Fresh Forres rockers Bad Actress bring Razzie-matazz to Mad Hatters, Inverness as new EP tour continues

A FAMILY that rocks together, stays together.

That’s the credo behind Bad Actress, the backcombing bad boys bringing their brand of hard rock out of Forres and into Mad Hatters this weekend as they tour to celebrate the launch of their new EP.

Featuring the three Macfarlane brothers – Ross on vocals, Struan on guitar and Lewis on drums – the band have already been making a name for themselves over the last few years with slots at Monstersfest and the Inverness Highland Games.

“Yeah, the Highland Games thing we did as well was great fun,” Struan said. “I wasn’t sure what to expect with that one, like what kind of gig it was going to be, but it was really good.

“I wasn’t sure if it was going to be music fans coming along or just people who were at the Highland Games anyway.”

The band formed a few years ago, but the Macfarlane brothers have been playing together in bands for years – all previously played together in the band Civil Punk.

"It was always our guitarist's dream to play the Ironworks when he started playing in a band."

“Ross and Lewis are still doing Civil Punk with a new guitarist – I left to do more with this band,” Struan explained. “It’s me and Thomas [Bell] the other guitarist – and Lewis as well on drums – who kind of got the band together.

“And we had a few different lineups. Singers, we had a singer called Grant. We never actually gigged with him, but he helped us a lot with the songs and we rehearsed with him a lot. And then we tried out a few different singers, and then Ross was like ‘I’ll do it’.

“I wasn’t too sure at the time, because we were already in another band with him, and maybe this will be weird if all three of us were in another band, but then he sang with us and we all thought it was really good so he’s been singing with us since.”

The band are bringing the noise from their new EP Low Down ‘n’ Dirty – a record they were able to make thanks to the east coast. “We were playing a Battle of the Bands at Aberdeen in Tunnels and we won that, so we got a free day at Captain Toms in Aberdeen.

"And then we just decided to book another two days, so we did three days there – and we got one of them for free!

"We didn’t actually have a bassist at the time, our old bassist left round about then, so I was playing bass on the EP.

“So it went really good, and we got it done really quickly as well so we had a lot of time to spare and then help with the mixing and all of that too.”

With the first EP out of the way, Bad Actress are looking towards the future – with hopes of dates down south in the near future.

The band are definitely building on some brilliant local foundations either way. “I think for all of us Monstersfest was really good, and we played the Ironworks as well with King Kobalt on their EP launch,” Struan recalled.

“They had the small stage out the front, but it was really good as well. Thomas, it was always his dream to play the Ironworks when he started playing in a band.

“And also, playing the Tunnels at that Battle of the Bands in Aberdeen was really good, we drew a really good crowd and everybody was really enjoying it.”

Bad Actress play Mad Hatters on Friday night with support from The Hunt. Doors open at 9pm, and entry is free.