Courting: An interview about David Byrne's Bad Side

By Jon Milton

​Contemplating David Byrne’s Bad Side is not something I’ve readily done, but I guess on reflection there’s a lot to be concerned about. He’s freely talked about being a French speaking Psycho Killer, burning down the house and being wicked and lazy. He also has friends, a lot of them going by the sheer volume of collaborations he’s made over his 50-year recording career. But why is he the subject of the new single by fresh-faced Liverpudlian indie starlets Courting?
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Courting’s front man Sean explains that the track is more about class tourism and the petty prejudices that exist in Britain today, with David Byrne as the protagonist, known for outspoken views on those that are not polite, ‘hating on the casual racists and general nasty people who you encounter on a day to day basis’. The same people that, in the current lockdown would be ‘undoubtedly going down the beach with their mates, protesting about the other people who are doing the same, and claiming they’re the problem’.

DBBS is the third single from the band, who released ‘Not Yr Man’ last year and ‘Football’ earlier this year, with the latter gaining  a lot of attention, so much so that in the week of DBBS being released they’ve managed to appear on Steve Lamacq’s show, which Sean describes as ‘feeling really good and an absolute honour’.     

DBBS is another absolutely top-quality tune from these four lads from Liverpool, and one they are particularly pleased with, and rightly so. Normally you’d expect them to be out touring with the single, but instead the band have been using the lockdown to focus on writing and demoing new songs and being creative. For Sean ‘the real shame is that we can’t play the new tracks live which is the best bit’ although he remains positive, describing how the lockdown ‘feels like we’re all united in a lack of things to do right now, so it’s hard to complain’.

Up next for the band is ‘either an EP or a reality TV show, whichever comes first’. Personally I’d prefer the latter, but either way Courting are definitely a band to watch out for.

You can listen to David Byrne's Bad Side here.