INTERVIEW: Jack Conlon from Bad Hombres

As popular Glasgow band, Bad Hobres may be coming to a end, band member, Jack Conlon still isn’t done with the Scottish music scene just yet. His podcast, Telt is something you’ll definitely want to get your ears around as he interviews some of the best Scottish musicians to date.

How was your upbringing in Glasgow?

I can’t have any complaints! I have a great family who gave me a great upbringing and had an amazing group of mates around me so it was hassle free. Music never really became a big thing for me until I was 15 or 16; it was always football before that.

Who were your early musical influences?

I had a lot of older cousins who were in to there music when I was younger and they were getting me into bands like Oasis, The Fratellis, Franz Ferdinand. I never really thought about it at the time but it was great that there were some Scottish bands in there that I was digging.

I got more into my music when I was 15 or 16 when my Dad introduced me to The Smiths. That really changed everything for me in terms of where my taste went. If memory serves me right Girlfriend In A Coma was the first Smiths song I heard and I was blown away. Morrissey’s swooning vocals and absurd lyrics were like nothing I’d heard before, and Johnny Marr’s guitar playing was unparalleled. I think it was the political element of The Smiths songwriting that sent me on the path to likes of Pink Floyd, The Clash and The Pogues. Being from a Catholic background The Pogues and The Dubliners were always on in the background and I loved the both of them.

How did it come about meeting the other boys from Bad Hombres? It’s such a weird story. Paul (our bass player) and Innes (our drummer) were in a band with a boy I went to uni with. We immediately bonded over Oasis and fortunately when we met they were looking for a lead guitar player and he asked me to come in for a jam. I was absolutely s******g it as I was an awful guitar player back then but I somehow made it into the band probably because the boys felt sorry for me! The lead singer/songwriter didn’t want to do it any more, so the three of us were left with no songs and no singer. Me and Paul stepped forward and started writing the tunes but we didn’t know any reliable guitar players. I had arranged to meet up for a few pints with one of my mates from school, Brendan, who I hadn’t seen in a few years because we had went our separate ways. After a few pints I found out he played guitar, which I had no idea about, and he was looking for a band. Talk about luck!

Favourite gig you’ve played so far?

Hands down my favourite gig was supporting The Blinders at St Luke’s. They were my favourite band at the time and when the offer came through I nearly cried. No word of a lie, I was literally walking from HMV with the Columbia Vinyl when it happened. They are an enormous influence on our sound and it was just amazing.

It was the biggest crowd we’d ever played to (sold-out St Lukes) and it was definitely the best we’ve ever played. It’s a special venue and we’ve been lucky to play St Luke’s a few times. The Ninth Wave were on the bill as well and they were beautiful to watch, then The Blinders tore the roof off. What a f*****g night man.

You released single, ‘Burn it down’ in 2018. How was that?

It was some buzz. We’d had that tune written pretty much since the start. Kieren and Scotty (the producer at Magic Box) took it up to the next level in pre-production and it’s still a favourite to play at the gigs. It was our first proper release so there’ll always be a bit of nostalgia whenever we hear it.

A year later, you released a EP. How was it releasing, ‘Protest as you please’?

That was the moment it felt like we had arrived. It was a collection of four songs that we’d played extensively at all our gigs in the year running up to it, and we couldn’t have been happier with the outcome. In my opinion, the whole EP defined the sound of the band, especially the two singles Don’t Panic Steven and Theresa on the Guillotine. We all thought the artwork for it was fantastic and it really captured the band we wanted to be at that moment in time. It was really well received as well which is just a bonus. It could have got 2 streams and I would still have been proud of it.

Kieren Webster from The View has been quite involved with the band, how did that all come about?

It was a bolt out the blue actually! We had uploaded a video of one of our first gigs at The Clutha and we done a cover of Made of Stone by the Stone Roses. During the cover an old guy with a walking stick went down to the front of the stage, raised his walking stick in the air and started dancing. It was so funny, and someone captured it on video thankfully. Kieren seen it and thought we sounded really good! He got in touch via twitter and it kind of snowballed from there. Paul and I went to meet him for a pint in The Clutha and before we knew it we were in the studio. I’d now consider him a really good friend. He’s a really generous, genuinely nice man and I’d never have anyone say a bad word about him. What he’s done for us as a band, I can’t put it into words.

Your final gig as a group is at the King Tuts. How are you feeling about that?

We’re all feeling a bit weird about it. I’m super excited for the gig as it will be a celebration of what we’ve came through as a band, but also as four best mates who’ve bonded and experienced so much over the years; there’s no one else I’d rather have done it with. We’ve released music that we loved and thankfully some other people liked it too. We’ve met some of the best people I could imagine. It’s not been without it’s hiccups and fallings out along the way. It’ll be an emotional night, but one I am buzzing for. I honestly can’t wait to get in about it and put on a show for one last time as the four of us.

You’ve now got your own podcast called, ‘Telt’. How much are you enjoying that?

I’m absolutely loving it man. If anyone knows me, I chew the ear of most people when I’ve had a couple of pints and I’m always asking questions so it’s probably natural I fell in to it. Again, I’ve had some cracking chats with some of the most talented people in the country and thankfully people have enjoyed listening so far. Most of all I love doing it and sharing the conversations with people.

I’ve got some big episodes and interviews coming up so, yeah, it couldn’t be going any better.

When did you first have the idea of starting the podcast?

It was a bit of a eureka moment one night. I can’t remember which night it was to be honest, but it was just a realisation that the conversations I’d had with people in the music industry were too good not be sharing with a wider audience. I wanted to give anyone looking to get involved in the industry, whether that be aspiring artists or promoters, an insight on how to get involved and some of the best stories from respected people within the industry. After a few months of messing about, I got my act together and got stuck into it.

Any plans for the future?

It’s a weird time to talk about the future with all that’s going on with COVID-19. If anything it’s proven we can’t really predict what’ll happen and that’s certainly been the case for us. There’s been a lot going on within the band over the past while and some things are up in the air at the moment. I’ll definitely be carrying on with the new project which I’m super excited about and I’m hoping that tunes will be out for the end of the year. Recordings booked in for August so hopefully that’s a realistic target. The plan for the podcast is to keep it up, increase the output to 2-3 episodes a week and increase the production quality. The sky is the limit for that so I’m buzzing to get in about it.

Bad Hombres along with the Telt podcast will both provide you with an excellent listen. You can find both links below!

TELT Podcast

Bad Hombres