Bold Boy’s fast Reaction time

The no nonsense indie rock of Bold Boy belies the uncertainty underpinning their latest single Reactions.

Thundering along with a wall of distortion punctuated by some all-out rock drumming, Reactions opens up the throttle for the full three and a half raucous minutes. It’s class.

Bold Boy’s press release explains how the song Reactions is about frustration.

“But more importantly about breaking free from that frustration. Really asking ourselves what we’re looking for, what we are looking at, and how we want to be perceived.

“Does true freedom lie in not caring how we are perceived?”

Last time the Celt chatted frontman and songwriter Mike Paterson he was melding folk and trad with a punk spirit through his band Cruxty. Now he’s largely set that project to one side to focus on this stripped back rock sound alongside drummer Nathan Merriman.

Formed in late 2023 Mike had played with the idea of a two-piece rock band but took a while to settle on the format.

“A lot of these (two-piece) bands would use electric guitar and tune them down for you to get bass tones, but I had the idea of going the other way, and doing the Royal Blood thing - the idea where I play bass.

“So I kept the bass and pitched the bass up and play the bass as a guitar and as a bass at the same time.”

They had originally planned for Mike to also loop recordings in as they played, but he found that distracting.

“You’re trying to lock everything to these loops instead of just really letting loose and rocking out.”

An accomplished guitarist and frontman, best known for his time with Travis Oaks, Mike was happy to take on the pressure of playing live as a two piece, and doesn’t worry about backing tracks to fill out the sound. He contends that “most bands” now play live with the use of backing tracks to have the live performance duplicate the sound of recordings.

“I’ve gone to see a few bands and as soon as I’ve noticed that they’re doing that I’m like: well I could be just a home listening to the record. Why am I here?

“I think it’s kind of a response to that - to set ourselves apart and not do that, and just do things the old-fashioned way - a bit of rock ‘n’ roll.”

Reactions is the band’s third single and it’s took them a little time to settle into their sound.

“Even though it’s been going two years we’re still sort of figuring out exactly what Bold Boy is, as a sound - what exactly does it sound like?”

Their first two singles, released in 2024 instantly found an appreciative rock audience online. When they softened the sound for an EP released last year, they found the Bad Boy guardrail.

“We had made some fans with these original singles and they just didn’t seem to like the EP last year for the most part, so I’ve gone back now to try to recapture the original two singles, which is the heavy rock.”

Asked how he would describe the Bad Boy sound for the uninitiated, Mike replies: “We’re trying to capture that early 2000s rock for people who are nostalgic for that, as well as there’s a sort of a new generation of people discovering ‘90s grunge – Smashing Pumpkins and stuff like that, and I think we’re also tapping into that sound as well - that’s the idea, now are we achieving that? I don’t know, but that’s what I’m going for.

The single Reactions is released in conjunction with PR company Jawdropper in Dublin, and it signals the start of Bad Boy really trying to push their profile.

“We’ll probably do another release this year, and then probably an EP at the end of the year as well, and it’s just a case of trying to continually drum up more awareness,” Mike tells the Celt.

“We’ve got nearly 2000 followers on Instagram now and that’s basically just through making content for the music and promoting things that way. So this year the plan for 2026 would be definitely try to do more actual gigs and connect with people that way.”

Mike says he has put Cruxty on the back burner, but is “delighted” to resume the trad punk outfit for “two or three” gigs a year.

“It’s quantity over quality in terms of how long this stuff takes to make, so you really have to choose one lane and focus on that, so I’m focused on the Bold Boy thing for the last two years and for the foreseeable future.”

Reactions is released this Friday, January 16 and is available from all the usual streaming services.