Los Angeles-based rock band Bad Suns has a strong pop bent, so signing with legendary LA punk label Epitaph seems an unlikely partnership. But according to singer/guitarist Christo Bowman, it’s a great match.
“Epitaph was one of the first to come to us, and to be honest, I don’t think it’s an idea that would have occurred to us,” says Bowman. “We weren’t turned off by the idea—we are a pop band but we have always had undertones of the punk spirit. It’s always been a part of our lexicon. We also liked the fact that (Epitaph founder and Bad Religion guitarist) Brett Gurewitz was from our hometown of Woodland Hills!”
After separating from their previous label, Vagrant, in 2018, the band took some time off to figure out the next move. They wrote and recorded a few songs, and released a single independently. When deciding to move forward to find a producer to work with, they realized it made sense to start talking to labels.
After signing to Epitaph, the band continued working on their forthcoming album with producer Dave Sardy (A Perfect Circle, Fallout Boy, others). The label pretty much left the band to its own creative devices. “We sent them demos as we were recording,” says Bowman, “and they came by to listen to the rough mixes when we were done.”
Since forming a few years as teenagers, the band has experienced success in building a strong fan base with their live shows, and appearances on late night TV shows and at 2015 Coachella, for which Bowman credits their booking agents at Paradigm Agency. “The team at Paradigm has been instrumental to our career. Tom Windish at Paradigm heard one of our early songs on the Internet and emailed us saying he wanted to work with us. That was a real ‘pinch me’ moment for all of us. We went from being just another local band to all of the sudden people knowing who we were.”
Bad Suns are undertaking an extensive US and European tour throughout 2019, with the LP planned for release in the first half of the year. Bowman credits the band’s success with having a cohesive team, including their management of more than five years, New Community Management. There are plans for an additional release with Epitaph.
Date Signed: November 2018
Label: Epitaph Records
Band Members: Christo Bowman, vocals/guitar; Gavin Bennet, bass; Miles Mores, drums; Ray Libby, guitar
Type of Music: Rock
Management: Bryan Ling, [email protected]; Stephen Ling, [email protected]
Booking: Tom Windish, [email protected]
European Booking: David Sullivan Kaplan, [email protected]
Publicity: James Raines/Shore Fire Media, [email protected]
Web: badsuns.com
A&R: N/A
