Yeah, almost fell off a mountain. We hiked up the highest mountain in England called Scafell Pike.

Strife Magazine: That sounds dangerous!

Bobby: It was! We left really late, thinking we’d be fine. I think it’s supposed to take about five hours, but that’s if you’re used to it. We got to the top when it was already dark, and then we had to come down in the dark. It took us about ten hours to get up, and then about six more to get down, so a total of 16 hours!

Jon: I was out exploring, and he messaged me about what was happening. He even sent me a map and commentary of the situation. I was in a car park in Scotland, eating pizza, and laughing to myself while reading it.

Bobby: This is with my girlfriend as well, when we were, like, newly together. And this was our first sort of trip together. She came back from Brazil, and we went to this place. Having a near-death experience with somebody is quite a bonding experience, you know?

Strife Magazine: It does sound quite funny though.

Jon: It’s hilarious.
Bobby: It’s funny in hindsight, for sure.
Jon: I still sometimes think about it and just laugh to myself like a maniac.
Bobby: When we got back to the little place we were staying, we were both just, like, in shock at just how crazy it was.

Not long after, Bad Nerves took the stage at Tolhuistuin, and what a night it was. Want to hear more about the show? Check out our full concert review.