Capital city punk rockers fearlessly breaching the Cardiff-Swansea divide, Bad Shout have just released their second EP. It’s a goodun! Adam Walton off the radio agrees and so does Emma Way – who had a chat with guitar-playing vocalist Callum Charman.
How long has Bad Shout been active in the Cardiff live music scene?
Callum Charman, Bad Shout: We played our first show at Fuel in May 2022 but we’ve been just as active outside of Cardiff. A lot of people think we’re from Swansea, which is not true!
How did you come together?
Callum: Me and Nathan [Richards, drums] met at the second Bad Shout gig at the Moon in July 2022. We then ran into each other at Pirate Studios and I asked him to join. We’ve had a number of bass players but after Chris [Hampson] of Penny Rich agreed to fill in for a few shows, he came onboard permanently. It’s definitely the best we’ve ever sounded.
Can we expect the same ferocious energy from Bad Shout EP on the new EP Bad Shout II? Is this a continuation or a completely different venture?
Callum: If anything, it’s more manic than EP 1. This was the first recording with the three of us, so it’s an attempt to capture the live sound as it is. We definitely wanted it to sound as raw as possible. It still has that melodic feel but it’s definitely leaning more into a hardcore punk sound (Black Flag, Descendents etc.) Adam Walton said it was a mutated mix of early Hüsker Dü and Supergrass, which I’ll take all day!
How do you go about transferring your manic live sound to record? Are there any musts in the studio when recording?
Callum: Work fast. Do everything live. There’s really nothing to it. The most important thing is working with the right people. We did the four tracks in one day at The Bookhouse studio in London with Ian Hansen. He’s great.
As a punk band, there’s a lot to be angry about – addressing political worldviews etc. Is this something you go into or something you avoid?
Callum: Great question! It’s a subconscious thing. Big In Tech is written about the worst kind of people you meet at parties. Finger Trap is about fighting your own self doubts, Took Me A Minute is a toxic love song and Just On Time is about finding your way through a tough spot to reach a better place. The lyrics are pretty introspective, but always hopeful, even if it doesn’t always seem that way.
There’s a lot of dual personality stuff that’s really apparent: I’m mostly just arguing with myself! I think we’ve all got some kind of internal monologue, so I hope people can relate to that. This is how I get stuff out of my head, and if it rhymes that’s even better…
Why did you go for a cassette release – do you think cassette has the potential to be ‘the new vinyl’?
Callum: Well, we wanted to work with Sgeti Records in Swansea, who did a run of EP 1 on cassette. Guy is great at design and makes really sick reels to promote the releases on socials. Anyone who’s interested in releasing a cassette should get in touch – cassettes are cool and punk rock sounds great on cassette. We’re also releasing on vinyl later in the year but we can’t talk about that…
words EMMA WAY photos @vogonlaundromat
