What started with a few bad dates ended with a very good band. After a web of romantic misfires and chance swipes, singer Lou Trajano began connecting the dots that would eventually become Bad Dates. Formed during the pandemic, the band now includes Jeremy, Lazaros, Renas and Vidyut, with a multicultural lineup stretching from Brazil to Greece, India to China.
What unites them? A love of early-2000s indie dance, emotional chaos and apparently… Tinder. With their self-titled debut album out since April, we caught up with Trajano to hear how Bad Dates came to be, and what it’s like making DIY noise in Berlin’s anything-goes music scene.
Let’s start from the beginning: how did the band first come together?
We all met through dates that didn’t lead to romance, but turned into friendships. The project started during the pandemic with myself, and Renas on guitar. We were flatmates at the time – and had met initially through Tinder. We then invited Jeremy, who I also met on Tinder, and we all meshed really well during the session. Vidy ended up going on a date with Jenn, one of Jeremy’s friends, who then introduced him to the band, which was when we all started writing songs together. Jenn came to the band’s first gig with her boyfriend at the time, Laz, who asked “Do you need a drummer?” – and that was that.
We’re focusing on repairing our friendship so that we… make music instead of bickering!
How would you describe your sound?
Indie rock with touches of pop punk, emo, Brazilian music and some funk and disco thrown in, inspired from bands that we grew up listening to, such as Pavement, Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, CSS and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
What kinds of themes do you explore in your lyrics?
Our songs often deal with self-exploration, growth and change, difficulties in relationships, grief and miscommunication – especially when you and your community share a mix of different cultures.
Berlin is known for its electronic music scene. How would you describe the city’s indie/DIY scene?
I think that people associate Berlin with the club scene and dark electronic music, and that is a huge part of the city, but you can find probably every genre of music under the sun here. It’s really international and can feel very down to earth. There’s a strong DIY element to the scene, which we love because it allows new artists to emerge all the time.
Have there been any unexpected perks to making music in Berlin?
The drink tokens at the bar are nice… but seriously, it feels like everyone in Berlin, even if they don’t make music, has artistic tendencies. For example, in August 2023, we were able to organise a DIY music festival with bands, DJs and a little Flohmarkt all within two weeks. We called it Holy Noise because it was in the chapel of a student residency in Mitte. I don’t know if we could pull off something like that in another city so easily.
What challenges have you faced as a band so far?
It can be really hard to organise a five-person band. We really try to write collaboratively, but trying to coordinate can be exhausting. I think the internal struggles of self-esteem is something all of us are working on individually and together through our music.
What are your favourite venues in Berlin?
Bar Bobu is super fun, a good size for indie bands and has great sound and staff! Kamine und Wein is also really cool. It’s volunteer-run and great for bands who are starting out as well. Schokoladen is also a legendary venue for DIY music! There’s also Lark, and Rotbart hosts monthly Soul Jam sessions.
Aside from your own music, which Berlin-based artists are you excited about right now?
CORP. is so fun live! They have this live show where they role play as a mega corporation.
There’s also Toshín, an Irish-Nigerian singer who has the most powerful voice and always gets people moving – real superstar potential. Also Meagre Martin, Black Pope, Dead Finks, Plattenbau, ShyBits, Roomer and the list goes on…
And finally, what’s next for Bad Dates?
We’re focusing on repairing our friendship so that we can use our emotions to make music instead of bickering! We’ve started writing new music and are looking to include more elements of Brazilian, Greek and South Asian music.
Follow Bad Dates on IG for updates @baddatesofficial
