Mike Esser

Rooted in Midwest punk rock, Bad Year formed in 2019 and calls Milwaukee, WI home. Inspired by heartbreak, angst, and self-reformation; Mike, Joey, and Sean inject the scene with anthemic chorus hooks and brutal optimism. Freely inspiring listeners with a sense of mutual understanding and hope, Bad Year promotes positive aspects of mental health and empathy.
Bad Year’s debut EP “Handshakes'' received immediate acclaim from listeners and an unmediated Wisconsin Area Music Industry Award (WAMI) nomination, while the title track’s music video gained over 100k views within its first month. The trio refrained from allowing a pandemic to slow their upbeat tempo with their one off single “Blackout”. Keeping the momentum and expanding boundaries of incendiary musical composition “Blackout” was produced with highly sought after producer, Nick Rad. Ending 2020 on an accomplished note “A Moment In Time '', EP, was released. When the pandemic left Bad Year with limited studio availability, they decided that “AMIT” would be stripped down while creating acoustic landscapes of sound that evoke feelings, energies, and memories for which a fan states, “There are no words”.
Born from lived experience and forged from the pandemic, Bad Year had yet again enlisted Nick Rad and on June 18th, 2021 the new single “Killing Me”, was released including a video feature in New Noise Magazine.