Bad Tiger began in 2018, when songwriter Y Lowy moved to San Francisco with the intention of starting a band. Writing toward that imagined project, she composed what became Bad Tiger’s debut album, The Goat and the Bad Tiger (2020), tracked and produced by Logan Stokes at Indie As Studio in Albuquerque, NM.

After its release, Lowy recorded and co-produced the Sanctuary EP with Mackenzie Bunch at Coyote Hearing Studio. Released in 2022, it was the final release from Minneapolis-based Brace Cove Records. During this period, Lowy joined forces with Tyler Gholson, Jacob Sherfield, and David Garges, finally shaping Bad Tiger into its original vision as a full band. In this form, they began touring and returned to Bunch’s studio to record their second full-length, Bliss (2024).

Following Bliss, Gholson relocated to Portland, OR, and Lowy self-produced Bad Tiger’s third full-length, Bean Hollow, at Panoramic House Studio, with close support from Sherfield and mentorship and engineering from John Baccigaluppi of Tape Op Magazine.

In 2025, Lowy moved to Portland to release Bean Hollow and rejoined Gholson, Matt Harris (Brace Cove Records), and Claire Teresko, continuing the evolving iterations of Bad Tiger.