Photos by Lauren Khalfayan, find more of her work here.
Los Angeles based Bad Suns has been on tour, in support of their fourth release, Mystic Truth (Epitaph). The new album feels reflective, as the band members examine how far they have come in their career, their music matures and listens like a smarter version of what they deliver so well. On their night off in Detroit, we caught up with frontman Christo Bowman to discuss the band’s label change, writing songs on the plane, and how he feels most grounded in each city.
Mystic Truth was your first release with Epitaph—was that signing before or after you wrote the album?
Christo Bowman: That came to be after we had already written the album. We basically came to them with all the demos, and sort of said here’s what we have. They were really accommodating and put us in the studio with the producer we really wanted to have, they were just really amazing about the things we needed and they’ve been incredible so far.
Epitaph has a pretty emo and punk centered roster, and your music is more upbeat and sticks out against that. Is there a reason that you wanted to work with them? Do they represent specific bands that you’re a big fan of?
There definitely are bands that they have that we’re massive fans of, it goes back to one of the first records that we bonded over, which was The Shape of Punk to Come by Refused. Presently we’re all big fans of Joyce Manor. That’s sort of been a point of discussion where it’s a bit of a head scratcher. First of all we’re big fans of the company and the record label and the people. Founder Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion is kind of a hero of ours and he’s from our same hometown of Woodland Hills. He went to the high school that’s right next to my house so we’re very aware of the history there. They’re an amazing company and the best independent record label that there is. We were honored that they were interested and it’s been really cool, and we feel honored to be a part of that roster. Regardless of the fact that we sort of stick out, I think it’s a good thing to stick out.
There’s so many bands that I like that are on the Epitaph roster that don’t sound like you, but I’m also a big fan of you, so I think it’s probably led a lot of people to listen to you if anything. I think people choose what they listen to based on a roster, if they like the label enough.
Yeah, it’s great.
At the Brooklyn Steel show, you mentioned how you had been traveling a lot while writing this new album, can you tell me more about what was going on while you were writing it?
We were in between touring a lot and we had just recorded the last album. Once a record comes out it’s been done for probably several months. I find it kind of hard to start writing again until the record actually comes out, because you’re really attached to the body of work or the group of songs that you’ve been working on. Until I’ve seen how people react to them it’s kind of hard to know where to go next. I was in that space for a few months and then as soon as we released Disappear Here we started touring. As soon as we got back from that tour at the end of 2016 that was sort of when I was on the path again to writing this album. The first song that came was as soon as I got back, it was “Darkness Arrives (and Departs)” and I think that was sort of a reaction to where we were at the time. This was the end of 2016 when a lot of things were changing in the country and in the world, and that sort of set the tone in a sense. Once we got off the road for [Disappear Here] all together, being home I kind of got fidgety at a certain point. Traveling is definitely a big part of the process of inspiration. So whether it be hopping on a plane to Hong Kong, or going to Paris or going to New York, staying in the Hamptons in a barn property by the beach, all these kind of experiences, like going to the desert living in a wind farm for a week or living out in Joshua Tree for a week, being secluded and making music, all these kind of different experiences were pivotal in the sense of capturing what it was in that period of time. There’s so much happening, I think a lot of times where the material really comes from is sitting on your subconscious and it’s hard to bring that stuff out. There are certain environments or situations which might be atypical to what you’re used to, which sort of bring those things together, so that was something that I sort of tapped into in real life. Travel was essential for this record.
Was there a specific city that you think really helped you pull material together for this album?
A lot of the lyrics were written on airplanes, for whatever reason. I’m strapped in and I have nothing else to distract me, and that tends to be when my thoughts really solidify. Maybe it has to do with the fact that when you watch a movie on an airplane you get really emotional, maybe it has to do with the height and being up in the air that high that helps solidify those things. Being by the beach in the Hamptons and being in the desert, those are the other places that I think of when I listen to the record. The record got a lot of influence from being in Albuquerque, New Mexico where we were finishing touring. We wrote “ A Miracle a Mile Away” there in a really vibey studio. It really is all over the place but I think it’s a coastal record between Los Angeles and then in the air to Europe.
When you’re on tour how do you step back and practice self care and not get burnt out?
Funny enough tour tends to be one of my favorite times just because I have a really great routine. My way of feeling like I’m in the place I am in is I’ll get up every morning and do a four mile run in whatever city I’m in. Whether that’s going to a park or going through the neighborhood, seeing where people live, or going through downtown, or going by the water in a lot of cases, those kinds of experiences are really grounding for me. Then there’s the show at night, which is such an intense experience and the come down from that is a big moment of introspection. Looking at that and seeing what we’ve achieved in real time is really great. At this rate I don’t feel burnt out at all on this tour, I feel like I’m eager to be moving forward with it.
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