Brad Roberts
Encyclopedia
Bradley Kenneth "Brad" Roberts (born January 10, 1964, Winnipeg, Manitoba) is the lead singer and guitarist
for the Canadian
folk-rock band Crash Test Dummies
. He sings in the bass-baritone
range.
in 1986. Roberts began performing in a house band
for the Blue Note Cafe in Winnipeg under the moniker Bad Brad Roberts and the St. James Rhythm Pigs. The band
gradually evolved into The Crash Test Dummies. While studying at university and working as a bartender at The Spectrum Cabaret, Roberts began writing
his own song
s and introducing them to the band. After attending a songwriters' workshop with Lyle Lovett
at the Winnipeg Folk Festival
, he wrote "Superman's Song
".
Demo
s of Roberts's songs found themselves in the hands of various music company execs across Canada, and the quirky bar band that had just begun to write original material found itself with record deal options which led The Crash Test Dummies into a rushed, but nevertheless well-received debut album, The Ghosts that Haunt Me
. The album introduced the band to the rest of the Canadian provinces, selling over 400,000 copies in Canada alone and also garnishing a 1991 Juno Award
for Group of the Year. With more time and finances, Roberts set about writing the band's second album, God Shuffled His Feet
. This to date is the band's best selling and most popular album, taking them into the international arena of musical exposure. The album has sold over six million copies and caused The Crash Test Dummies to be nominated for three Grammy Awards in 1994.
A Worm’s Life was released in 1996, selling over one million copies and showcasing a harder-edged sound as the band continued to evolve, producing
this album on their own.
1999 introduced a mix of electronic
funk
and spontaneous wordplay with Give Yourself A Hand
. Roberts met Greg Wells
at a songwriters' workshop and invited him to co-write and assist in recording this album inspired by influences and flavours of Roberts' new home in Harlem, New York.
In 2000, Roberts found himself recuperating from a major car accident in Nova Scotia
, where he began jamming with the locals (The Great Wind Jammers from Argyle, Yarmouth County) and produced from these sessions I Don't Care That You Don't Mind
. This was the first album released by the band independent of a major record label
.
Roberts now lives with his wife in SoHo, New York where he continues to write and record his music. He has had many artistic opportunities to work with other artists such as Joe Jackson
, Scotty Hard, Greg Wells, Deltron 3030
, and Medeski Martin & Wood
.
Puss N Boots was released in October 2003 with a Europe
an and additional American version. Roberts appeared on VH1
's I Love the '90s miniseries. The 1994 episode discussed the song "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
" with Roberts claiming that his deep voice is a result of having a third testicle. On the official Crash Test Dummies website
, he later noted that this was a joke.
In 2005, Roberts joined the Paul Green School of Rock as a guitar teacher and songwriting teacher.
A new Crash Test Dummies
album, Oooh La La!, was released in 2010. This was followed with the solo release on an album of Mantra
s, entitled Rajanaka: Mantra, in 2011.
' Canadian tour, Roberts began taking random photos of the places he visited, which were then posted on his blog and the band's Facebook page.
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
for the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
folk-rock band Crash Test Dummies
Crash Test Dummies
The Crash Test Dummies is a Canadian folk rock/alternative rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, widely known for their 1993 single "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm".The band is most identifiable through Brad Roberts and his distinctive bass-baritone voice...
. He sings in the bass-baritone
Bass-baritone
A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing three Wagnerian roles: the Dutchman in Der fliegende...
range.
Career
His musical career began with a bachelor's degree with honours from University of WinnipegUniversity of Winnipeg
The University of Winnipeg is a public university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and theology as well as graduate programs. The U of W's founding colleges were Manitoba College and Wesley College, which merged...
in 1986. Roberts began performing in a house band
House band
For the British band that existed from 1984-2001, see The House BandA house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to...
for the Blue Note Cafe in Winnipeg under the moniker Bad Brad Roberts and the St. James Rhythm Pigs. The band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
gradually evolved into The Crash Test Dummies. While studying at university and working as a bartender at The Spectrum Cabaret, Roberts began writing
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
his own song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
s and introducing them to the band. After attending a songwriters' workshop with Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett
Lyle Pearce Lovett is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded thirteen albums and released 21 singles to date, including his highest entry, the number 10 chart hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, "Cowboy Man"...
at the Winnipeg Folk Festival
Winnipeg Folk Festival
The Winnipeg Folk Festival is a summer folk music festival held in Birds Hill Provincial Park, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It features a variety of folk artists from all around the world, as well as a number of local folk performers....
, he wrote "Superman's Song
Superman's Song
"Superman's Song" was the first single of the Canadian folk-rock group Crash Test Dummies and came from their 1991 debut album The Ghosts That Haunt Me. The single was the group's first hit, charting in both Canada and the United States...
".
Demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
s of Roberts's songs found themselves in the hands of various music company execs across Canada, and the quirky bar band that had just begun to write original material found itself with record deal options which led The Crash Test Dummies into a rushed, but nevertheless well-received debut album, The Ghosts that Haunt Me
The Ghosts That Haunt Me
The Ghosts That Haunt Me is the 1991 debut album by Crash Test Dummies. It featured their hit "Superman's Song".The artwork featured on the cover, and throughout the liner notes, is by 19th-century illustrator Gustav Doré and is from 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge...
. The album introduced the band to the rest of the Canadian provinces, selling over 400,000 copies in Canada alone and also garnishing a 1991 Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
for Group of the Year. With more time and finances, Roberts set about writing the band's second album, God Shuffled His Feet
God Shuffled His Feet
The album was the band's biggest mainstream hit. Allmusic writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who gave it 4½ out of 5 stars, attributes the album's success to "Jerry Harrison's remarkably clear and focused production" and that "apart from the relatively concise pop smarts of the singles "Mmm Mmm Mmm...
. This to date is the band's best selling and most popular album, taking them into the international arena of musical exposure. The album has sold over six million copies and caused The Crash Test Dummies to be nominated for three Grammy Awards in 1994.
A Worm’s Life was released in 1996, selling over one million copies and showcasing a harder-edged sound as the band continued to evolve, producing
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
this album on their own.
1999 introduced a mix of electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
and spontaneous wordplay with Give Yourself A Hand
Give Yourself a Hand
Give Yourself a Hand is the fourth album by the Crash Test Dummies, released in 1999 through ViK. Records. It is their final album for BMG. The album spawned a quirky hit "Keep a Lid on Things"...
. Roberts met Greg Wells
Greg Wells
Greg Wells is a multiple Grammy nominated musician, record producer and songwriter based in Los Angeles. Wells has produced and written hits with Adele, Weezer, Pink, Theophilus London, Deftones, Katy Perry, Rufus Wainwright, The All American Rejects, OneRepublic, Mika, Aerosmith, Burt Bacharach,...
at a songwriters' workshop and invited him to co-write and assist in recording this album inspired by influences and flavours of Roberts' new home in Harlem, New York.
In 2000, Roberts found himself recuperating from a major car accident in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
, where he began jamming with the locals (The Great Wind Jammers from Argyle, Yarmouth County) and produced from these sessions I Don't Care That You Don't Mind
I Don't Care That You Don't Mind
I Don't Care That You Don't Mind is the fifth studio album by Crash Test Dummies. The album began as a solo album for Brad Roberts, while he was recuperating in the town of Argyle, Nova Scotia after suffering a near-fatal car accident in the fall of 2000. Crash Test Dummies' name was put on the...
. This was the first album released by the band independent of a major record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
.
Roberts now lives with his wife in SoHo, New York where he continues to write and record his music. He has had many artistic opportunities to work with other artists such as Joe Jackson
Joe Jackson (musician)
Joe Jackson is an English musician and singer-songwriter now living in Berlin, whose five Grammy Award nominations span from 1979 to 2001...
, Scotty Hard, Greg Wells, Deltron 3030
Deltron 3030
Deltron 3030 is an alternative hip hop supergroup composed of producer Dan the Automator, rapper Del the Funky Homosapien and DJ Kid Koala...
, and Medeski Martin & Wood
Medeski Martin & Wood
Medeski Martin & Wood is an American jazz trio formed in 1991, consisting of John Medeski on keyboards and piano, Billy Martin on drums and percussion, and Chris Wood on double bass and bass guitar....
.
Puss N Boots was released in October 2003 with a Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an and additional American version. Roberts appeared on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's I Love the '90s miniseries. The 1994 episode discussed the song "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm
"Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" is a single by the Canadian folk-rock group Crash Test Dummies, featured on their 1993 album God Shuffled His Feet.-CD maxi:# "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm" — 3:53# "Here I Stand Before Me" — 3:07...
" with Roberts claiming that his deep voice is a result of having a third testicle. On the official Crash Test Dummies website
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
, he later noted that this was a joke.
In 2005, Roberts joined the Paul Green School of Rock as a guitar teacher and songwriting teacher.
A new Crash Test Dummies
Crash Test Dummies
The Crash Test Dummies is a Canadian folk rock/alternative rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, widely known for their 1993 single "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm".The band is most identifiable through Brad Roberts and his distinctive bass-baritone voice...
album, Oooh La La!, was released in 2010. This was followed with the solo release on an album of Mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
s, entitled Rajanaka: Mantra, in 2011.
Photography
In the fall of 2010, during Crash Test DummiesCrash Test Dummies
The Crash Test Dummies is a Canadian folk rock/alternative rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, widely known for their 1993 single "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm".The band is most identifiable through Brad Roberts and his distinctive bass-baritone voice...
' Canadian tour, Roberts began taking random photos of the places he visited, which were then posted on his blog and the band's Facebook page.