The Bastards of Fate formed in 2006, but it took almost 5 years before they… Read Full Bio ↴The Bastards of Fate formed in 2006, but it took almost 5 years before they released their first LP, "Who's a Fuzzy Buddy?" in 2012 on This Will Be Our Summer records. The album received mostly positive, though sometimes baffled coverage from outlets such as Vice, Consequence of Sound, Drowned In Sound and Clash, as well as hype from Everett True's Collapse Board, which has featured the band on numerous occasions.

The band built on the solo work of singer Doug Cheatwood, who toured for several years as a performance artist during the earlier part of the 2000s, carrying with him an arsenal of props which he used to confrontationally engage audiences while singing original songs to backing tracks. When the opportunity arose to play several dates with Dead Milkmen guitarist Joe Jack Talcum, Cheatwood decided the next step was to form a group to support him. He enlisted high school friend Benji Pugh to play guitar. A mutual friend recommended bassist Jason Wellz. Drummer Doug Shelor, whom Wellz had played with in previous projects, came along as well. The four rehearsed for two weeks and immediately went on tour. Upon returning, the final member, keyboardist and violinist Camellia Delk, joined.

The band, who hail from Roanoke, Virginia, toured the US during the next few years, including many more dates with Joe Jack Talcum, developing a reputation for bombastic live shows and musical unpredictability. Due to setbacks that included a warehouse fire that destroyed the bands instruments, several break-ins, and the band's obstinate perfectionism, however, their first album was not finished until 2011. It was during their trip to play what would be the final Athens Popfest that "Who's a Fuzzy Buddy?" was picked up by This Will Be Our Summer records.