Indie Rock

“Indie rock to make your head bop,” the two-piece power trio. 

The Bad Actors, an electric new outfit here to bathe your mundane routine in a bright orange glow. Contemplative singer/songwriter tunes meet devil-may-care rock. Arctic Monkeys, The Police and Jimi Hendrix are found influencing pounding beats, expressive guitar lines and pop-y ear-worm melodies.

Scissor-kicks and stage tricks are the MO of “kinetic” frontman Khalil. His voltaic stage presence helped win slots at Isle of Wight, Hillsborough festival, and a Riverside festival headline with previous projects. Whilst Jay’s laid-back drumming, matching his own personality in feel but not in introversion, forms the springboard for Khalil’s antics. A flurry of viral social media videos helped them garner >6,500 streams and 110K TikTok views in the first month of their debut.

The duo became friends at school when Khalil told Jay he needed a drummer. Jay obliged, learned drums and joined the band. Down-to-Earth, indie-punk songwriting saw them named in BBC Introducing Sheffield’s best of 2014 list.

Fast forward a decade and the punk roots are ever-present but are seeded in a bed of groove and melody. Songs wrap themes of infidelity, homelessness and existential longing in neat 3 minute packages. But catchy hooks will have you singing along before you realise the gravity.

The Bad Actors are here for a good time. The music is energetic, the message is bright. They've already begun painting the town orange with their debut and do not intend to stop.