Bad Rabbits

Early history

The five members of Bad Rabbits first came together in 2002 while attending Northeastern University and Audio Institute in Boston. Boakye and Akram were performing as a duo, and their childhood friend Davé was a member of experimental metal band Irepress. Masser and Araujo were playing in a jam band, covering Phish and the Grateful Dead songs. Davé, Akram, and Boakye started writing music for a new band.

A friend introduced Masser and Araujo to Davé at the YMCA dormitory on Northeastern's campus. The group performed their first show as The Eclectic Collective on January 16, 2003, at All Asia in Cambridge. There were various lineup changes including RP Thompson (keys), Geoff 'DJ Special Blend' Ford, singer Noni Kai, trumpet player and rapper Peter 'Afrodzak' Shungu, and saxophonist Robert Oswald. After two independent album releases and a tour in fall 2007 with artist Gavin Castleton, the group decided to call it quits.

Not happy with the direction The Eclectic Collective had taken, founder and drummer Sheel Davé led the change of its name and overall direction. Davé took the name Bad Rabbits from one of Gavin Castleton's songs, which the group performed while on tour with him.

Career

In fall 2008, the band self-released a four-song demo titled The Bad EP, which contains the song 'The Bad', later known as 'She's Bad'. In spring 2009, the band entered the studio with producer Jayson Michael Dezuzio to record their debut EP, Stick Up Kids. The album was completed in fall 2009 and released independently that December. Boston-based online retailer Karmaloop.com distributed and promoted the album.

A remix compilation of the Stick Up Kids EP was released in fall 2009, including remixes from Clinton Sparks, Crookers, Roxy Cottontail, Hot Pink Delorean, and Alex Suarez. Tracks include 'Booties', 'Neverland', 'Stick Up Kids', 'Girl I'm Like Damn!' (featuring Travie McCoy of Gym Class Heroes), 'She's Bad', 'Advantage Me', and 'Can't Back Down'. On May 14, 2013, the album American Love was released. It reached No. 1 on the iTunes R&B album chart and No. 35 on the iTunes album chart.

The album also reached No. 10 on the Billboard Heatseeker Chart, No. 12 on Billboard R&B Albums, and No. 29 on the Billboard Hip-Hop/R&B Album Chart. The first single, 'We Can Roll', is a one-sided 7" vinyl single with the iconic 'BR' logo hand-printed onto the blank B-side. Each copy came housed in a jacket that was hand screen printed with a 3D spot glitter and each record was individually numbered. The band released three more albums: Dusted (July 9, 2014), American Nightmare (November 21, 2016), and Mimi (August 9, 2018).

Keyboardist RP Thompson plays on most of the band's recordings but only plays live on rare occasion. From 2011 to 2015, Ramon Narvaez began filling in live on bass as well as rhythm or lead guitar when necessary. When the band parted ways with Araujo in fall 2015, Narvaez took over his position as a touring member until early 2020. He contributed musically to 'Save Yourself' and 'WWYD' off 2017's American Nightmare.

In 2018, Masser left and was replaced by Mike Landry in a touring capacity. In 2020, the band celebrated the 10-year anniversary of Stick Up Kids with sold out shows in Boston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. In 2020, founding members Boakye, Akram, and Davé formed their new record label, Coco Bvtter records, and plan to release the next Bad Rabbits record in 2023.