BADBADNOTGOOD co-founder Matthew Tavares opened up in a lengthy Instagram post on Saturday about his departure from the group in 2019. The keyboardist/guitarist penned a 1,064 note to Instagram outlining an alleged toxic environment within the Canadian jazz/hip-hop ensemble.
In his lengthy-yet-focused post, Tavares leveled numerous accusations against BADBADNOTGOOD, the band’s management, and drummer Alex Sowinski. As to why it took him so long to go public with his grievances, Tavares stated that he was pressured to make his departure appear amicable as to not squelch the release of 2021’s Talk Memory, the band’s first on major label XL Recordings.
“The peace and love exterior is a front to hide the darker interior, as it almost always is,” Tavares wrote. “I know a lot of people are going to be rolling their eyes at this thinking this is driven by pettiness because I’m not in the band anymore. Just so everything is clear, I left on my own volition, leaving the master rights to a band that has 4 million monthly listeners on Spotify, to a band whose touring income was at insane heights, with an identity that was consistently validated and praised by our peers and the general public.”
The multi-instrumentalist went on to cast himself as the backbone of the band, at least during its early years. Tavares takes credit for everything from giving the band its name to recording the first two albums to designing the packing for BADBAD’s 2015 collaboration with Ghostface Killah, Sour Soul. His main grievance comes from the way he has been supposedly written out of the group’s history after laying the groundwork for its success. The group’s new Bandcamp biography makes no mention of him and the band’s Instagram unfollowed him shortly after his departure.
“You can call it narcissistic or egotistical to point all this stuff out, but I cannot explain how frustrating it is to see the band perpetuate a narrative where I essentially did nothing. All because of their own insecurity,” Tavares wrote. “To be unfollowed by the Instagram you made is a funny feeling. I gave every waking breath of my life for 9 years and every ounce of my ability to this band, to help create what it was.”
Tavares doesn’t ask anything from the band, its label, or its fans. Instead, it appears he just wants to shine a light on a situation that has been glossed over for two years. However, while much of the post addresses the professional interworkings of the band, Matthew recounts a particularly unsettling story that takes aim at the character of his former bandmates and management.
I feel like this story sums it all up. In South Africa we were out late one night and I over heard screams coming from down an alley as we were driving home. We pulled over and I ran to see what was happening and saw a man literally holding a woman down to the ground about to rape her. The woman was screaming in a way that still gives me shivers when I think about it. I ran way ahead of everyone else and grabbed the guy and forced him down until the cops arrived. It was one of the single scariest moments of my life. Every second of forcing this guy down I was praying he didn’t have a gun or a knife on him. The cops arrived and took him away, the woman was so hysterical she could barely breath. The next day Alex said that I should have “beat him up more” in a monotone, despite standing 2 blocks away during the whole thing, and the manager said “don’t save any more lives”. And that was that. Even an action like that goes without acknowledgment. It was forgotten about quickly and only brought up again in some ironic joking way to try to diminish me which is fucked up in its own right. I can probably give 100000 more examples of this kind of behaviour but it was so fucking tiring.
A representative for BADBADNOTGOOD offered no comment when reached by Pitchfork. The band released its fifth album, Talk Memory, back in October via XL Records. Scroll down to read the full post from Matthew Tavares on his departure from BADBADNOTGOOD. Tavares maintains an active Bandcamp page and released an 88-track, 13-year retrospective, ARKIVE, last month.
I realize I’ve never really publicly talked about leaving BADBAD in anyway other than my post about it two years ago. A post that I spent a lot of time mulling over to make sure it seemed balanced and inoffensive and gave an honest perspective into how hard of a decision it was for me to leave. Unfortunately Alex and BBNG’s management didn’t agree, and I was unfollowed from their instagram shortly after. Of course not without them commenting an emoji heart on my post to make sure no-one caught on and it was all ‘good vibes’. This is a small microcosm of what it was like to be in BADBAD the 9 years I was in the band. The peace and love exterior is a front to hide the darker interior, as it almost always is. I know a lot of people are going to be rolling their eyes at this thinking this is driven by pettiness because I’m not in the band anymore. Just so everything is clear, I left on my own volition, leaving the master rights to a band that has 4 million monthly listeners on Spotify, to a band whose touring income was at insane heights, with an identity that was consistently validated and praised by our peers and the general public.Â
The environment was so negative that all this didn’t matter, I needed to get out, I couldn’t take it anymore. The record needs to be set straight. For my own sanity. Their lack of acknowledgment of me leaving has gotten to the point of insult. Their new biography on their bandcamp doesn’t even mention my name. When I was about to leave I was told by management to play along to this narrative so they don’t sacrifice their XL Record deal, and I did, but the record is out now and I can tell that the story will not be set straight by them. I was not just simply some interchangeable member in the band, as their biography insinuates. The very first videos were filmed by my friends with my cameras, edited by me, recorded by me with my gear. The band was named by me and my friend Connor. The studio we made when the band had no money was funded entirely by me and Frank Dukes. We went to HUGE lengths to set up everything. The first two records were recorded by my friend Matt MacNeil (of Homer fame) and me. All of IV was recorded and mixed by me. All the artwork done in collaboration with me and Connor Olthuis. All the package design, including Sour Soul, done by me. I was the only member of the band with a drivers license before Leland joined, and it was a good 7 years of touring before we got a tour manager.Â
The website that became viral in its own right and led to 100,000s of thousands of downloads of our early music was made by me, with a server set up by me. Not to mention the regular stuff a band member does like writing music, going on tour for half the year, etc. You can call it narcissistic or egotistical to point all this stuff out, but I cannot explain how frustrating it is to see the band perpetuate a narrative where I essentially did nothing. All because of their own insecurity. To be unfollowed by the Instagram you made is a funny feeling. I gave every waking breath of my life for 9 years and every ounce of my ability to this band, to help create what it was. When I stopped touring it was held over my head constantly by Alex. Always mentioning it to other people, while of course not mentioning the huge amount of money he made when I was no longer taking my full cut.Â
I feel like this story sums it all up. In South Africa we were out late one night and I over heard screams coming from down an alley as we were driving home. We pulled over and I ran to see what was happening and saw a man literally holding a woman down to the ground about to rape her. The woman was screaming in a way that still gives me shivers when I think about it. I ran way ahead of everyone else and grabbed the guy and forced him down until the cops arrived. It was one of the single scariest moments of my life. Every second of forcing this guy down I was praying he didn’t have a gun or a knife on him. The cops arrived and took him away, the woman was so hysterical she could barely breath. The next day Alex said that I should have “beat him up more” in a monotone, despite standing 2 blocks away during the whole thing, and the manager said “don’t save any more lives”. And that was that. Even an action like that goes without acknowledgment. It was forgotten about quickly and only brought up again in some ironic joking way to try to diminish me which is fucked up in its own right. I can probably give 100000 more examples of this kind of behaviour but it was so fucking tiring. So annoying to be holding everyone up and shit on. I realize now how much of it was my responsibility of course. I believed that I deserved to be shit on. That I deserved to not be acknowledged from my lack of belief in myself. Gladly placing everyone above me. But that’s changed now. So there you have it. That’s why I left. While of course I can feel resentment and jealousy about not being on some big label or having the exposure of the band anymore, I have my freedom and I have love and I am surrounded by people who I respect and who respect me. It’s an incredible feeling. Do not assume I’m writing this from some angry place. I feel really really grounded and happy, but I need to live honestly. I am unfortunately still afraid of BBNG. They have so many resources, so much legal power, a huge instagram following and are on one of the biggest labels in the world. That’s why it’s taken me so long to post it. But I can’t let my fear get in the way anymore. To whoever reads all this, thanks. Love Matt
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