The Badger Blueprint: Memes, Madness, and Pure UKG Joy

We’re in the midst of festival season in the UK – a time when some DJs are constantly touring. Badger is one of these artists. A growing staple on the UK circuit, Alex has made a name for himself with his UKG genre-blurring productions and joyous energy on stage. But it’s the last year in particular that has seen this artist skyrocket. From finding viral success with releases reworking recognisable classics, to global tours as far as Australia, New Zealand, and North America, including a debut at Coachella. It’s a progression that’s not lost of Alex.

“This year has been crazy. I feel in awe of what’s happened, like Coachella. It was a dream come true.” Big bookings is the theme of Alex’s year, playing major festivals including Glastonbury and Rhythm & Vines, with Boomtown, Reading & Leeds, and Lost Lands to come. Despite being booked for such prestigious events, Alex recognises he’s “still riding off the success of "These Words” (with Natasha Beddingfield). By far Alex’s most popular track to date with close to 200 Million Spotify streams in just over a year, it’s a release demonstrating the power a track has to change your life. As Alex explains, “that release opened doors. It allowed bookings to increase and has taken me on unimaginable world tours.”

Alex is currently sat at the Bristol Harbourside soaking up the sunshine on one of the hottest days of July. As he discusses the year he’s had, it becomes apparent being back in Bristol has got him feeling reflective. This is the city Alex called home for seven years before moving to Brighton in 2023. He’s back giving a talk at the music college he used to work at. “The talk marks two years of being full-time as a music artist, so it was super nostalgic,” he says. “It reminded me how much has happened since I walked out those doors as an employee for the last time.” 

Alex is able to call music his full-time job now, working with established artists including Icona Pop on “Body Type” and Jazzy on a remix of “Shooting Star”, but he’s quick to ground himself. “When you’re busy making music and touring it’s easy to get tunnel vision, feeling like that’s how things have always been. Re-visiting the college makes me realise I haven't been in this new world for long.”

Many fans will know Alex for his “These Words” edit that went viral, but he’s been grinding away since 2019, building a reputation as a purveyor of fun edits and remixes of pop culture. Defining his sound as “a new version of UKG,” but never being afraid to foray into other genres including grime, drum & bass, jungle and house, Alex’s edits have gained global attention for their virality. From D&B flips of Coldplay’s “Fix You” and Kate Nash’s “Foundations”, to UKG reworks of Slipknot and the Mighty Boosh, it’s a care-free approach to creating music Alex targeted early on. 

“I wanted to build my initial fanbase by focusing on remixes and edits,” Alex explains. “Putting time into finding edits and memes the UK loved, and flipping them into something like “Yapa Yapa”, felt like a smart way to get my name in front of people quick.” Fuelled by a post-COVID shift when people were reaching for nostalgia after being starved of a present, the sense of familiarity in Badger’s music stuck, with fans constantly “flooding the DMs” asking for copies of his edits; none more so than his grime edit of Venga Boys’ “We Like To Party”, which Alex considers his first “breakthrough moment”.

Music pushing familiarity has been one half of Badger’s success. The other has been utilising social media to creatively get his productions to fans globally, something Alex honed in on during his final year in Bristol. “I was working two jobs at the time, then I’d go home working on music and TikToks until my eyes were too blurry,” he remembers. "I did that six days a week for a year and that was the tipping point taking me from bedroom producer to where I am now.” It’s not just determination that’s important here, but also the uniqueness of the content itself. Dancing around the kitchen while his dad cooks, skanking in the dining room while his mum works – Badger’s promotion tactics aren’t high-tech, but they resonate with fans. “My parents never really acknowledge the camera, which provides a cool juxtaposition,” Alex chuckles. “I’ll be thrashing around like an idiot while my dad’s barely moving, wiping down a pan.” Capturing fun moments while playing his edits is how Alex has grown the majority of his following.

It’s an organic approach to promotion that went against the grain when Alex first started – favouring DIY iPhone video over polished promotional content. Nowadays, Alex’s template is one major artists and labels have jumped on with the rise of short form content. As he explains, "you want the videos to feel like you’ve just banged a video in a group chat with mates. That connects on a more emotional level than glossy, high-budget content.” This direction could be attributed to up-and-coming artists like Alex who didn’t have much to spend on promotion in a post-COVID world, or maybe it’s just the fact that Alex has fun, with his brand being a mirror of his happy-go-lucky personality. “I wanted to keep it authentic, like an exaggerated version of who I already am,” he reiterates.

Authenticity has been key to the Badger project, and it’s going to be thrust even more into the limelight during his next chapter. While up to now he’s made a name for himself through edits, Alex is ready to step into the next phase of his career pushing original productions. Starting with the release of his Let’s ‘Av It Right! EP, it’s the first time Alex has released an EP of self-released music, a milestone he doesn’t take lightly. “It’s nerve-wracking because a lot of my success can be attributed to my ability to A&R pop and meme culture, putting recognisable samples into records that do well on social media. Releasing original music is a new avenue because it’s all me. There's no instant success that comes with the remixes where everybody loves the original.” It’s a new challenge for Alex, but one that will be “more meaningful to work on” because the ideas are fully his.

Built around a multitude of genres including UKG, house, and drum & bass, Alex’s latest EP is testament to the genre-fluidity he employs as a core pillar of his music – and a reminder to fans the Badger sound will continue to be just an explorative as it has been – actively breaking down sub-genre boundaries to release music with creative freedom. “I would burn out if I was trying to make the same sub-genre and didn't feel like I was allowed to deviate into other areas,” he says. "I'm definitely not letting go of the edits or silly vibe character I’ve built, but I’m now stepping into a new original music chapter. I think that’s how you build longevity as an artist, with original music. This feels like the start of something special.”