.Bad Mary
Interview conducted on June 6, 2022
By Dan Locke
Bad Mary is powerhouse lead vocalist Amanda Mac, her husband Mike on bass, her dad Bill on drums, and her professor David on guitar. The band weaves rhythmic power and brain worm riffs as if it were 1979 all over again.
Drawing on influences from the likes of Blondie and The Ramones, Green Day and The Dollyrots, this tight-knit family unit uses humor and the power of music to push back on all the crap going on in the world. Bad Mary holds up a warped mirror to the current culture and reminds us that having fun is the best way to give yourself an escape from the craziness.
Bad Mary released their first album, Better Days in 2013 and followed it up with three fast, loud, Eps – Killing Dinosaurs (2016), We Could Have Saved the World (2016), and Glitter Bomb (2017). In 2019 Bad Mary released their latest album, The Return of Space Girl – a 33 minute punk rock space opera, followed by an award-winning animated movie of the album.
The band makes their home in New York and have played classic venues such as: The Highline Ballroom, The Knitting Factory, Arlene’s Grocery, and the Bowery Electric. Out on the road, Bad Mary have played The Vans Warped Tour, The Dewey Beach Music Conference, Launch Music Conference, and Musikfest. In 2019, Bad Mary toured Japan and played to packed-out venues with a motley gang of local punk bands.
Bad Mary can be heard regularly on Little Steven’s Underground Garage on Sirius XM and you can catch their weekly live stream on Facebook, YouTube, Patreon, and Twitch.
What is your upbringing?
Amanda- I was born and raised on (yes ON) Long Island in New York. My whole family is musical, and I began singing at a young age. My Dad, Bill, was always in rock and roll bands when I was a kid, I even came home from the hospital as a newborn wearing a onesie of his band at the time, Pipe Dreams. When I was in Middle School, through then current lead singer of Pipe Dreams, I got involved in local theater. My Dad played the drums in the pit bands a lot too, which was a great way we connected through music and theater. I was in a number of productions by the time I went to college, where I studied Musical Theater and English, met Mike, and had David as a professor.
David – It’s complicated! My family is from Hawaii, so I lived a little time there, but also, Singapore when I was little. I grew up mostly in England though, outside London, went to boarding school and the whole thing. I loved England and I’d say my time there was the biggest influence in my upbringing. Even though I’ve been back in the states for over 30 years, I still often feel like a fish out of water, or my students will notice the weird way I say some things. Even over here, I’ve moved around a lot I’ve lived in Pittsburgh, Seattle, Nashville, and now New York.
Mike – I was born in NY, I grew up on Long Island, in a town called Hicksville. Pretty standard suburban upbringing.
Bill- I grew up in Farmingdale, NY here on Long Island. Born in the 50s! I got to grow up seeing so many great bands as they were making music and changing the world.
How did you discover music?
Amanda- My family is super musical. My dad has been playing drums since he was 4, my grandmother sang in Big Bands, and one of my aunts was a classically trained oboist, who went to both Julliard and the Manhattan School of Music. So, music is part of the family! Everyone played something. So, I discovered music through my dad. As I got involved with Musical Theater, I learned that I loved being on stage. I always loved rock and roll, and my introduction to rock, punk, and alternative was through rock musicals like Rocky Horror and Hedwig and the Angry Inch.
David – My family was not really a musical family. My dad would tell stories about him and his buddies playing Hawaiian songs when he was young, but I only ever saw him play guitar maybe three times. We never listened to music together at all.
I remember when Grease was a huge hit and then seeing Bob Geldof ripping up a picture of John Travolta and Oliva Newton John on Top of the Pops when “Rat Trap” pushed “Summer Nights” off the number 1 spot and thinking, “Oh my god, is he allowed to do that?!” I loved it! And I’m still a huge Boomtown Rats fan. I listened to a lot of stuff my brother brought home – Blondie, ELO, all that late 70’s, early 80s stuff. But I have to say, for a long time, I was just a huge metal kid – AC/DC being probably my biggest influence. But the first music that ever really made me want to pick up a guitar was Queen. I remember a kid at school gave me a tape of Night at the Opera he didn’t want anymore, and I listened to it, and it was like, “I never knew you could make music like that.”
Mike – I started playing trumpet at 8 and kinda just continued to want to play and learn more instruments. I went to college for music and got really into rock and punk when I was in middle school. Green Day was sorta a gateway for me into the greater punk scene. Listening to Dookie at 8 made me want to get a guitar. After that I got more into a lot of 90s punk: Rancid Bad Religion, NOFX. And I went backwards into the 70s to get into The Clash, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Blondie, and so on.
How did you start to write music?
David – I started writing in college. My friend Jonathan and I were just goofing around one day and out came this simple riff, and we wrote “Cockroach Love” in an afternoon. This led to forming my first band, The Turgid. I wrote a bunch of songs for the band – all just silly and fun – people said we had a kind of Violent Femmes/Dead Milkmen vibe. We made three “albums” and sold a bunch of tapes. Writing for The Turgid was such a great experience because we were just friends writing whatever the hell we wanted to on a given afternoon– I wrote heavy metal, rap, western, an Irish jig, so it just taught me a lot about being free when you write, not feeling like you have to write to a genre, and most importantly, the first thing that comes out is usually the best.
Mike – I started writing music when I was in High School. I’d just tool around on a bass or guitar, and then hum these little melodies to myself. I’d start to string them together and eventually a song would come out… it’s not glamourous…but hey it’s how I still do it.
David-How did you get your first guitar, and do you still have it?
David – So, OK, I got suspended from boarding school for six weeks in my junior year. My mom grounded me for the entire time, so I was bored out of my mind. I bought a teach-yourself-guitar book and dug out my dad’s old Martin guitar which he ever played and started learning – mostly finger picking stuff to start. Eventually I bought a cheap Les Paul knock-off. White, with black binding, no label, no idea who made it. I certainly didn’t fall in love with it, it was total crap, but I had an electric guitar! Honestly, I have no idea what happened to it. I know I didn’t have it when I moved back to the states, and that was two years later, so, I probably left it with someone at boarding school when I moved out.
David-What is your guitar of choice now? Year, make and model?
David- I was playing a Gibson SG junior, but then a student of mine said, “Hey, I’ve got this Hello Kitty guitar I don’t want, do you want it?” Well, “HELL YES!”. They had won it in a raffle a few years before had stuck it under their bed and forgot about it. So, when they brought it to me it was mint condition, never played. It’s a pink Hello Kitty Fender Squire Strat, 2006, I think? I changed out the pickup to a Gretsch Filter’Tron, replaced the tuning pegs, and added a Stetsbar tremolo. At first, I thought I’d just play it as a gimmick, but with the mods, I actually love it. I also still record with the SG Junior and a Grestch Electromatic that has the Filter’Trons in it. None of these are vintage things or anything, all pretty much off-the-shelf – except for the Hello Kitty.
Mike-How did you start playing bass?
Mike – I started playing music when I was about 8 years old with the trumpet, I actually played trumpet all throughout my time in college too. Bass? When I was in 8th grade, a few friends and me wanted to start a band. I was going to play rhythm guitar; we had another friend who was going to play the bass. However, he backed out. My brother had been gifted a bass starter kit for an elementary school graduation gift, and after a few months he wasn’t playing it anymore. He gave me the bass, and I decided that in my band I’d just suck it up and be the bass player. I started playing bass a lot, and really loved it. Every band in Middle/High School always seems to have like 10 guitar players but no bassist. It’s been pretty good to me since then. I probably started playing around 13.
Bill- What year did you start playing the drum on stage?
Bill – I played my first public gig in 1964 for the South Farmingdale Fire Department in Farmingdale, NY.
Bill- Anyone famous who inspires your drumming?
Bill – Definitely! I grew up heavily listening to the Beatles and Vanilla Fudge and Cream. Drummers like Ringo, Carmine Appice, Dino Dinelli, Ginger Baker have always inspired my drumming. I also can’t forget Buddy Rich and Gene Krupa.
You band is a husband-and-wife team with Amanda’s dad on drum and you University professor on guitar. How did your band form?
Amanda -So the band is me on vocals, Mike Staub on bass and backing vocals/harmony and also, we’re married, my Dad Bill Mac on the drums, and my former college professor David Henderson on guitar. We originally started as a party band at Hofstra University – before my dad was in the band, way before Mike and I got married, called “David and the Hendersons”. After graduation, our drummer at the time got an internship in Florida and I was basically like “well… I know a guy. If we want to keep going, I can ask him.” So… the guy was my dad, and he was ALL in and one thing led to another, and we went from a University cover band to a full-on family writing originals and touring America and Japan. We pretty much adopted David. He’s family now.
How did you get your bands name?
Amanda- Oh boy… We have this 13-year-old group chat that’s been running since we were Madame-X. When we needed to come up with a name, we would throw the name out into the chat and wait for the response… which was anxiety inducing. One Monday Morning, David said, “Bad Mary” and we took a minute…well a few hours, really. And there you have it! We all liked that name and David made some amazing graphics for the logo and we’ve been Bad Mary ever since. We wanted a name that was easy to remember, representative of what our music is, and fun.
Describe your music.
Amanda- Fast, Loud, Energetic, and most of all… Fun. It’s punchy and punky and silly and fun… yep… fun. It’s all about having a good time.
What was your first performance at like?
Amanda – Our first performance as a band? It took a few years for us to become Bad Mary, but our first show as a band was when we were a cover band playing shows at Hofstra University. We played a Holiday Party, and it was a blast. We played a bunch of silly cover songs, but it was incredibly fun. I remember as we were packing up Mike looked over at me as I was absorbing it all in and said, “It’s fun, isn’t it?” and my only response was… “Yeah…” It was then we decided to keep the band together.
Royalties never appear like magic. Royalties are only sent to you through work undertaken by a PRO to ensure that their members are getting paid. If you’re not yet signed up to a Performing Right Organization like ASCAP, BMI or SESAC, you may not be receiving all the royalties you deserve.
Do you belong to any to songwriters’ organizations like the International singer-songwriter association, SESAC, BMI or ASCAP?
David – – Yes, we belong to BMI. And there’s something we do that I’m not sure a lot of
bands do that’s really important to us – we each get 25% royalties on all songs. Weknow, as a band, who wrote each song and whatever, but I know, that without Amanda, Mike, and Bill around me, I wouldn’t be writing anything. So, it’s important to us –because we inspire each other – that we all get equal shares of whatever Bad Mary, creates.
What makes a good songwriter?
David – someone who’s not trying to force anything. Like, you have to write what comes naturally. I’ve never tried to write songs that try to tell people what to think, or have a particular vision or anything, but I write the idea that pops in my head, what I feel or think at that moment. I do bear in mind that I am writing songs for Amanda to sing, so I am thinking about that. Also, every time I write, I’m trying to write the song I want to listen to, that’s how I know it’s any good – if I want to listen to it in the car.
Mike – Yeah, I mean, I think good songs are about good hooks and writing what you want to write. I’m not saying I’m a “Good” songwriter, but I often like to write what feels like something I’d want to say. Sometimes it’s goofy as hell, sometimes It’s a bit more serious. I think, as David said, forcing yourself to into some box can be dangerous, and ultimately, you need to write the music you want to perform live.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
David- I think it was “Hangover”? Once we decided to write originals, they kind of came flooding out, but I do think that was it, “Hangover”. Yes, we recorded it and it’s on our first album, Better Days. We still play it live sometimes too.
How was it to record a 33-minute punk rock space opera “The Return of Space Girl”?
Mike- Recording a concept album is incredibly stressful. Firstly, we wanted all the songs to somehow be related to an overall theme. There’s a bit of a story there, but it’s based off a 3-minute-long song from Better Days called, Space Girl. There’s really not too much story in the original song, so we needed to flesh things out. There’s not really a thru-line in TROSG but all of the songs attach to a continuous theme. It was a lot of fun to spread our wings and do something that ambitious… but we’d never want to do something like that again, HAH! David writing and animating the 30-minute movie to go along with it was remarkable. The amount of work and time that went into it was incredible to see. And definitely super stressful.
Amanda- This album was also different because he had not played any of these songs live before, we recorded them. We are very much a LIVE band, so we always like to work out these our original music in a live setting before we record them. So we needed to rehearse the hell out of these songs before we got them recorded, we didn’t have the benefit of the live response. The process of all of it was fun, but definitely stressful and at some points frustrating. We’re really proud of that record though. We love it.
David – Stressful!
What is Rock and Roll Classic Vol. 7?
Amanda – It’s a collection of covers on an EP. We’ve always had a bunch of covers in our back pocket to play live or on a live stream. So, when we were starting to come out of the COVID pandemic, we wanted to put together two cover EPs. The naming is just a joke really, we wanted to embrace the K-tel vibe, which is why the first cover EP is called Vol. 6.
What is the process of writing your music?
David – I write the words and tune or riff at the same time. I can’t do one without the other. Whether it’s chorus or verse, doesn’t matter – but usually I think I start with an idea that pops into my head, like, “I can’t put my stupid phone down” – and the mull that over, how does that become a hook or lyric? I’ll listen to stuff that inspires me, from AC/DC, the Jam, Olivia Rodrigo, whatever, and hum bits and pieces into my phone. I’ll go back and listen later and stitch them together. I wrote the entire of “The Itch” while waiting for a light to change, sung it into my phone – I have the recording, it’s basically exactly the same as what’s on the album. But that’s rare. I’ve brought some songs to the band that have taken years to work out and have goes through multiple changes – “I,Robot” has like twelve different versions.
Mike – I tend to start with vocal lines. I come up with a hook and build a riff and song around that. From there I write out lyrics to match what I’m thinking and what the song sounds like. I then give it to Amanda to edit down and make sense for singing. Amanda will sometimes play with the vocal lines too to make them sound more interesting. We then bring all the songs into the rehearsal space and work on drum stuff with Bill because his ability to play exactly the right stuff for every song is magical. Such creativity behind the kit, it’s really great.
Tell me about your song “The Floor is Lava”?
David – I teach theater design at Hofstra University, and I do this one project for first-year students where I split them into teams, and they have to make a board game. One team last year (2021) came up with the awesome board game of The Floor is Lava. I think they got an A-. Anyway, I didn’t think about it much after that, but then one day the riff popped into my head and the idea of people screaming “The floor is lava!!!” at a gig. So that’s pretty much it, just decided to put it all together. I love songs that are just fun, with no other purpose than to be.
How was it to hear “The Floor is Lava” on Little Steven’s Underground Garage?
David- Awesome, as always. Rodney Bingenheimer has played a bunch of our songs on his show, but it never gets old to hear your stuff on the radio, knowing a bunch of people around the world will be hearing it at the same time.
Tell me about your EP “Trash and Glamour,” which comes out this Fall?
Amanda- It’s a new EP of original songs! We have two released already, Light It Up and The Floor Is Lava. After TROSG in 2019 we wanted to return to original music with a simpler approach and get some good, fast, rock and roll out there.
What are your feelings about streaming music?
Amanda – It’s a bit of a double-edged sword. We love that people can easily access our music from anywhere in the world. It’s amazing to see that people are listening to our stuff in Japan or the UK or South America. It’s also great to then be able through social media to then connect with these amazing people and chat with them on our live streams. If we only relied on physical media, we would never have been able to reach those people as easily. It does hurt that we get fractions of a penny per play though… we hope that for all musicians the royalty payments improve in the future.
Digital vs. vinyl?
Mike – Digital for convenience, vinyl for sound quality. When we’re in the car or at the gym we can’t carry our records with us. But when lounging around at home, there’s nothing better than putting on a record and letting the full artistic statement of an album play out.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? Moreover, what is the meaning that song means to you?
David – I was just listening to George Michael’s Listen Without Prejudice on the plane. God, what a painful and beautiful album, you can hear him working out so much stuff through the music. He definitely wrote that album for himself, I mean that in a good way. It’s like a cocoon. He’s shedding the past and coming out the other side. Sadly, by the end of the album, I feel like he never quite got to where he was totally free of the past. I hope I never have to write an album like that.
If “Video Killed the Radio Star” do you think that the Covid-19 virus has killed live music? Do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
Mike – It didn’t kill it because live music is still happening. It really hurt the live music scene, though. It was a very tough year for clubs and venues and we’re so grateful for those that were able to withstand the storm. It looks as though live music is coming back as big tours are starting up again. Also, many artists, like ourselves, had to shift our focus, which is how we got more into live streaming to Twitch.
How did you spend time during the Covid stay-at-home quarantine? Did you discover or rediscover any new hobbies?
Amanda – I spent a lot of hours teaching myself how to play the ukulele. I had one at home; and was pictured in an ad with one and felt like a liar because I didn’t actually play. So, I found a really helpful app and spent a lot of time figuring it out. I still have a way to go, but it’s been fun.
Mike – I did a lot of podcasting and video game streaming to twitch!
David- I made a lot of stupid little graphics for our twitch stream! I loves playing around in photoshop and after effects, so it was fun to have a purpose for doing it.
For a lot of bands, it was hard to connect with fans during the Covid lockdowns, with live shows being cancelled and postponed. Bad Mary took this time to unitized Twitch as a way to stay connect and continue to play live. Can you tell us more about that?
Amanda- It’s been an amazing way to connect with our friends and fans all over the world. It’s a goofy, fun time, and we have a blast doing it. Every Tuesday night is a live show where you can chat with people as they respond to what you’re doing. It’s super interactive and has been such a joy to do since the COVID pandemic began.
How was it to be part of the Vans Warped Tour?
Mike- It was a bit of a fever dream. I grew up going to the Warped Tour and being able to perform at Warped was unreal. We met a lot of great people and we folks really enjoyed what we were doing.
How was it to tour Japan? How different is it playing in Japan then in the United States?
Amanda- The tour of Japan was unbelievable. It’s kinda hard to put it into words. But it was everything we could think and more. We have to thank Inter Idoru Management for helping us get to Japan and the amazing Mike Rogers for starting the conversation. In how it’s different? It feels oddly similar to playing at home, really. Rockers are rockers all over the world. We will say this though… the bands in Japan are INCREDIBLE. Wow… such amazing bands.
What about Holographic concerts in our living rooms?
Mike – Twitch is kinda the beginning of this… really.
In the past some musicians stopped creating and performing music and found a new career. For example, David Lee Roth from Van Halen became a licensed EMT in NY for 6 years, San Spitz (guitarist for Anthrax) became a master watchmaker, Dee Snider (Twister Sister) did voiceover work for SpongeBob SquarePants. If you can’t do music, what would you like to be doing?
Mike – I dunno? Probably something with Video Games. Honestly, If I couldn’t play music, I’d probably want to compose for games and movies. I guess I could still do that.
David – first of all, I really wish I had been in an accident and got picked up by Diamond Dave, that would have been awesome. Apparently, he was very professional on the job. Anyway, I design for theater – costumes and scenery, and I teach. I love all of it, so that won’t change.
Amanda- One of my dream jobs would be getting to work with The Muppets or Children’s Television Workshop. I love puppets and both The Muppets and Sesame Street have been such an important part of my life, I’d love to work with them.
Bill – Voiceover work. I’d love to do V/O or work in radio. I currently read the news for WHPC 90.3 here in NY.
Mike – Yeah, Bill’s speaking voice is INCREDIBLE…
What is your happy place?
Bill – Behind a drum kit!
Mike – Izu Kogen, Japan. There’s a Ryokan there called Hanafubuki which is literally our favorite place on earth. I mean, if I’m not at home, on the couch, playing some really deep JRPG on my Switch or Playstation.
Amanda – Izu Kogen, but also a good rollercoaster. I love a theme park.
David – sitting on the couch with my wife and dogs watching New York City Football Club. I could think of a million happy places, but if they don’t include my wife and dogs, then it’s not as happy. Except for band practice and live streaming… Sue and the dogs tend to hide out upstairs, and that’s fine.
Red Hot Chili Peppers are about to sell their entire song catalog for $140 Million. In the past year, a lot of musicians such as Stevie Nicks ($100 Million), Bob Dylan (over $400 Million), Taylor Swift, Journey, Def Leppard, K.T. Tunstall, and Shakira have sold their catalog rights within the last year. Bob Dylan sold his entire catalog for a reported $300 million. Neil Young song 50 percent of his worldwide copyright and income interest in his 1,180-song catalogue to Hipnosis Songs Fund limited. Once you get to the age of about 70. Publishing is far more lucrative than the mechanical royalties paid to artist based on sales, airplay, and streams. A good example of this is Michael Jackson brought the rights to the Beatles catalog in 1985. And in the late 80’s the Beatles Revolution appeared in a Nike commercial.
The lump sums being offered by publishing firms are more tax friendly concerning estate planning.
Do you think you would be willing to sale your back catalog if someone like Universal is willing to buy everything, such as all the rights to all your songs?
David -Damn, maybe ask in 30 years? Right now, it feels like I never would, but I can see, once you’ve had a long solid career, that these things are like crap you find in the back of your closet – that happen to be worth millions. You’ve moved on, you’re creating new stuff, why not sell the old?
Mike- Yeah, I mean it’s easy to say, “NO NEVER!” at this point in my life… but who knows what I’ll think at 70.
What are your thoughts on TikTok? With Sony Music and Warner Music making an “expanded” global licensing agreement with Universal Music Group. Now that TikTok is now fully licensed by all three major record companies, will you start using TikTok more? Also, TikTok has launching TikTok Radio (Ch. 4), a full-time SiriusXM music channel. The station will be available is vehicles and as a streaming channel on the SiriusXM App, desktop, and all connected devices. The station will be part of a new TikTok collaboration with SiriusXM and its subsidiary, Pandora, to jointly promote emerging talent. Do you think this platform could became a force in the future of streaming music?
Amanda- TikTok has definitely changed the way a song can become a “hit.” It’s going to be very interesting to see what happens to music when the app partners with radio and streaming outlets. I don’t know what’s going to happen; but it definitely could be big.
Closing statements:
You can find us all over the internet @badmaryband.
You can find us on Twitch every Tuesday night at 8pm Eastern US Time doing our live stream: twitch.tv/badmaryband
We have an EP coming out called Rock and Roll Classics Vol. 7 in late July and we have a great show in NYC coming up at Bowery Electric with The Dollyrots!
New, original music is coming in the fall too! Stay tuned!
