Interviewed by Brian Rademacher
Date: August 2010

Josh Caddy: Hey Brian what’s up? This is Josh from BAD CITY. We’re just on the way to a show with HINDER.

Brian Rademacher: Cool man! First let’s get to the big change, going from THEE ARMADA with that power pop sound to a much more aggressive style with BAD CITY. Why the change?

Josh Caddy: Musically, it’s definitely a change. I always had it in me especially during the live performances where I let out the rock tone. I was ready to change and I got the call from Bob DeBelina from Azoff Music Management saying you gotta check these guys out there putting together this band, I’ll send over a couple songs see if you’re interested. They sent over the tunes and I said I gotta be a part of this. I auditioned and I actually sang like when I was with THEE ARMADA and they said we’re really not looking for that. So I said let me just let the bat out of the cage; I went full flex on the next song and they said yep this is what we are looking for. I flew out and we started tracking songs.

Brian Rademacher: Did you get any feedback from the THEE ARMADA fans for what you’re doing now?

Josh Caddy: No, not really because most of them aren’t aware of BAD CITY yet. I am interested what people think and to be honest I can’t be too hopeful. The kids that genuinely did like THEE ARMADA, this is not their style of music. I’m really not going to be disappointed if they say I really don’t like it Josh.

Brian Rademacher: You had a pretty big following over there with THEE ARMADA. I don’t know if I could have done that jumping from a power pop band with a good following to a rock band that is just starting out and you said it really doesn’t bother you right?

Josh Caddy: THEE ARMADA was already at a turning point and at the end of its game. We talked about changing the name, we were planning to start fresh and start over again. We started writing rock songs near the end to go with the new band name and it wasn’t just me it was all the guys were looking for something new and something different and BIG CITY just happen to come at the right time for me.

Brian Rademacher: How was it recording in the studio compared to past experiences?

Josh Caddy: In the past singing with THEE ARMADA was much easier because I didn’t have to be so aggressive. THEE ARMADA was laid back and with BAD CITY the vocals are much more extreme and in the beginning I had to get use to it and I hit some humps. Eventually, I found my vocals and was able to do the record.

Brian Rademacher: As you can see in our review that I really think highly of the release and think fans will also love the record.

Josh Caddy: Yeah, all we have is passion and all five members made the record we wanted to make and we are excited that the record is finally released.

Brian Rademacher: Tell me a little about your past?

Josh Caddy: To be honest skateboarding was my life in California. I was a sponsored skateboarder. I would skateboard to school keep my board on my backpack and on the way home stop at the park and skate until it was time to skate back home, eat dinner do homework and go to bed. That was my huge passion growing up. It wasn’t until high school that I got a guitar and started playing; never thought about singing, starting some bands with friends. I did background vocals and screaming. It was like a screamo band like STATIC LULLABY. I had a chance to go out with a band called ALICO for a couple weeks on tour in Texas as a guitar player and we had an opportunity to record a record in Houston, TX so we all moved out there to work on this record. Thirty days out with the trailer and all the gear we had was stolen. I lost my guitar, everybody lost everything and at that time I was stuck in a lease in the apartment out there so I had to stay. So I said I just don’t want to sit out here and do nothing with my life. I still want to be involved with music and that’s when I tried out for THEE ARMADA as singer. That was the first time I ever sung and that’s how I started with singing.

Brian Rademacher: Was there any band that you looked up to at that time?

Josh Caddy: I was into BLINK182 and NEW FOUND GLORY back in the day. I never anticipated being a vocalist and never dove into various singers. Now I can tell you my main influence is Freddie Mercury of QUEEN and second is Sebastian Bach (ex-SKID ROW).

Brian Rademacher: As a matter of fact I reference QUEEN in our review.

Josh Caddy: Yeah on "Do You Believe In Rock N Roll", that was very cool.

Brian Rademacher: You’re out with HINDER right now, is there any special things you have on your tour rider?

Josh Caddy: At this point we are not accommodated by our tour rider. Basically we get there, if the venue has catering we are offered catering and half the shows are just buy outs. They give us money to go out and buy food for ourselves.

Brian Rademacher: Tell me how grueling it is touring.

Josh Caddy: (laughing) It’s pretty rough man, it really is. Wow, especially the first night. The first night of the HINDER tour we were like are these guys going to be cool, are they going to treat us good. The guys invite us on their bus and they’re ready to party with us, it started with Jaeger shots and so on. It was a crazy night for us because we had a show the next day and they wanted to get hammered with us so we didn’t want to be the new band that bailed out on HINDER. So we stayed up with them and it was a little rough the next day and the next night they were at it again with us. We had to tone it down a bit now we don’t want to get wasted every night especially for me because alcohol dries out your voice. I have to stay on my "A" game at all times.

Brian Rademacher: How fucked up is Blower of HINDER because we interviewed him awhile back and he told us he gets naked and they shoot paint balls at his sack on the tour bus.

Josh Caddy: Yeah he took out his balls and drenched them with hairspray and lit them on fire, that was so insane.

Brian Rademacher: So what do you guys do to top something like that?

Josh Caddy: We don’t do that! A couple nights after the show in South Dakota we got naked and danced around a campfire like wild animals.

Brian Rademacher: How are the females so far?

Josh Caddy: Very good, very good! For the whole band the girls who are interested in BAD CITY are completely different than the girls that were interested in us with THEE ARMADA. The girls for THEE ARMADA were between thirteen and seventeen and I can’t tell you if I have seen a seventeen year old yet at a BIG CITY show.

Brian Rademacher: What are your expectations of the debut of BAD CITY?

Josh Caddy: It would be awesome if it was recognized in the top ten of this year. I don’t feel it needs to be a top selling record. We’re a brand new band, we haven’t had much marketing but we’re out on the road planting the seed in every city and every state. I hope people see our band as a real band than like a eighties throwback thing or a cover band because that’s definitely not what we are in any kind of way. People are saying you take me back to the day when I was rocking with my boys. There are a couple people out there that just don’t get it, we’re just an ironic band.

Brian Rademacher: I can hear influences of bands of the past but I feel you guys are a more modern band from bands back than that brings a new sound with more aggression. I love it.

Josh Caddy: Thank you and that’s what we are going for. We took influences from all our favorite bands which happen to be from that decade and modernized it and brought it to a new level.

Brian Rademacher: Tell me three things that people don’t know about you?

Josh Caddy: One, I truly am still good at skateboarding, this is difficult. My cell phone doesn’t receive pictures. I’m the only one in the world that can’t get a picture on their cell phone. Kevin’s phone is five years older than mine and he gets pictures on his phone, that’s terrible. The last thing I’m a huge mama’s boy. I love my Mom I call her every night and I tell her everything. If we get naked around the camp fire I tell her I don’t hold anything back from my Mom.

Brian Rademacher: So what is she most proud of you for?

Josh Caddy: She’s proud of me for rockin’. She thought I was going to be a professional skateboarder and she’s always behind me no matter what I do. Both my Mom and my Dad are fully behind me all the time. They are happy I’m reaching some level of success and there very happy for me.

Brian Rademacher: How are you getting along with all the members of the band?

Josh Caddy: It’s phenomenal. The first time we meet and went out we just clicked. I did some singing in front of them, everybody was vibe’n it and we stayed up all night and made a little bonfire. Now the guys are just like family. In the eight months I’ve been with them I’m closer to the guys than I’ve ever been with the THEE ARMADA guys.

Brian Rademacher: Is there any song on the release that you like singing live the most?

Josh Caddy: Performance-wise I love to sing "Look Out". That’s my favorite to perform live.

Brian Rademacher: Well Josh I congratulate you and BAD CITY on the new CD and I hope you enjoyed our review.

Josh Caddy: Yes I did, we all loved it.

Brian Rademacher: Would you like to say anything to your fans?

Josh Caddy: Yeah join our street teams, buy the new record and enjoy the music. And thanks Brian.