If there’s one group that epitomise how most of the UK actually perceive themselves outside of London, it would be the Bad Boy Chiller Crew. The group don’t take themselves seriously, make fun music using sped up garage beats and chipmunk vocals. Listening to the group is a throwback to the days of swapping tracks on your bluetooth phone. The group are currently the most sought after in the country – playing at nearly every festival possible in the UK this summer.
Kane Welsh from the group is sleeping with a pillow to the window in the car whilst, we speak to member Gareth Kelly. They’re both on the zoom in the back of a car. It seems the crew are constantly on the move. We catch them whilst on their travel to Newcastle for meetings. Either on the move, or still up to their mischievous ways. “Me and Kane are getting a Tattoo roulette, whoever looses has to get a portrait on them. We’ve got a tattooist who will pick the art”. The group don’t take themselves so seriously, which is a breath of fresh air. Gareth is easy to talk to on the phone, like talking to a close friend.
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BBCC have been keeping themselves more than busy. This week their new mixtape ‘Disrespectful’ is released and their new tour kicks off immenently: “It’s been non-stop, literally. Non-stop.”
Kane goes on to explain: “Because it’s creeped in slowly, it’s been alright to be honest. Sometimes it can be abit too much, but other times you go from human to robot. But lots of fun times to come yet.. hopefully!” The whole group in the car starts to laugh.
The Bad Boy Chiller Crew documentary that aired on ITV showed the crew playing at their first festival, and the nerves before the show. Fast forward six months and they seem seasoned in the game. “I think at the first couple of festivals people weren’t sure, because we came from playing to a couple hundred of people, to then 1000’s there was an adjustment time. I think this year we’re going to be more alert, and more professional”.
Clash asks what people might expect from the show. “Yeah people can expect abosoute rajeness – we do a full litre on vodka on stage each, we don’t really get our words out… One of us falls over, or one of us toilets ourselves. It’s pretty much a sketch show in itself. I’m not sure how there’s not been an emergency service. But yeah we’ve winged it”.
The festival run include the likes of Parklife, where they will be sharing the stage with the likes of the stage with 50 cent in Manchester. “Yeah it’s pretty bizarre, used to love 50 Cent as a kid”.
The documentary also showed how the group get mobbed in their home-town of Bradford. The day-to-day life has changed from where they grew up. Since the documentary, this has now changed to a UK level. “Yeah.. it’s literally just like wow. Like some days you’re all for it. Some days it can be quite a lot” he explains, it seems like it can make or break the day. “Sometimes people don’t greet you with respect and can be abit hostile, so you’re not sure what you’re going to get. Or people come up to say they aren’t a fan. Which probably isn’t the case they are the worlds most die-hard fan. But some people come through with true genuine love, and you can feel the love which is great”.
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Their ammo for the next round of tours and festival is the new 17-track mixtape named ‘Disrespectful’ the huge mixtape is “not a fraction of what we’re sitting on” he mentioned. Listeneing to the tape, it puts a smile of your face. It’s three lads having fun and taking influence from their childhood growing up. “We’re proper versatile with what we’re going to do next. We don’t know what we’re going to do, neither do the people”.
In the studio making the music, it must be just as fun “because there’s like three of us, plus a couple of pals and producer. We all have an idea of what to do next. Because it’s such a family, we’re all open to eachother ideas. The vocals that we come out with are from a girly cheesy 90’s song, to a well known 70’s song. Or something more upto date now. It’s a free for all”.
One thing to notice, is that the lads have started bringing their own melodies into their music. Their newest single ‘BMW’ shows member Kane Walsh laying down some calm vocals over the sped-up garage track. “We’ve started bringing more into it, It’s a worldwide audience, we’ve just got a tiktok video sent over, and someones put a Bhangrah music over the BMW song – which sounds sick”.
Aside from the music, the group are known for their comedy sketches. Each of the crew has their own characters which they imitate. The comedy came first, and from that the music which we hear now. “Yeah we want to get more work done on them, I think once the albums done, we’ve got time to chill out and relax, we’ll start hitting the comedy again properly. Even because we’re in music which is so fun, it’s still more serious than the joke and comedy side. That’s what we started off with, then the music came later. There’s a lot going on at the moment, so we’ll balance it out soon”.
The idea of a future sketch show on TV is definitely on the mind of the group. “That’s the plan. So we’ve already got a documentary out, got a few singles, and yeah a sketch show next. Then maybe a movie – then we’ve completed the assignment then – And then go back to packing boxes!” Everyone starts laughing in the car. “Like I’ve been there, done that – got the t-shirt”.
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'Disrespectful' will be released on February 18th.
Words: Joe Hale // @Joesquestion
Photo Credit: Frank Fieber
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