Remember The Bravery? Thought so. Who could forget these angular haired chappies with their own unique blend of rock, electro and army surplus dress uniform, who, like the elves at the end of the Lord of the Rings, just upped and disappeared when their work was done.
Well, after 2 years The Bravery are making a grand return to our shores with brand new floppy hair and a new record that has seen them play down their electro-clash influences and produce something that owes as much to Lynard Skynard and the Eagles as it does to Depeche Mode.
We thought it best to get singer Sam Endicott and keyboardist John Conway on the line and find out what the fuck is going on.
It’s been two years since you last graced the pages of the UK media, where have you been?
John: well, we’ve been touring for the 18 months before the records, a whole bunch of Eastern Europe, something like 32 countries in all. That carried on right up until last summer, when we started rehearsing and writing the album, whilst doing some small little tours both in Europe and here in the states.
Sam: Yeah, we sort of disappeared and became total recluses, we started recording in New York and then decided to move down to Atlanta to finish it. We just holed up in the studio, grew beards and painted over the windows.
What have been the main influences behind The Sun and the Moon?
John: I think the biggest one has been touring, not in the subject matter, but definitely in the sound. Over the last 18 months I think we’ve grown up as a band, and have developed a more organic sound, which has been suggested by a lot of people who have been coming to the shows.
Sam: We just listened to a whole bunch of our favourite songs, a lot of British invasion stuff and classic rock, you know like the Stones, the Beatles, that sort of thing, and this album just kinda came out broader
John: The new album is a lot more acousticier (sic). We’ve been finding all these old, weird antique albums, and everyone’s singing now, which I think shows in the results.
What was the reason behind dropping the electro-pop?
Sam: On the first record, we just wanted to record all the songs like it was a dance-party. When I moved to New York I was blown away by electro-clash bands like Le Tigre, !!!, and the stuff from DFA and John and I wanted to create this sound that was like electro, rock and roll. On this record we just wanted to explore new textures and sounds, and it’s ended up being all over the map.
John: I think it still sounds like The Bravery, you know? And there’s still a lot of synth stuff on there, its just that there’s a lot more variety on this album. It’s definitely harder to play! I’ve been finding it harder to chug beers on stage, but it’s more challenging and a lot of fun to play live.
Sam: I’m sure we’ll figure something out on the beer front, maybe beer helmets?
What have been the highlights of being in The Bravery so far?
John: Its just been finishing the record.
Sam: Personally, it’s been the travelling - seeing the world. We spent three months on tour with Depeche Mode in Asia, Korea and Indonesia, and it was crazy to get a great reception wherever you go.
So its not been shooting that video with the speedboats?
John: Ha ha, shooting all our videos has been pretty fun, that one was pretty cool though.
Sam: Oh, that was like the funniest day of my life, at first we were puking up everywhere, but then they gave us these anti-puke pills they use in the Navy and it was really fun.
How did they tie you down?
Sam: With ropes, it was a little scary; we had some Navy Seal guy to make sure everything was safe, and all he could come up with was “uh, if the boat flips over hold your breath and we’ll come get you”.
Lastly, what happened to the haircuts?
John: Well you know, we’ve all been in the studio, boarded up, no sunlight so we’ve all got a bit shaggier.
Sam: That was a while ago, and we all sort of grew out of it. There’s a lot of things we were doing in 2003 that we’re not doing now and vice-versa.
But you looked like Danzig!
Sam: (Laughs) You know what? I never really noticed at first, and the all of a sudden loads of people started telling me I looked like him, and I was like, ‘cool, I really like the Misfits’.
John: You never know, they might make a reappearance…probably not though.
Shame.
The Sun and The Moon is out now.
Words: Dominic Haley
Image: Marguerite Sauvage