Bad Buddy is the musical collaboration between Emily Bachynski (vocals, guitar), Andrea Vissia (guitar, vocals) and Geoffrey Hamdon-O’Brien (drums). The band is a genre-defying musical spectacle, casually time traveling from wartime boogie-woogie bops, to glitterball heartbreak slow dances, to eye-gushing punk bloodbaths. Bad Buddy launched its career in 2016, and was instantly making waves in the Edmonton music scene. Mere months after the band’s inception, Bad Buddy was invited to perform at Edmonton’s UP+DT Fest. 2017 saw the release of The Sneakie Peekie, a three-song EP on cassette, and an invitation to the Sled Island Music and Arts Festival in Calgary. The band’s resume has grown to include a host of reputable festivals, including an encore performance at Sled Island, as well as performances on the main stages of Flying Canoe Volant and The North Country Fair. Bad Buddy embarked on a successful six-week tour of western Canada in 2019, and again in 2023. The tours spanned from Vancouver BC, up to the Sunshine Coast and Bella Coola, to Winnipeg, MB and helped elevate the profile of the band.
Bad Buddy’s eponymous debut album came out in July of 2020, featuring 13 original songs written, recorded, and produced by the band. The album was a success, reaching #1 on !earshot, a 4.5 star review from the Edmonton Journal (a syndicate of Postmedia), multiple “best release of the year” credits and over 32K streams on Spotify. Bad Buddy maintained a position in the top 200 songs on http://collegeradiocharts.com/ (Canada/US) for six weeks, climbing as high as 54th overall, and the album held space in the top 900 for well over 6 months.
In 2021, the band released the single, Mind Control. The song speaks of a struggle for mental wellbeing – the complexity of an anxious mind mirrored in the depth of the multifaceted arrangement. Mind Control foreshadows the tone of the proposed sophomore album, Bad Buddy II, and has a corresponding animated music video.
Recent notable achievements include being awarded three grants in 2022: an Edmonton Arts Council Stream 3 grant, a FACTOR Juried Sound Recording grant, and an AFA Individual project grant, as well as being named “Artist of the Year” by Seachange Brewing Company and SONiC 102.9 (a title accompanied by a $5000 prize). The band has also been shortlisted for the $10 000 Edmonton Music Prize, selected by Alberta Music for “Come Together” an artist showcase and industry mingler held in Toronto, performing as a part of JUNOfest 2023, features on CBC’s “Key of A,” international top 10 charting on at least 6 college and community radio stations, with the album receiving play from and being added to the libraries of hundreds more. Bad Buddy has also secured six licenses for sync including MTV’s Real World, two UFC reality shows, The Discovery Network and its affiliates, and NASCAR.
Bad Buddy has been described as “… a totally raucous and amazing show all around: psychedelic surf, punk, pop, you name it – though above all it [feels] like something NEW.” (Edmonton Journal), and the proof is in the performance. The electric energy of the live show is amplified by the exceptional songwriting ability possessed by the band. Self-identifying as “Motown-surf-punk,” the band commands attention, painting powerful, sonic pictures drawn from real-life inspirations.
