Interview: 3 Bravo (Written)

Games, Brrraaains & A Head-Banging Life bring you an interview with bassist Craig from hard rock and metal band, 3 Bravo.

1. Hello! Thank you for taking the time to chat to us. First things first, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started.

Dennis obviously started many years before all the rest of us. For him, his sister took him to a KISS concert, his very first one) when he was 13. Once he saw his first live performance he knew he wanted to play guitar and he’s played ever since. The story is similar for me and Josh. Our dad, Dennis, took us to our first concert which was also KISS and we fell in love with wanting to play.

Each of us have been involved in our own separate bands over the years, but always jammed together. Our first song we learned to play was War Pigs by Black Sabbath, which has become somewhat of a tradition to play when we jam together.

In June of 2022, our dad approached us and asked if we wanted to record and write our own music, since we have written some jams together over the last 20 years, but never recorded them. Of course Josh and I were stoked to do that. Over the last year and some change we have been pumping out ideas. Our first album, Upheaval, was released on May 5th, 2023.

2. Someone comes to you and asks you to sum up what kind of music you play – what do you tell them?

Hard rock and heavy metal the way it was originally played. That’s probably the best way to describe what we do. We have a couple songs that could have come out of the Sunset Strip with bands like Motley Crue or Guns & Roses, but we also have some heavier stuff that you would have heard with groups like Iron Maiden or Judas Priest. We just write what feels good and have fun doing it.

3. What’s currently going on in your camp? New releases? Tours? Etc.

We’re currently working on our second album, Divine Wreckage, which is going to be released in early 2024. We haven’t quite pinned down the exact date we will release, but we do know it will be early next year. We have been releasing a couple of singles from the album as we go, our next one is slotted for December 9th. We opted to do a cover tune on Divine Wreckage called We All Die Young, originally written by Steelheart and later adapted to the movie Rockstar starring Mark Walberg.

4. What has been the most positive experience of making music to date for you?

It has been an amazing bonding experience for the three of us since we’re a father and son trio. We have been able to spend a lot more time together as a family because of this. While we have always been close, this has brought us much closer. For me personally, it also challenged me to step up the game on my bass guitar. I’m playing at a higher level than I ever have.

5. Likewise, what has been some of the more challenging aspects and how have you overcome them?

The most challenging things for us was actually the death of my son in an accident earlier this year in June. I’m not really sure we will fully overcome the loss of my son, Dennis’s grandson, and Josh’s nephew. What we have done is remember that he was one of our biggest supporters and we press on because we know he’s still rocking with us. Music has also been very healing in a way, where we are able to express our loss through the music and ultimately honor him. We are actually planning on an EP solely dedicated to him after we wrap up Divine Wreckage that will involve everyone in our family that wishes to participate.

6. How do you handle the modern expectations of being in a band? Always online, having to put out content constantly, your success measured in likes and follows?

It’s certainly a challenge, because you want to put out quality over quantity. What we have been able to do with this demand, however, is show our followers and fans what goes one behind the scenes. They get to be in studio with us. They get to experience what we do. And we do love the interactions with the people who support what we do. One thing we will note, though, is we don’t measure our success in likes or follows. We just want to put good music to the world and if people rock with us, we appreciate it.

7. What’s something that really ‘grinds your gears’ about the industry/business these days and what would you propose is done to combat it?

Probably the biggest gripe is the “pay to play” crap that exists. We understand that in some instances you do have to put up some funds to get things done, especially as an independent artist. However, there is so much that people are trying to get a piece of from you. Beyond that, the most annoying thing has been the bots that bombard you on social media promising you to go viral. We aren’t stupid and not going to waste 50 bucks or whatever to have bot farms boost our numbers without growing our base. For us, it isn’t about the numbers, it’s about the music.

8. Speaking directly to listeners – what would you ask they do to help support your music?

The best thing you can do to support our music is to buy it. It’s cliché, but it’s true. When we sell our albums, we get more money to work with to bring things like music videos, mastering, replacement equipment, etc. If you already bought the album, the next best thing is our merch. Last, but not least, sharing a song that hits home for you with people you know.

9. Outside of the music, what’s do you do to relax?

For me personally, I garden and go fishing. All three of us love to just hang out together, and we are some of the most fun people to hang with. We also love to spend time with the rest of our family; we’re all really close. Dennis, aka dad, and his wife can be found traveling quite a bit and love to be in the outdoors. Josh, when he can, relaxes with some ink therapy. We all love to hit trails and hike as well. Nothing like nature to cleanse the soul.

10. Where can people find you?

Our website is www.3bravoband.com, which is probably the easiest way to find us and links to everything else. We’re on pretty much every major social media platform under the name 3Bravoband, to keep things consistent. Most streaming platforms have our music as well. Eventually, you will find us where you live because we fully plan on getting out there and bringing the music to you.