The brainchild of guitarist Nat Rufus, The Bad Signs are a seedy tribute to the fringe culture of 1960’s America; the beatniks, the beehives, the bikers, the whole scene. After ten years touring with twin brother and songwriting partner Rob Rufus in the punk rock band Blacklist Royals (Universal Music Group), inspiration struck as Rob took time off the road to edit his memoir, Die Young With Me (Simon & Schuster.)
“I got the idea from this old black and white photograph,” says Nat. “It was from ’67, just two teenagers on a motorcycle, but I wanted to start a band that sounded the way that photo looked, you know? Like vintage rebel youth.” The twins enlisted alt-country mainstay Samantha Harlow on lead vocals, roundly praised by Rolling Stone and America Songwriter – her haunting performances brought something unique and critical to the group. “She has a fragility to her voice that creates a sense of captivated unease… it’s like the sound of another time.”
Nat and his twin brother, Rob, were born and raised in West Virginia. The 13-year-old hillbilly goth-punks had a second-hand cassette collection comprising nothing but his father’s Elvis and Patsy Cline tapes, and their cousin’s bootlegs of The Misfits and The Cramps. Inspiration begot inspiration. Nat and Rob started a band later that year. Nat sang and played guitar. Rob played drums. Both wrote songs. Their punk aesthetic sent shockwaves through Appalachia and beyond. They’d garnered national attention and slots on the Warped Tour by the time they were seventeen
Then tragedy struck. Rob was diagnosed with Stage Four cancer. The years that followed were spent in cancer wards and operating rooms. But after years of treatment and surgeries, Rob learned to play drums again . . . Nat started writing songs again . . . the boys were back. The Twins moved to Nashville and formed Blacklist Royals. Three albums, four EPs, hundreds of shows, and a decade of international acclaim, TV slots, and punk-rock success followed.
In 2016, Rob immortalized their coming-of-age struggles in his memoir, Die Young With Me (Simon & Schuster.) The book was a critical and commercial success. Rob adapted the book for Netflix with VMA-winning director Emil Nava. The crescendo hit in 2017 when Rob was awarded the American Library Association Medal.
The book threw the door to their past wide-open. Nat stepped through it. He re-lit the spark: Those corrupting cassettes, Elvis, The Cramps, Patsy Cline, Misfits . . . The idea for a new band was born. It would be a collision of first loves, a hillbilly goth-punk’s ode to all that is cool. It would be as pure as music could be, as bad as music should be. It would be THE BAD SIGNS.
Nat began writing and honing the vision. Rob was behind the kit, co-writing and co-conspiring. But a piece was missing . . . her name was Samantha Harlow. She tended bar and sang at Robert’s Western World, the rowdiest honky-tonk in Nashville. A punk singer and a haunted honky-tonk angel may at first seem unlikely co-vocalists, but their voices blended eerily well.
Do you have any songwriting tips you can share?
Don’t bore us get to the chorus…
Do you have any go-to albums to listen to in the van?
No desert drive is complete without spinning The Killers’ ‘Sam’s Town’ at least once…
How do you kill the long hours in the van?
By literally killing, we’re serial killers…
Does your album have an overarching theme?
BADDNESS…
Explain the title of your song.
It’s a reference to that sinking feeling you get when a certain someone crosses your mind…