Music Bugle Exclusive – Q & A – Mike Staub Of Bad Mary

By Nicholas Jason Lopez

Bad Mary gonna keep on burning.

High-energy, danceable punk that’s enough to light up a room sums up what you get with Long Island, N.Y.-based quartet Bad Mary.

While the genre can get serious and downright political, Bad Mary are there to prove you can still be loud, spread your message and still have fun.

Most recently, the group dropped their ‘Trash & Glamour’ EP, toured Japan a second time and regularly play social media livestream concerts, where they take requests and do covers.

They’ve also toured around the Central and East Coast, most notably playing with The Dollyrots in Texas and at a hometown appearance at Amityville Music Hall, along with other stops at New York City’s Bowery Electric and an upcoming show in Philadelphia at The Fire on Nov. 29.

The Music Bugle had the chance to talk with bassist Mike Staub about getting to play with The Dollyrots, how he would describe Long Island to someone who has never been there before and much more, which you can check out below.

Music Bugle – How would you describe Long Island to someone who has never been there before? 

Mike Staub – It’s a weird place, really. It’s home, but it’s got a lot of NY attitude without being in the city. Some may say it’s even got more of the NY attitude at certain times. It’s suburban, the traffic is awful, but low-key has some absolutely incredible musicians. Some of the best bands in the US right now are in the LI underground scene and it has some incredible venues to perform at. Great pizza, better bagels.

Music Bugle – How did you come up with the name “Bad Mary”? 

Mike Staub – When we were coming up with band names after we decided to become an original band, we wanted something that represented our style, something fun and something that could be easily understood. David just threw it out there one morning at like 6 AM, the band deliberated individually and we figured out we all loved it.

Music Bugle – You recently played Amityville Music Hall with The Dollyrots, a big name act within their own right. What was your reaction to sharing a stage with them? 

Mike Staub – This is the second time we’ve had the privilege to play with The Dollyrots and they’re just the best. Really. Fantastic people, fantastic band and fun to be around. We love them. As for our reaction? Oh man… we’re always beyond stoked to be able to perform on the same stage. They put on such an incredible show, we’re still in awe of that! However, being able to perform with them is a dream come true. A band that we’ve always looked up to? Can’t beat it. We hope we continue to get the opportunity to play with The Dollyrots.

Music Bugle – What was it like putting together your EP ‘Trash & Glamour’?

Mike Staub – Exciting! We hadn’t put out an original record since 2019 with ‘The Return of Space Girl,’ so we were pumped to put together a new original EP. We love these songs and we’re immensely proud of ‘T&G.’ Felt like we were going back to our roots a little, but somehow also expanding our musical style. It took some time, but it was an incredible experience. We’re also all DIY, so we can really spend time with each song to make it as good as it can be.

Music Bugle – What excites you the most about your style of music? 

Mike Staub – Performing live. We write songs we want to play live. Our style is energetic and very crowd-interactive. We want to be right in there with all of the fans/friends/audience. We want to hit the “heys and ho’s” and the “let’s gos” and just turn the amps up real loud, bash the drums and give everyone a 30-60 minute vacation from life. It’s just fun.

Music Bugle – How have you felt the band has matured since ‘Better Days’? 

Mike Staub – Other than being 10 years older? I think our writing has gotten much more expansive and more sophisticated. We’re not writing longer songs, but our songs are a little more intricate, they’re saying other things. We still love ‘Better Days’ though and live, we play a lot of those songs.

Music Bugle – Does social media help or hurt musicians? 

Mike Staub – Depends? It’s a pain to learn. Learning new platforms is a killer. Whether it be Instagram or TikTok, it sucks to have to take time away from writing, playing and recording, to see which hashtags are trending, but… being able to connect with people across the world in an instant is incredible. Without social media, we wouldn’t have become friends with so many people all over the world. One of our friends, who first found us online, flew to NY from Texas to see us play on September 3rd with The Dollyrots. That doesn’t happen without social media. It’s a double-edged sword, but I think realizing the dangers of social media addiction, misinformation and timeline manipulation is important, but the tools presented for connection are top notch. We stream live to Twitch/Facebook/YouTube every week and it’s how we meet new people. Just gotta be careful.

Music Bugle – Who are you listening to right now, music-wise? 

Mike Staub – We’re always listening to The Dollyrots, Green Day, Rancid, The Ramones, The Misfits, Blondie, The Muffs, The Police, Queen, AC/DC, the list goes on and on, but one of our favorite newer bands is Otoboke Beaver from Japan. Good god, they’re incredible. An all-woman riot-punk outfit from Kyoto, they’re amazing! Also… (Laughs)… we listen to a lot of Anime music and J-Rock/J-Pop in general. We miss Japan a lot… it brings us back.

Music Bugle – Where do you go when you need a break? 

Mike Staub – Disney World! HAH! Eastern Long Island, Montauk. Universal Studios. Theme Parks in general. Also, home. Sometimes, we just hang out in the backyard, make some dinner and have quiet nights in our living room.

Music Bugle – How would you sum up your 2023 so far? 

Mike Staub – Incredible. A new EP, a second tour of Japan and a show with The Dollyrots? One of our best years ever… and there’s still two months left!

*Photo Credit – Eric Sandstrom*