Bad Habits

Bad Habits

Bad Habits is a hardcore group from Germany. The name has also been used for several earlier and separate acts, including a rock and roll band from Athens, Greece that later becomes Dismiss, and a hardcore band formed in Pensacola, Florida in 2012.

Background and line-up

The best-documented version of Bad Habits forms in 1984 in London, England, after members of the former Leicester band return to recording and performance. The group includes several line-up changes over time and later works under the name Bad Habits alone, after first using both the Bad Habits and Gypsy names. In this incarnation, the band includes Red Butane on guitar and backing vocals, Glo Butane on lead vocals, bass guitar and keyboard, and Santos El Diablo on drums. The band also uses the name Bad Habits San Jose because it has a base in California, USA.

Sound and recordings

Bad Habits move towards a heavier sound than the earlier material associated with Gypsy. Under the Bad Habits name, the first heavier single is Lipstick Queen, released in 1986 on Sniffin’ Rock Magazine. The group later issues three albums with the current line-up: Radioactive, Schitzophrenic and Blind Faith. A single, Anthem for the Strange, also appears. The band’s earlier Gypsy material includes the albums Gypsy and Brenda and the Rattlesnake, and some tracks from those records are re-recorded and reused on later Bad Habits releases. The song Bad Habits appears on Gypsy - Future Teller.

Broadcast, media and live work

Bad Habits release videos on MTV Europe and MTV Asia, including Is Anybody Out There (Makin’ Love Anymore) and Sweet Daddy’s Girl, and also produce a series called Meet the Butanes and The Adventures of The Karate Nun. The song Home is featured on the BBC Television programme See Hear. The band wins the Xfm London XFM Uploaded Radio Chart Competition for Razorblade Romance in the London area, and the track is described on air by Xfm DJ Steve Harris as “the loudest riffting band ever played on XFM”. This leads to a performance at the Metro Ski Show in Olympia, London with Zane Lowe, and a planned appearance at Monarchy-Live Festival for the charity CLIC Sargent on the Kerrang Radio 105.2 Emerging Arena Stage.

Charity and lyrical themes

The group is involved in charitable events and organisations, including performances connected to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Cancer Research Foundation, Red Cross and Youth Music Camps. Its songs address anti-war themes, child abuse and other political subjects. Is Anybody Out There (Makin' Love Anymore) deals with anti-war themes, while Razorblade Romance concerns child abuse. Anthem for the Strange is linked to social awareness around gang-related gun and knife crime and the murders of Sophie Lancaster and Ben Kinsella.

Radio support and related material

Bad Habits receives support from Total Rock Radio presenters Tina Saul, Catbird and Zed, and is also played on stations around the world, including Tabajara FM 106.1 in Brazil with DJ Antonio Augusto Cesar Junior. The band’s own online presence includes references to www.myspace.com/badhabitsme and www.badhabits.me.uk.