Bio

Born and raised in Essex Fells, NJ, with stints in Boston, St. Louis and San Francisco, I have been living for the past 9 years in Vietnam, first for 5 years in Hanoi and the past 4 years in Ho Chi Minh City.

After playing in myriad bands, I have for the past 2 years pursued my own recording project using my Mac Powerbook, an M-Box and ProTools and Reason software, and I relish the creative freedom that seeing a song from conception to finished product gives me.

As these songs were recorded to be heard and dug, I am actively seeking a like-minded record label to release this music. Interested parties, or anyone who enjoyed this site, please feel free to contact me at bbadger27@hotmail.com.

My primary influences include My Bloody Valentine, Swervedriver and The Brian Jonestown Massacre, along with such artists as American Analog Set, New Order, Joy Division, Stereolab, Flying Saucer Attack and Curtis Mayfield.

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I play a '78 Gibson Marauder, through a Smallstone reissue, Boss Tremelo, G-7 Equalizer and Overdrive-Distortion, and a Digitech Delay, along with a Fender bass, a hand-made acoustic guitar and assorted percussion.

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My formal musical background began with a minor in Music Theory, coupled with 3 years of vocal study, at Principia College in Elsah, IL.

After college, I teamed up with a friend in northern California to form a recording project called the Alton Crew, for which we recorded exclusively on 4-track reel-to-reel tape, and compiled enough material for 3 cds, with me handling percussive duties and my partner handling the guitars.

Upon landing in Vietnam, I teamed up with two English guitar players to form an acoustic band called Pushin' Rugs.

One of the guitarists and I went on to recruit another Englishman on keyboards and another American on guitar, this time all of us going electric, plus my bongos and maraccas, to form Mandarin Boom Box. We recorded an EP in our practice room using 4-track cassette and mixing onto minidisc, and played a series of live shows in Hanoi.

The guitarist, bassist and myself then picked up an Aussie drummer, another English guitarist and an English singer to form Band Unit 33, which played a series of live shows in Hanoi and recorded one studio album.

I am also interested in jazz percussion, and have participated twice in the European Jazz Festival in HCMC, appearing with a mix of local and European artists, including local saxophonist Tran Manh Tuan, and have performed regularly in Hanoi with saxophonist Quyen Van Minh.

As such, I am an ongoing student of latin percussion under renowned Bay Area latin guru Michael Spiro.

Be on the lookout for a pending album from the Hanoi Audio Research Institute (2007-2008).

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the following persons for their musical inspiration over the years that helped shaped these sounds:

Matt Jarrette, Tom Greenwood (aka Tommy "Nostrils" Rust), Jim Herout, Paul Brittain, Mark Hull, Amy Anderson, Dan Strack, Aaron Slick, Alex Green, Ben Badger, Bill Badger Sr, Susan Badger, Steve Christensen, Malcolm Whitehouse, Andy Barsoum, Jeff Jones, Julian Wainwright, Jake Brown, Simon Rolph, Jay @ R&R Bar, Quyen Van Minh, Tran Manh Tuan, Richard Petit - RIP, Paul Gililland, Simon Drought, Mike Gray, Jim Dowcett, Sarah Rockabrand, Michael Spiro, Terry Mullin, Merlin, Jeff Lumm, Damon Anderson, Bradford Edwards and anyone else with whom I've ever played or listened to music.