Running Celebrity
BadBadNotGood Drummer, Alexander Sowinski
“Going out for a run balances you physically and mentally. Making you naturally tired. It allows you to build energy toward the show.”
As it turned out, the best decision Alexander Sowinski ever made was dropping out of school. Back in 2010, the drummer from Mississauga, Ont. was studying contemporary jazz at Humber College. That’s where he met keyboardist Matthew Tavares and bassist Chester Hansen. They started jamming together, moving away from standards to jazz-inf luenced takes on hip hop tracks by the critically acclaimed rap collective Odd Future. After receiving less than f lattering feedback from their professors about their move towards hip hop, the three decided to step away from school.
Their timing couldn’t have been better. They’d filmed their interpretation of Odd Future leader Tyler the Creator’s song “Orange Juice” and put it on YouTube. It found its way to Tyler the Creator, who loved it, eventually performing and recording with the band. They called themselves BadBadNotGood, perhaps as a tongue-incheek nod to their judgmental teachers back at school.
Since then, the band has released five albums, each gaining critical and commercial momentum. And through all of this, the one thing that’s kept the band grounded, as they’ve toured the world and collaborated with many impressive musicians, is that they run together.
“When we’re on tour, we’ll go for a run in a big group,” Sowinski says just after getting back from playing shows in Japan. “Recently, were running in Yoyogi Park, this beautiful place in Tokyo,” Sowinski says. “It was like running a mile loop in rain forest. It was typhoon season and we got drenched – a few phones probably got ruined. But there were tons of people out doing all sorts of exercise, and we had a great run.”
Sowinski and the rest of the guys in the band have always been athletic and health conscious, but he’s really got into running in the last few years. “With touring, there isn’t a gym accessible everywhere you go,” says Sowinski. “Going out for a run balances you physically and mentally. Making you naturally tired. It allows you to build energy toward the show.” This year, Sowinski’s sister signed him up for his first race experience, the Sporting Life 10k in Toronto. “It was the first time I ever did anything like that,” he laughs. “I found it really fun.” He and his friends keep each other in check with the Nike+ Run Club app. “We’ll challenge each other to run a certain amount in a month,” he says. A recent challenge he got to piece together all around the world, including a run in a park in Copenhagen, and finished it up in Japan. When Sowinski is back in Toronto developing a new album, he’s got his favourite running routes. “I run down along the Humber River, and in High Park,” he says of his two go-to Toronto west end spots. “I also have a 10k loop from my house, down to the lakeshore and back.” And while they are working out material and recording, Sowinski often uses running to get away from the group for a momentary pause and figure out his contributions. “A good and a bad thing that I’ll do is throw the demo we’re working on onto my phone and take it for a run. I do a lot of dissection listening on a run. Even if it sucks I’ll listen to it over and over. Listening to it while running lets me see how all the elements work.”
But Sowinski much prefers to use his time on the run to appreciate the music by the many friends the band has made over the years. “I’ve been using Apple Music,” he says, noting that Montreal producer pal Kaytranada’s Polaris Prize-winning debut album 99.9% is an an excellent running companion, and features BadBadNotGood on one track. “Sometimes I need something more upbeat and energetic, so I don’t notice the run as much anymore. Then I’ll throw on a jazz album that helps me pace myself.”
His teachers back at Humber would be proud.– MD