| Bad Suns | |
| https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Bad_Suns_in_2015.jpg/290px-Bad_Suns_in_2015.jpg | |
| Background information | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Woodland Hills, California |
| Genres | Alternative rock Indie rock Post-punk |
| Years active | 2012–present |
| Labels | Vagrant Epitaph Records |
| Members | Christopher "Christo" Bowman Gavin Bennett Miles "Morris" Kottak Ray Libby |
Bad Suns is an American rock band that formed in 2012, which consists of Christo Bowman, Gavin Bennett, Miles Morris and Ray Libby. A majority of the band members are from Los Angeles, California. The band's sound is inspired from 1970s and 1980s post-punk pioneers like The Cure and Elvis Costello.
The group has been signed to Vagrant Records, where they released their debut album Language & Perspective in 2014. Their second album was released on September 16, 2016, titled Disappear Here.
Background
The Southern California rock band Bad Suns formed in early 2012. Made up of Christo Bowman (vocals), Gavin Bennett (bass), Miles Morris (drums) and Ray Libby (guitar), aged 23–26. “I grew up with a lot of world music playing in the house. When I was 10, I started getting heavily interested in the guitar, and my dad began introducing me to his records from the 70’s and the 80’s. Initially Elvis Costello, then to The Clash, The Cure, and so on,” notes Bowman, “all of these artists and bands had a big impact on me, at a young age, as far as song composition goes.” The debut EP Transpose features angst-ridden riffs and ethereal vocals reminiscent of post-punk legends of the early 80’s. “I started writing my first songs at that time," Bowman continues, “Though we can now reflect on that era of music, those artists were ahead of their time in a lot of ways. That’s what’s most inspiring.”
The band released "Cardiac Arrest" without any publicization. The Transpose EP was recorded in the studio with producer Eric Palmquist (The Mars Volta, Wavves, Trash Talk) and preceded the band’s debut 2014 album, Language & Perspective. “The writing and recording process is always exciting, because it’s constantly changing and unique to each song. Inspiration comes and goes as it pleases, so a night when a song gets written is a very good night,” says Bowman. In 2014, the band opened for British indie-pop band The 1975 and later headlined a tour in small venues, such as The Troubadour in West Hollywood. The bands rising fame has led them to perform in music festivals. In 2015, they played in the Mojave Tent at Coachella,
Bad Suns released their second album, Disappear Here, on September 16, 2016. Bowman came up with the name of album while reading Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis, "Maybe the second or third time the 'Disappear Here' billboard appears in the narrative, it sort of just hit me like a ton of bricks. It encapsulated absolutely everything." On 6 October 2017, Bad Suns released the single "This Was a Home Once". On November 13, 2018 they announced that they had signed with Epitaph Records and released their first new music in over a year, "Away We Go".
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US Indie | |||
| 2014 | Language & Perspective | 24 | 6 | Vagrant |
| 2016 | Disappear Here | 109 | 13 | Vagrant/BMG |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart. | ||||
Extended plays
- Transpose (2014)
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US AAA |
US Alt. |
US Rock | |||||
| "Cardiac Arrest" | 2013 | 10 | 14 | 25 | Language & Perspective | ||
| "Salt" | 2014 | — | — | — | |||
| "We Move Like the Ocean" | 2015 | — | — | — | |||
| "Disappear Here" | 2016 | — | — | — | Disappear Here | ||
| "This Was a Home Once" | 2017 | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Away We Go" | 2018 | — | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | |||||||
Band members
- Christo Bowman – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, lead guitar
- Gavin Bennett – bass
- Miles Morris – drums
Ray Libby – lead guitar (Active 2013-2022 following a departure during Apocalypse Whenever)