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TT Interview: Behind the Threads
of Bad News Bass. Talking to B.N.B. Founder Erik Yamamoto
| Date: |
1/23/23 |
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Interview: |
Erik Akira
Yamamoto |
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Subject |
Bad News Bass |
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Interviewer: |
Zander |
Introduction:
If you follow the swimbait scene you have likely heard of the growing
brand Bad News Bass. This brand has deep roots in Northern California and works
closely with local tackle shops, guides, and custom bait manufacturers to offer
exclusive swimbaits and soft goods. We sit down with B.N.B. founder Erik Akira
Yamamoto to learn more about the brand's origins, their exclusive offerings, and
what's coming next.
Bad News Bass is an apparel brand
that is very active in the community working closely with anglers, swimbait
brands, and local shops to promote their products and the culture of swimbait
fishing
Zander: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us today, we
are excited to learn more about Bad News Bass and the details behind the brand. Let’s start at the beginning,
before you created Bad News Bass can you tell us
where you grew up and some of your first experiences fishing?
Eric: I was born
and raised in San Jose, CA. Throughout my youth, I honestly went fishing once or
twice, and it just wasn’t on my radar. My brother Edgar and friend Mario Saucedo
were even doing tournaments together in Northern California, but I still didn’t
have any personal involvement. It wasn’t until I became a father and had full
custody of my son that fishing entered the picture. I would take him to the park
where he naturally gravitated towards the water at only five years old. As his
love and enthusiasm for learning about the sport expanded, it became a huge part
of both of our lives.
At the core of the brand is Erik's
son Berg, who is a dedicated angler and helped put the fuel in the fire of
creating Bad News Bass
In the early days Berg already was
bitten by the fishing bug and Erik would take him to his local lake after school
and fish to the late evening before rushing home to crank on some homework. It's
always special learning how fishing inspires and motivates each of us.
Zander:
It really is interesting to learn about what brought each of us to this sport. I
assume
bass is your favorite species to target, what are your favorite techniques to
target them?
Eric: I am
amazed at watching my son take the extensive preparations he does before
fishing. He takes into account not only the weather, but the moon phase,
barometric pressure, and the wind speed. My preparations include deciding which
photography equipment to use, charging all the batteries, and loading my car
with it all. He will even prep my own baits for me. When I watch him carefully
prepare, I’m in awe at the complexity and beauty of this sport. I have to give
full credit where it is due, I learn from my son every single day when it comes
to fishing, because he is the true fisherman of the brand. His time in the water
has been since he was in elementary school, and his passion for this sport has
driven him to learn beyond his years.
The Bad News Bass logo on the
limited edition Midnight Berg hat
Zander:
That's very cool. I've seen some of Berg's adventures online and it sounds like
he's already becoming quite the swimbait angler. Was
there a favorite body of water you both enjoyed fishing? And on the flip side,
what are some of your favorite places to fish now?
Eric: Almaden Lake
Park in San Jose was the closest lake to home. It became kind of an after school
special my son and I would go to everyday. For being a neighborhood lake park,
it’s surprisingly diverse. There’s sandy beaches, boulders/rocks surrounding the
bridge, sunken trees and pipes, an island, a creek that feeds into the lake with
steelhead trout. It’s such a unique place compared to anywhere else in SJ, and
it’s definitely a swimbait lake. As of today, I enjoy spending time at Coyote
Lake the most, since it’s basically a 24 hour lake. Some of my best memories are
being there late at night with my friends and family. I’ve also seen double
digit fish caught there in recent years, so it’s definitely not lacking in
opportunities to catch your next PB.
The "Peezy Red" hat was designed
by a local neighborhood angler and dropped 11/11/22 at 11:00am
Zander: Let’s
talk about Bad News Bass, when did you start the brand and can you tell us the
background behind the name?
Eric: Production
on Bad News Bass began in the summer of 2019 and officially went public near the
end of the same year. I’ve always had business ideas written down in my Notes
app, which is one random, long list that could possibly span 5 miles, and also
includes a bucket list of skateboarding tricks, video treatment plans, and songs
saved to listen to later. Amongst that list was the name “Bad News Bass,” which
I’m sure was a play on words about the movie Bad News Bears, and I’ve still yet
to see it. That name had been written down back in 2017, and just to be safe, I
decided to secure the IG handle but didn’t do much with it until two years later
when I decided to turn it into a brand.
Zander: I really
like the clean look and style of your designs, the retro feel of some of them,
and also the use of teal colors. Can you tell us more about your design philosophy?
Eric: When
creating the logo, the look that I wanted to go for was sporty with a modern
feel to it. I wanted to create something refreshing and diverse, that could look
at home on a letterman jacket for a college sports team, on a race car, on streetwear, all at the same time. Within the first year, we made several
variants of the logo, rifling off every idea that came to mind to make the
biggest impact possible and establish the look of our brand.
Bad News Bass focuses on quality
and many of their products are limited editions. This "Noir" hat was a collab
with So Fresh Clothing on a 950 New Era Snapback and was available only at the
@castandcrankpodcast Toy Drive just a month ago in Dec 22
One of Bad News Bass's very first
supporters was Alex
@apextran a well known Bay Area Angler who grew up fishing the South
Bay Lakes and is now crushing them as a guide on Clear Lake
Zander:
Can you tell us
more about what are some of your signature products and where is the best place
for people to find them?
Eric: Though
we’re always open to trying new things, the cornerstone of the brand has always
been premium headwear with a streetwear influence. When approaching the design,
we knew we didn’t want to go with the house wine; we were only interested in top
shelf. New Era fit that criteria, and at the time, no one was using premium
options in the fishing industry. The first New Era hat that we made was black
camo with a red brim, and it was named after one of our very first supporters,
Alex Tran. That was the beginning of what became not just a signature product,
but a signature concept, with the brand: all inclusive, angler collaborations
that pay homage to real people in this industry. The best way to stay current
with our next release is to follow us on IG
@badnewsbass.
Bad News Bass continues to partner
with local tackle shop Coyote Bait and Tackle, which was the first retailer to
make the brand's products available
Zander:
Growing up in the Bay Area myself and fishing many of the same lakes I am always
are excited to see home grown fishing brands. I also noticed you seem to do a
lot of drops and exclusives, like the Hometown Team snapbacks, with local tackle
shop Coyote Bait and Tackle. Can you tell us more about that?
Eric:
Coyote Bait and Tackle, and
shops alike, are the backbone of the fishing community. Being a small operation
of our own, we want to promote other small businesses. When our brand was new,
CBT was the first shop to believe in us and put our hats and stickers on their
shelves, which will never be forgotten. That’s why we love to pay homage to them
and our local teams by having exclusive drops in store, a tradition we will
continue to honor.
If you have seen teal Illude Baits
Lunker Fighters Gas Rats, Lizards, and Zombie rats chances are these were made
for collabs with Bad News bass
Launched in October last year was
a collab with Illude Baits including a limited Zombie Gerbil and Lunkers Bad
News Bass hat
Zander:
Speaking of collaborations, you also have also released some limited edition
clothing and baits with one of our favorite custom swimbait makers, Illude
Baits, who to date has built my personal favorite wooden rat wakebait, the
Rad Rat. These collaborations have
included teal gas rats, zombie gerbils, and matching apparel. Can you tell us
more about these collabs?
Eric:
When you meet someone who has the same eye for detail, similar work ethic, and
matches your energy levels, magic can happen. For me that person has been Lendl
Ha of Illude Baits. Lendl continues to be a mentor, friend, and big brother. He
has introduced us to his world of swimbaits, and our two brands have joined
forces together for good. He takes care of the hardware, and we handle the soft
goods. There will always be Illude x Bad News Bass.
Another example of the B.N.B. x
Illude collaboration are Lunkers Zombie Gerbil Neck Gaiters
A closer look at the Illude Baits
Lunker Fighter exclusive Zombie Gerbil that dropped with a Bad News Bass Lunkers
Cap on 10/31/22
Another example of a previous Bad
News Bass and Illude collab was the "Rats Only" capsule which included a teal
zombie rat and B.N.B. heather grey hoodie
Zander:
These days do you have much time to get out fishing yourself, and if you do what
is the first bait that you tie on?
Eric:
These days I’m fishing less than I ever have in my life, however, at the moment
it’s allowing me to focus on the daily operations with Bad News Bass. I’ll take
my son, and yet I’ll find myself preferring to take photos or b-roll to use for
the brand. Fishing is still a part of my daily life, even if I’m not at the
lake; it’s just in a different capacity. But when the mood strikes, I usually
tie on a swimbait, and more often than not, I reach for Illude since it’s my
friend’s bait, because it feels more rewarding if I do catch something.
Berg getting it done with the
Illude Lunker Fighters Zombie gerbil
One of the fun things that Bad
News Bass does for the community are swimbait tournaments including the Rats
Only Night Bite Tourney
Zander:
Thanks very much for all the time and giving us more background behind Bad News
Bass. We are excited about what you are working on and look forward to what you
come up with this season, is there anything you can share about what is coming
from the brand in the near future?
Eric:
This year will bring with it another chapter of premium New Era hats with
streetwear boutique So Fresh Clothing. You can expect more Rats Only
tournaments, hopefully in additional regions. Video projects with Jimmy NSX are
on the horizon. Without a doubt, there will be continued projects with Illude
baits, and as always, media by James Guirao visuals.
An example of how to show your
catch in a previous Bad News Bass sponsored "Berg's Rat's Only Night Bite
Tournament"
Grand Prize for the Bad News Bass
Rat's Only East Coast Tournament was a coveted wooden
@illudebaits Rad
Rat Triple Double
Many Bad News Bass pieces pay
homage to local bodies of water and hotspots in the Bay Area. An example is the
"Russian River" Collaboration New Era piece with So Fresh Clothing
Bad News Bass also collaborates
with guides as ambassadors of the sport. One example is So Cal hammer
@jimmy_nsx
Examples of exclusive pieces with
JimmyNSX. These heavyweight hoodies and tees were made available via the brand's
website
Another example of an angler
collab was this special edition Bad News Bass did with the the VSOP Gang
@kennyvsop
and @jimmyvsop
Zander: Sounds like a lot of great products and projects in the works. I
love how Bad News Bass is not just a line of products but also gives back to the
swimbait community, and you are all about the culture. In closing is there
anything you would like to say to our readers?
Eric:
Thank you to everyone for the continued support, because the quality of people
who are enthusiastic about the brand makes me only want to work harder to create
the products that you really want. Thank you Zander, and everyone in the
TackleTour community, for all your support.
Erik and his homegrown brand
continue to crank out great new products while staying very active in the fishing and
swimbait community
Looking for the latest drops
and events from Bad News Bass? Follow them on IG
@badnewsbass and
visit the brand's
website
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