On…The Bravery

The Artist: The Bravery
The Sound: Debauched dance-rock in the vein of The Rapture or The Killers
The Album: The Sun and The Moon Complete
Where you can hear them next: Criss-crossing the country’s fair grounds and
making indie kids dance on the Projekt Revolution Tour all summer long
 
You conceived your new album, The Sun and The Moon Complete, as two parts. One is a more organic rock disc and the second disc has dance-y versions of the same songs. Why these dual versions?
 
We thought it would be cool to do two different directions. One side was normal, done in the studio with acoustic instruments and a producer. The other side (The Moon) was constructed how DJs do it, with layers and samples. That’s how we made our first record, and we feel it is still a part of who we are as a band.
 
You released the more organic disc last year and just finished and released the electronic disc this year. Why did it take so long to complete your original vision?
 
We couldn’t get support from the label at first. They didn’t really understand what we were going for, and I think they feared it would turn into [Guns N’ Roses album] Chinese Democracy, costing a lot of money and taking forever to make. They wouldn’t support it so we secretly recorded it when we were on tour. We recorded it during any free moments we had and when we finally set it down in front of them, they understood and loved it.
 
Why the change from the first to the second album? It seems like the disc you released last year alienated some of your fans, and this second disc may win them back.
 
We still love electronics, but you have to progress as a band. We tried a lot of new stuff this time out. We tried more acoustic instruments. We used a lot of strings and vocal harmonies. Mostly, we had a lot more time to record the album and a great producer. That made all the difference in the world.  
 
You were one of the first bands to break via the internet. Any advice for bands trying to build a buzz on the net?
 
I would tell bands to use the internet and modern technology in any way possible. We distributed our tunes for free, so people who really followed music had heard them almost a year before our album dropped.
 
Do you think the speed of the hype machine has increased, though? You had a month-long residency in Manhattan before you made it big, but now you have bands like Vampire Weekend being ordained “The Year’s Best New Band ” by Spin magazine before they had even released an album. It seems like that could almost be destructive.
 
That’s how it was with us as well. We recorded an album even before we started playing live. We played extremely small gigs for awhile. We didn’t want people to see us live just yet. The buzz frenzy builds so fast that you can be branded the “next big thing” before you’re ready. If people see your band with too much hype and you’re a young band, it is very easy to disappoint. It can be scary.
 
You’ve toured with a lot of modern rock luminaries. You’ve also had a lot of success in the past year. What was your career highlight so far?
 
We did a three-month tour of Europe with Depeche Mode. We toured all these eastern European countries, and it was just really great to be there. I wrote much of the record while I was there. In addition, Depeche Mode are just such vets. They’ve been playing together for so many years and it was pretty humbling to see that. In addition, they are heroes of ours and extremely nice guys.
 
You used to have a feud with The Killers, and Brandon Flowers cited your past in a ska band as proof that you don’t take new wave music seriously. Do you think new wave music needs to be taken particularly seriously?
 
(Laughs) I think if you love music, you don’t need to think about how it is categorized. That’s what journalists and the press do—put things in boxes. Musicians shouldn’t be concerned about trying to fit in a box. I think artists have the freedom to explore different genres and styles and shouldn’t have to apologize for that.
 
What’s next for The Bravery?
 
We’re on the Projekt Revolution Tour all summer. We have never played a festival tour, so we’re excited to see the nation in a new way and get to hang out with some friends. It should be a great summer.