How long have you been making music?
Craig Bowden: My dad, brother and I have been writing music together for close to 20 years. In 2022, we finally began to record under the name 3 Bravo. In that time, we released two full length albums and an EP.
What are your influences? Who or what inspires you?
Craig: Personally, I am influenced by all sorts of music. I would say that I am a little more old school in my style, working on setting a solid groove with the bass. Growing up, my dad always had all sorts of hard rock and heavy metal playing on the radio. I grew up learning to play Metallica, Van Halen, Kiss, Nazareth, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, you name it. As I grew into the rock/metal scene, I also played in a metalcore band in 2007-2008 similar to All That Remains or Chelsea Grin.
For bass specifically, I’m pretty heavily influenced and inspired by Steve Harris (Iron Maiden); Geezer Butler (Black Sabbath); Cliff Burton (Metallica); Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers); Eddie Jackson (Queensryche); Mike Starr and Mike Inez (Alice In Chains); and Ian Hill (Judas Priest).
What can you tell me about your recent album “Divine Wreckage”?
Craig: Recording for Divine Wreckage began in late spring of 2023. After we finished writing and releasing our debut, Upheaval, we were thirsty for more. The album was a challenge, because in June 2023, my son Conner passed away in an accident, which obviously hit all of us hard, since it is also my dad and brother in the band. The day we actually wrapped up one of the first songs from Divine Wreckage, 1692, was the day he went missing at the lake. A couple weeks later, I decided to check the band email and saw that a fan poll we had sent out had concluded. We were seeking input for a song to cover. The choices were Bastille Day - Rush; Shapes of Things to Come - Gary Moore version; and We All Die Young - Steelheart. By one vote, We All Die Young was the choice to cover. We took that as a sign that we had to finish the album.
The album is our typical style, where we play what we want and not be pigeon holed into a specific sub genre. So you get some more classic metal in the realm of Iron Maiden with songs like 1692 and Chief Hatuey. There is a doom metal oriented song called Black Hole, two songs heavily rooted in blues with a little harder twist, a more “Sunset Strip/Motley Crue” sounding song in Change My Tune, and even some ballads. The album was wrapped up and released in April of 2024.
Do you create art with a specific message, or do you prefer art for arts sake?
Craig: A little from column A and a little from column B. Some songs we just are inspired to write, like my dad when visiting Salem, Massachusetts and getting immediately inspired to write 1692, but we do have messages in some of our songs. I wrote Filth while I was deployed to Iraq with the Marine Corps as a way to express, well, the filth of war, as well as how it feels being back home. Upheaval, the title track of our first album, was about my own struggles with drug and alcohol abuse. Black Hole was written by my brother Josh about bipolar disorder. My dad wrote one on Divine Wreckage, Honest Man, about losing faith in the church he grew up in and dealing with the fallout while still remaining honest with himself. 84 Rising off Upheaval is a warning against the surveillance state, inspired by the book 1984.
So while some songs are just for fun, we do use our platform to “talk” about the human condition, the duality of man, hard topics, etc.
What is your creative process like? What tools and methods do you use to make your songs?
Craig: It differs with each one of us. The typical process is that one of us will have an idea for a song or be inspired by something going on and need to write lyrics. From there, we share the riff or lyric set with the other members. Usually my dad, our guitarist, will then work on arranging the music and do a scratch track recording with a vocal example. Then we take our parts and make them our own, fine tuning until we feel we are ready to record. From there, it is into the studio and we do a few takes per instrument, even if we feel we nailed a take. The reason for this is in our mixing, sometimes that take we thought was solid will end up sloppy in a part or miss a note.
Once we have the initial mix together, we all do what we call the “headphone and car check.” Since most people either listen to music on headphones or while driving, every band member listens on both. We then give our suggestions and get the fine tuning of the mix until we’re happy with it. If we wouldn’t listen to it, we wouldn’t want others to.
When I personally get a blockage on writing, whether a bass line or lyrics, I usually take a drive through the canyon near my house. Escaping to the quiet of the mountains for an hour or two usually clears my head enough to refocus. Overall, to ensure we don’t burn out, we take breaks as often as we need them.
How long have you considered yourself a libertarian?
Craig: I discovered the philosophy of libertarianism through my brother Josh around 2007. He, my dad, and I will often discuss political topics, and while we don’t always agree, we always have open minds. In 2008, I became disaffected with Republicans and left the party. While I may not have necessarily known the term and philosophy before, I would say that I had leaned libertarian since I returned from Iraq, starting to question everything. The more I learned, the more I agreed with what I was hearing.
What do you think the role of art should be in the libertarian movement?
Craig: Culture is an important part of shaping activism and politics. Think about the music surrounding the Vietnam War. Art has a way of reaching where other methods cannot, especially music that can connect with the soul. It is even more impactful when the musician isn’t doing something canned by a label, but independent, from the heart and experience. Music, painting, and even dance all have a way to impact things and if you have the platform, talent, and ability, using those to help shape culture and politics is so needed in the world.
Are you working on new music?
Craig: We just barely released a new EP titled Stoneside in August this year, dedicated to the memory of my son. However, we are never done. We love playing and sharing our love of music with the world. On the burner after we take a bit of a break, we are planning on three more projects for sure in the pipeline. One will be a cover album project, the next a concept album surrounding dystopian literature and cinema, then we have a few songs in the pot that don’t have anywhere specific to go yet. We’ll likely do a lot more than just those two others. My dad has recorded probably 500 riffs that we have cooking, waiting for lyrics and arranging. So ample material to work with.
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