Bad Engineer

Bad Engineer is the solo musical project of Atlanta-based musician, producer, songwriter, and entrepreneur Todd Richard Stevens. Blending alternative rock, post-hardcore, ambient textures, electronic elements, and deeply personal storytelling, Bad Engineer serves as both a creative outlet and a lifelong archive of Stevens' experiences, struggles, and artistic evolution.

Stevens first emerged in the early 2000s as the frontman of Georgia alternative rock band Lucideon before later performing with Scent and various independent projects throughout the Southeast music scene. As both a songwriter and producer, he spent years developing a reputation for emotionally honest music rooted in vulnerability, reflection, and relentless self-examination.

In 2006, Stevens founded Stageunderground, a creative studio focused on recording, production, photography, video, design, and artist development. The studio became a launching point for countless independent artists while also serving as the foundation for Stevens' own creative work. In 2010, he launched independent record label Autumn + Colour, helping guide emerging artists through music releases, branding, and career development.

Bad Engineer was born from a desire to create without boundaries. Free from the expectations of traditional bands and genre limitations, Stevens began using the project as a platform to explore every corner of his musical identity. The result is a catalog that moves effortlessly between aggressive and atmospheric, intimate and cinematic, modern and nostalgic.

At its core, Bad Engineer is driven by authenticity. Stevens often describes his music as a form of therapy—a place where fear, anger, hope, regret, and redemption can coexist. Rather than creating characters or fictional narratives, the songs draw heavily from real experiences, personal loss, relationships, anxiety, self-doubt, and the ongoing pursuit of meaning.

"My music is a reflection of the pain I had locked away and pushed deep within myself. This is my therapy, my anger, my fears, that I pour out into my music—allowing me to live every day being more optimistic than the day before."

— Todd Richard Stevens

Over the years, Bad Engineer has released music spanning multiple styles and eras, from the early recordings of Lucideon and Day Old Defiance to more recent works including Empty Throne, and numerous standalone singles. Each release represents a snapshot of Stevens' personal journey and creative growth.

The 2026 album Empty Throne marked one of the most ambitious chapters in the project's history. Written and recorded largely in isolation over several months, the album explores themes of control, identity, faith, self-destruction, and acceptance. It stands as a powerful statement from an artist unafraid to confront his own shortcomings while searching for something greater beyond them.

Today, Bad Engineer continues to evolve while remaining grounded in the same philosophy that inspired its creation: make honest music, tell the truth, and create without compromise.

For Stevens, Bad Engineer is more than a band. It is a lifelong document of becoming.