Bassist Jared Palomar and Alternative Addiction go way back. Jared was one of the core members of Augustana before he and Justin South left the band. Since leaving Augustana, Jared has found his way to another new, exciting band – Bad Things. The band is led by their guitarist, something that’s different for most groups, but it’s understandable when you find out that their guitarist is Olympic gold medalist, actor, fashion designer, and all-around business mogul Shaun White. Bad Things was started by White, then he recruited the remaining members of the band. Alternative Addiction recently caught up with Palomar to discuss Bad Things and what it’s like to start fresh with another band. “After I left Augustana a couple of years ago I was in San Diego for a little bit and I ran into Anthony (Sanudo),” said Jared on how he got into Bad Things. ” He mentioned this band he was playing guitar in and said they were looking for a bass player. I ended up coming to L.A. and meeting everybody. Basically, I joined the band when I was up there. It was pretty natural how everything happened which was kind of what I was looking for to be honest.” Bad Things is immediately different for Palomar from Augustana. That starts with the music they play and it carries over to how that music is made. There isn’t a primary writer in the group like Palomar had in Dan Layus with Augustana, the group writes collaboratively. When asked what the difference in making music with Bad Things and Augustana was, Palomar immediately pointed to that. “I think musically it’s a little bit different obviously. Then it’s how we write together. Usually with Augustana, Dan would come in with an idea and then we’d flesh it out together. He’s just such a prolific writer, we just kind of followed his lead. With this band, we write pretty collaboratively. I’ve really enjoyed the last couple of years with that. I like getting in a room with everybody and coming up with a bunch of ideas and seeing what sticks.” As for playing in a band with a busy guy like White, Palomar did inform us that the band working with White’s schedule limits some of what they can do. It’s not realistic to hop out and tour for a couple of months at a time with White in tow, yet that’s something they’re hoping to do sometime soon. We asked Jared about White and how he approached Bad Things when Palomar joined the band. Was this just a project for White and not much else? Jared stated that it wasn’t and that the guitarist/snowboarder is committed to Bad Things in a big way. “I had that thought initially,” said the bassist about Bad Things just being a project for White. “I was straight forward about that. Once I met everyone and we played together and I saw what they were working on I realized that it was legit. It’s a passion of Shaun’s, it’s not a hobby by any means. That shows in everything that he does with music and just hanging with the guy. He’s a great friend now and you can tell how passionate he is about the music. The thing with him is that he has such a high bar with everything he does. He wants everything to do well and to be good. When someone is around you like that, it pushes you. It’s mutually beneficial for everyone.” We’ll have more on Bad Things on Alternative Addiction soon. Be sure to check out the deluxe edition of their self-titled album, available now.