Always a band who put out a quality record, Bad Touch are in real danger of surpassing their usual high standards with ‘Bittersweet Satisfaction.’ It’s an album that grows in stature with each listen… it could well be a late contender for album of the year. If you love Bluesy hard rock then you’ll love Norfolk’s finest Rock and Roll band – Bad Touch. We caught up with frontman Stevie Westwood to find out all about one of the albums that should have you rocking through Christmas and well into the New Year.
Stevie: Hello!
Mark: Hello! How are you!
Stevie: I’m good thanks Mark! It’s been a while.
Mark: A couple of years I think, it’s always great to talk to you Stevie. First of all I have to say thank you for a wonderful album, it’s early December and we just got a real contender for album of the year!
Stevie: Cheers Mark, I’m glad you liked it.
Mark: I certainly did. I must admit I’ve been a fan since that tour with The Answer back in 2015.
Stevie: That was a while ago now! Thank you that means a lot.
Mark: I think you’ve come up with something rather special this time.
Stevie: Thanks Mark.
Mark: You’ve finished up touring for 2023 I think, just the album to come out in a few days time?
Stevie: Yeah, i just had to really think then! (laughs) I normally say “yeah” really confidently and then there’s always one I forgot about, but we are I can say confidently. We’re all just waiting for the album to come out and looking forward to playing again in 2024.
Mark: I should be a helluva tour, we’ll definitely send someone down to see you. I was just listening to the debut the other day, a cracking album, but I just think that this latest album, number six might just be the best yet.
Stevie: Oh that’s cool man. That’s really, really kind. It’s great to hear. You get to this point with any album and you’ve put in all of your blood, sweat and tears into it and there’s always that looming self-doubt asking ‘is anyone actually going to like it?’ know what I mean? (laughs) So that really makes my heart sing to hear that man, thank you very much.
Mark: It must be because you all turned into teenagers this year!
Stevie: Yeah, that’s true we are moody teenagers this year which is quite terrifying! (laughs)
Mark: Thirteen years and going strong! I love ‘Slip Away’ it’s a fantastic opener, I’ve played that to a few people and they loved it and then when I started playing the singles all of a sudden we’re getting into ‘essential’ territory. We’re just in the midst of doing our ‘Album of the Year’ list and it’s racing up the charts.
Stevie: Oh cheers man, just to think that we’re on the list is pretty cool.
Mark: Now, before we get to the album, I have a tangent to go off on. Whenever I get a chance to talk about one of my musical heroes I always take it. There’s a couple of connections with Bad Touch – you toured with Dan Baird a few years back.
Stevie: Yeah.
Mark: Did you know that Dan had Steve’s white Fender Strat that he played in the Small Faces?
Stevie: I did not know that and I was trying to piece it together thinking what correlation is there! But every day’s a school day Mark and you’ve given me a titbit of information! (laughs)
Mark: (laughs) Interestingly another band that you toured with Bonafide told me that.
Stevie: Oh there you go! (Laughs) Us musos like having one up on each other, you know what I mean! (Laughs)
Mark: (Laughs) And of course the other connection is that you did that song with Mollie Marriott all those years ago too. I love a great Rock and Roll voice and I’ve always thought that you have that, and of course you I love your lyrics I love the way you phrase things, but with this albums as well, the guitar is sounding really special. How you got the tone on this album is crazy and I particularly love the solos which are very lean. Less is more I think, they fit perfectly.
Stevie: Yeah that’s all respect to Rob G, I know he tooled away on that stuff, like we all did with our respective parts trying to make them as ‘no-nonsense’ as possible and, like you say, try to keep them as lean and refined as we physically could. The sound obviously we can’t take all of the credit for, we’ll happily take most of it! (laughs) But a big shout out to Ollie and Adam at Marshall Studios and obviously Romesh on the mixing. We couldn’t do it without any of them.
Mark: Ramesh has just got it spot on for me, he’s had a hand in some wonderful albums over recent years. He just completely ‘gets’ this kind of music?
Stevie: Yeah, he’s got the memo. He knows what we’re trying to do, he knows the sound we’re trying to go for. He probably knows our sound better than we do with regards to technique and skill! (laughs) So a big shout out to him. I’m so glad that all the pieces have come together.
Mark: So how does it feel five albums in sounding like you have a monster on your hands! You must be aching for 2024 and getting these songs out on the road?
Stevie: 100% We’re not afraid to say 2023 has been a pretty rubbish year as far as the amount of gigs we’ve played. Anyone that knows us as a band knows that we like to be out there playing shows pretty much all the time and we just simply haven’t done that this year which is pretty sad. So 2024 is just going to be all out there playing whenever we can, trying to give this album the biggest push we possibly can. So let’s see if the stars align and see where we ca push this thing to. That’s the vague plan! (Laughs)
Mark: I’m expecting big things. It would be great to see you down under too one day, otherwise I’m heading north!
Stevie: Oh mate, we’d love to! I’ve always wanted to come to Australia, but it is quite the drive!
Mark: It is quite a drive, you’ll be here by February if you set off now!
Stevie: (laughs)
Mark: Something I always love to ask musicians is when it all began for you and when you knew that Rock and Roll would become such an important part of your life? Some people know straight away but for others it might be a defining moment or a gradual realization. Or are you still undecided? (Laughs)
Stevie: (laughs) Yeah the vote is still out on whether it’s a good idea! (laughs) My childhood was very much music filled. I was very fortunate to have my Dad who was a big ‘music head’ he had a shed full of albums and singles when that was a thing, when people collected vinyl. He was always playing them, all the early Soul and Disco I was introduced to from a very early age. And then as I grew up and became a teenager different friends were getting into Guns ‘n’ Roses and AC/DC and all that stuff, and that opened my eyes to that style of music. I loved it, I thought it was banging! And it sort of went from there. I’ve always played guitar , I always sang, with varying levels of success, and when my two high school mates who I used to mess around with playing Chili Peppers and Rage Against the Machine covers with went off to Uni and decided music wasn’t for them. I knew I wasn’t done with this yet, and that’s how I found Bad Touch. And like they say “the rest is history”. That’s how it kind of went! (laughs)
Mark: I think 2024 is going to be a massive year for you.
Stevie: Let’s hope so.
Mark: How do you sit down and write a song, is it the melody that comes first, a riff, or does inspiration take various forms?
Stevie: We’re a fairly decent melting pot. There’s no hard or fast rules to writing a Bad Touch song. We all chip in which I think always keeps it interesting and fresh. Whenever I’m writing something, whether it’s a lyric or a melody, or a set of chords, or a guitar riff, it comes with a feeling for me. Like “I like how that makes me feel” so I want to expand on that. And when I can’t expand on it any more I take it to the guys and they make it 5000% a better song! (laughs)
Mark: (laughs)
Stevie: So it’s a team effort bult on those feelings and trying to trust the musician inside you that you’re doing the right thing.
Mark: Just something that moves you.
Stevie: Yeah.
Mark: One of the things I always loved about Bad Touch are the out and out rockers, but I do love some of the slower numbers you have on this album.
Stevie: Cheers.
Mark: I’ve been playing the album for ages and I’m putting the review up this evening on the eve, as it is, of the release. And as well as the great Rock numbers I keep coming back to tracks like ‘Come Back Again’.
Stevie: Oh that’s cool, that means a lot. We have done some softer stuff in the past, again, to varying degrees of success. So when you put an all out ‘ballady; track on an album it’s always going to get mixed reviews. So that means a lot that you’re digging it to. I really like that one, it’s just an honest song.
Mark: It is. I also like the uplifting closer as well, ‘Dizzy For You’ that sounds so much fun. But as you say a lot of people will be there for the Rockers but I love the balance. I always liked the way bands like The Black Crowes could get away with putting as many as four ballads on an album.
Stevie: Yeah and obviously we come from that school of thought too, we’re not afraid to say we’re huge Crowes fans.
Mark: There’s something for everyone on ‘Bittersweet Satisfaction’ and I’m sure when it drops tomorrow everyone will love it.
Stevie: Let’s hope so!
Mark: If you could have been a ‘fly on the wall’ for the creation of any great album in the history of Rock and Roll what would you have loved to have seen being created in the studio, just to see how the magic happened?
Stevie: It’s got to be ‘Led Zep II’ I would say. It has to be my favourite Led Zep album, so that’s a big one, but a kind of obvious one. A less obvious one might be, I like watching people work and trying to absorb any inspiration by osmosis, not necessarily understanding what they are doing, but watching to see how they are ticking and how they approach things so maybe The Black Crowes or the Rival Sons – seeing how they would approach recording an album, no album in particular, but just seeing how those forces of musical nature tick. That would be a great thing to see.
Mark: It certainly would be. The first time we talk to people we ask them the rather easy ‘What is the meaning of life’ question but now we have a radio spot I have to ask you it again!
Stevie: (laughs)
Mark: What is the meaning of life?
Stevie: I knew as soon as you said it I’d get that one! I was going to do the classic ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ answer but I’m sure you’ll have had that a million times…
Mark: I was actually updating the book of answers the other day and teh odd fact I have is that out of 999 interviews so far we’ve had that 41 times!
Stevie: (laughing) I was going to be the 42nd! (laughs) The meaning of life? I don’t know man, just be kind, try to think of others more than you think about yourself and just try and have a good time. That’s all I try and do, be humble and make sure you leave this world a better place then when you found it.
Mark: That will make it into the book.
Stevie: (laughs)
Mark: Thank you so much for your time Stevie, it’s always great to catch up. I can honestly see 2024 being a huge year for Bad Touch off the back of ‘Bittersweet Satisfaction’. Have a great Christmas and an epic New Year mate.
Stevie: Cheers Mark, thanks for your time too. See you next year!