What are your names?
Dayna Leadbitter & Jaimie Johnson
What is the band’s name?
Badmind
How did you come up with the band’s name?
DAYNA – We were looking for a name for a while and the term ‘Badmind’ is Jamaican slang for somebody who’s jealous of what you do so I thought it was a cool link to my Jamaican heritage and we both liked how it sounded as a name.
What is your genre of music?
JAIMIE – We class ourselves as somewhere between Lo-fi, R&B and Pop but we tend not to be too worried about genres we just make music we like.
Give us a little bio about you.
DAYNA – Badmind is a Lofi R&B / Pop duo from Newcastle Upon Tyne, made up of myself singer / songwriter Dayna Leadbitter and producer / drummer Jaimie Johnson. We were named in BBC introducing’s tips for 2021, been asked to represent the North East at this year’s Radio 1 Big Weekend Festival and have racked up over 230,000+ streams across the singles we released during 2020 completely independently.
What made you go into music?
DAYNA – My Dad has been singing and playing guitar for me since I was young, so I knew from an early age that I wanted to sing and do music. I started off wanting to do musical theatre but as I got older, I realised I wanted to be an artist and write my own songs.
Who are your influences?
DAYNA – I would say my influences would mainly be people like Lauryn Hill, Beyoncé, The Weeknd, Kehlani.
I grew up listening to a lot of different artists but the way I approach song writing now has definitely been influenced by these artists.
Are you a signed?
JAIMIE – No, we have done everything independently up to this point.
Your new single ‘Flaws & Phases’ is out now , tell us more about the single.
JAIMIE – Flaws & Phases is the first song of a new direction and a new approach to music for us. Before this song we generally made more polished and produced pop music, a lot of our sessions had 80+ channels and we’d use a lot of synths and plugins etc. We’ve taken a more minimalist approach to the music and production with this song and it has been such an eye opener for us. It almost felt counter intuitive, but we’ve really enjoyed the process and will continue to make our music this way. We really feel like we have grown as musicians and songwriters during lockdown and Flaws & Phases is the first showcase of how we have grown as a band.
What is the meaning behind the single?
DAYNA – The song is about a person loving you through everything, not just being there for the good times but through the bad times too. We all have our own flaws and different phases that we go through in life and the song is a sort of shout out to the significant person in your life who goes through them with you.
Who did you work with on the single?
DAYNA – We have been working with our live guitarist Stuart Davies on this track and a lot of other tracks over the past couple of months. He is a highly sought-after session musician with a wealth of knowledge and experience that has been invaluable to us. We also worked with a great local saxophonist called Alex Saxon and our super talented live bassist Jimmy brown, both of which added a quality and feel to the track that really brought the song to another level for us.
Describe the track in two words.
JAIMIE – Summer Vibes
Will we see a Music Video for the single?
JAIMIE – Possibly… Just need the right idea.
Will we see an EP or Album and if so, what can we expect from it?
DAYNA – I think an EP is more like than an album. I feel like we are an EP band. We like to create little chapters of sound that would work well in short form so EP’s would be perfect for that. We have too many ideas to only do singles and are too easily distracted to do a full album haha so an EP’s seems like the best idea for where we are at now.
What else can we expect in 2021?
DAYNA – More music for sure and fingers crossed we can start gigging properly.
Where do you see yourself now in 5 Years?
JAIMIE – I want to travel the world playing music and then retired in Greece haha. I don’t need much I’d like to build a tiny house in Greece and join a Police tribute band on the weekends haha!
What quote or saying do you always stick by?
DAYNA – “Those who say the can and those who say they can’t, are both usually right.” It’s a quote we live by in our band.
When you are at a gig, what are 5 things you cannot forget?
1. Laptop
2. Drumsticks
3. Water
4. Phone
Do you have social media accounts so your fans can follow you?
Yes, you can follow us here:
Instagram
TikTok
Twitter
Facebook
