BDR began with Andy Franchere and his son Brody making a demo together in Tehachapi, California. Brody wrote the music, they wanted fast roots hardcore, and the band grew from there. For Andy, who has spent around 30 years driving across California for shows, playing in a band with his son also meant learning when to act like a father and when to treat the person across the room like any other musician.
“I had to learn Brody is not just a kid with a guitar. He is a talented dude with his own opinions and tastes,” Andy said. “Also he is usually right when he makes a suggestions when we are demoing stuff. He has good ears in the studio, but can be shy.”
Brody can also be hard on his own writing. Andy found himself trying to get the best out of him without turning every band conversation into a father-son conversation.
“I didn’t really have to unlearn anything but I had to figure how to get the best in him, he is very critical of himself at times. So some times I got to be a supportive dad and band mate. Other times it’s just being in a band another talented friend who loves the same type of Hardcore music.”
Brody describes the same setup in much simpler terms. He had already been writing songs before BDR, and having his dad there gives him somebody he can immediately play a new idea to.
“I was writing songs for a while before the band with my dad, but it’s nice to write songs for BDR and be able to instantly show him and get his thoughts.”
Hardcore had been around Brody long before they started writing together. Andy and his wife played it at home and in the car, and they took their kids to shows when they were young. Brody also shared Andy’s iTunes library, picking through the albums and tracks already sitting there.
Guitar initially pulled him hard towards Metallica and Gojira. Andy eventually offered him $50 to learn a Madball song. Brody had it down in about an hour.
“Then he would play the stuff he grew up on,” Andy said. “He def got into the metalic stuff on his own. Stuff like Sepultura, Nails, All Out War, and Leeway (all rad bands but not stuff I was playing on the reg).”
Brody remembers that split in taste too. “I got into more heavier metal music which he doesn’t like as much, but there is nothing I know of that we strongly disagree on.”
Andy gives those disagreements a few more names. Some late-90s youth crew records remain important to him because he was there when they came out. Brody hears the recordings and songs differently.
“There are certain youth crew bands from the late 90’s that I love, that he doesn’t not vibe with. He thinks the recording is not great and the songs are cheesy, which is true but I lived it. He likes some very technical heavy bands that my brain can’t get with, so we have our disagreements. But we can always listen to Carry On or Striking Distance and be friends again.”
Tehachapi sits up in the mountains of central California. Andy and Brody call it home and make a point of putting the town behind BDR. Los Angeles and Orange County are around two to three hours away, though the band more often head towards Oxnard, San Luis Obispo, Bakersfield and Antelope Valley for shows. Andy points out that those places have strong scenes of their own, which gives BDR plenty of reasons to keep driving in different directions across California.
“We rep Tehachapi cause it’s our city. We love it,” Andy said. “I have been going to shows all over Cali for 30 years now. Brody has been driving far distances to play and go to shows since he was 16. Gas prices suck, but the experiences, friends and memories are worth it.”
Brody is similarly practical about it. Tehachapi is a good place to live, the drives to see bands or play shows are manageable, and fuel is the obvious bill attached to doing it.
“Gas is expensive these days and it sucks, but playing shows and seeing awesome bands doesnt suck so its ok.”
The local history goes back to 1998, when Diehard Youth started playing shows. Andy marks that as the beginning of the Tehachapi hardcore scene. Many of the people around from those first years remain friends and involved with hardcore, even after spreading out around the world.
The Warriors became the biggest band to come out of Tehachapi and are still active. Step by Step are part of the current generation, and Out of Line recently released a new record. “Iron Minds” puts that local history directly into a BDR song, with Marshal from The Warriors joining them on vocals and the lyrics centred on past and present friends from Tehachapi Hardcore.
“Tehachapi is small town up in the mountains in central California. It’s where a lot of us grew up,” Andy said. “In 1998 Diehard Youth started playing shows and that’s when the Tehachapi Hardcore scene was born. A lot of the kids from day one are still friends and active in hardcore. We have stayed close even though we are spread out all over the world now.”
For Andy, “Iron Minds” comes back to those people.
“The biggest band out of Tehachapi is The Warriors. They are still at it and still awesome. Step by Step is a current band with big things in their future. Out of Line just dropped a killer record. The story behind the song Iron Mind is the people who make Tehachapi special. It’s not the biggest scene but the loyalty and love of everyone involved makes it massive. B.D.R. will always represent Tehachapi Hardcore, it’s where we are from and wouldn’t be doing this without the local scene.”
Jerry, Jaren and Tyler completed the BDR lineup after the original demo idea between Andy and Brody. The band also bring experience connected to The Warriors and Out of Line, though Andy says writing together came easily once the full lineup was in place.
“When we completed the band with Jerry, Jaren and Tyler and started writing new songs, tings just clicked. In my opinion it’s easy for the dudes to avoid sounding like the other bands. They are are super talented and open minded. So bouncing between bands and sounds is easy for them.”
Brody likes having musicians around him who already know how writing in a band works. His own experience across different bands has involved different styles, and he sees that accumulated experience as useful when new songs start getting passed around the room.
“Its nice to have people that are apart of other bands because everyone has experience and it makes writing a little more easier.”
Andy has also changed what he writes about. He has been a firefighter since he was 19, and BDR gives him room to use metaphors tied to his mental health issues. That puts the lyrical side in a different place from his earlier bands even as the music started from the simple idea of playing fast roots hardcore.
The current EP partly exists because BDR needed enough new songs to make a live set last around 13 minutes. Brody’s favourite of the new songs is “Reaper Syndrome”. It starts with a bass intro and stays short and fast, with a tiny set of notes doing most of the work.
“I think the news songs are all ok songs. I think I would have to pick the first song on the new EP Reaper Syndrome, Its a good bass intro and a fast, quick, fun song to play. It’s one of the best BDR songs I think, even though its the same 3 notes the whole time.”
That economy gets pretty close to BDR’s original brief. Brody and Andy started the band wanting fast roots hardcore, and “Reaper Syndrome” boils that down to a bass opening, a quick run and three notes Brody enjoys playing.
The release also includes a cover of The Movielife. Andy says they recorded it as a tribute to their friends on Long Island.
The EP was recorded at Bright Mountain Studio by Jerry and Jaren. Matt Battaglia recorded the vocals at House of Wax, and Will Hirst mixed “Reaper Syndrome”. The cover art is by @rubenxzavala, with photos by @Ironyuppie.
Indecision Records reaches both generations in the band from different directions. Andy remembers the label from his earliest years going to hardcore shows. Over time, he became friends with the people behind it, and releasing a record through Indecision ended up on his personal bucket list.
“Indecision has only grown as an institution in HC over the years. They have been around since my first shows, put out many of my favorite records and bands. We have become friends through out the years. Everything they do embodies what hardcore should be. They are always at shows, hanging out, taking photos, just being rad humans. Doing a record with Indecision is a bucket list item for me. Very grateful for the opportunity to be part of the Indecision family.”
Brody had known Indecision for years through the bands and records he grew up with. Many of the bands he loved were connected to the label, and Count Me Out are one name he singles out.
“I’ve always been familiar with the label most of the bands I love and grew up listening to have been apart of indecision and to be on the same label as Count Me Out.”
The CD gives BDR something physical to carry into the next run of shows. The band have festivals coming up and East Coast dates ahead, and Andy saw CDs as the quickest way to put the songs directly into people’s hands before planned vinyl in 2027.
“We wanted something physical to rep Indecision Records. We have a few festivals and gonna be on the east coast soon so CDs was the media we chose. A quick way to get the music in new kids hands and heads. Get them ready for some vinyl on 2027.”
Brody says Indecision also wanted a physical release to announce BDR joining the label and help set up a hoped-for LP later this year. He prefers CDs himself and singles out Dave Mandel’s work on the layout.
“A CD is an awesome physical pressing because I think CDs sound the best. Dave Mandel of Indecision Records also did a banger job on the CD layout.”
The same generational overlap turned up again for Andy at Sound and Fury 2026. Homefront were one of his highlights. Breakdown delivered everything he had hoped for, Start Today set the bar as the opener, Rival Mob were fun, and Incendiary took the first night for him. It was also his first time seeing Beton Arme, who he thought were great. End It ripped through their set and came with what Andy called “top notch banter.”
Carry On also happen to be one of the bands Andy and Brody can always agree on. At Sound and Fury, Andy saw that same connection stretch well beyond his own family, with old and new friends singing, diving and moshing to songs from “A Life Less Plagued”, including people who had carried the record for years and others who had only recently found it.
“Pretty much a religious experience. They sounded good, looked good, sing alongs, stage diving and moshing with old and new friends. It was awesome to see them get their flowers and to see how many people still care and just started caring about A Life Less Plagued. One of the all time records.”
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