Bravo Bonez
Earlier in Bravo’s life, his musical career was put on hold while he chose to pursue the path of Mammon. Many years later, once realizing his true passion for music had been neglected, he decided to drop everything and chase the long-lost dream of his 21-year-old self. Bravo’s idiosyncratic, ambient style is inspired by the likes of Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, Crime Heat and The Impending Adorations.
Bravo enjoys creating a blend of many of his favourite genres, constantly producing a diverse repertoire of engaging, mellifluous new tracks. These genres include trip-hop, acid jazz, house, lounge, post-punk and ambient cinematic influences. Bravos initial reincarnation back into the musical scene was through a collaboration with vocalist ‘Alba Rose’, in a project named ‘ARLS’. The trip-hop inspired single ‘LUCKY’ was released in August of 2019 to good reviews.
"Treason ft. Alba Rose"
An ode to mid-90s Neo Soul and Acid Jazz, and the UK pop charts of the time. Full of drama, accentuated by soaring strings, jazz flute and horns. Layered vocals.
So die Beschreibung, und ja, es wird das geliefert was versprochen bzw. beschrieben wurde. Bravo Bonez und Alba Rose kleiden sich im feinsten Acid Jazz der 90er und runden das Ganze noch mit einem Hauch Neo Soul ab. Available ist das ganze Ding dann ab Freitag, bis dahin muss man sich leider noch gedulden, aber ab dann heißt es "Back to the Past, back on the dancefloor or simply Bravo Bonez is back".
Q&A
Who is the human behind Bravo Bonez and what's the story behind your stage name?
I am of later age, based in New Zealand, and when I am not being a musician I work in wholesale investment advisory. I also own and run a recording studio. I have two other musical identities. LearningToDive for my post-punk and trip hop. Haikyo for my ambient cinematic work.
I created the “Bravo Bonez” stage name to retain some privacy, and its creation is rather banal. Due to my age I was playing around with “ole bones” as a concept but thought that too dull so did some synonym/translation work and found “ole” in Spanish was interchangeable with “bravo”. But I didn’t want to be called “bones” so I changed it to “Bonez” pronounced “Bone- ez”. I still get called Bravo Bones. Mildly frustrating.
How did you get into music and what are your main influences?
I have been into music from a very young age. I still remember creating symphonies in my head at the age of four. I am not sure how good they were but they were epic to me. I was in orchestras and choirs when younger, then later ended up in bands, one of which ended up with an ill-fated deal with a major.
I took many years off but came back to music through a blog in 2012 which eventually led to me being inspired to create again. This manifested in a track I released as ARLS in 2019 called “LUCKY”.
Up and coming neo-soul indie pop artist Alba Rose was my collaborator on the project, just as she is on my current release “TREASON”. My influences are so wide ranging it has difficult to name them all, but in terms of this current release, definitely Jamiroquai, the Brand New Heavies and artists from the Philly sound. You can also probably hear some Massive Attack in there as well.
Your release "Treason ft. Alba Rose" is a great journey back to the mid 90s, when Acid Jazz met Neo-Soul, what was your inspiration?
So many have said they think “TREASON” sounds like a James Bond theme. I didn’t set out to create something like that, but I have always loved Bond themes, and I wonder if it was in there subliminally. We definitely set out to create a track with drama and emotion, with rich textures, that really pushed. I think we succeeded there. As for other inspirations. The jazz flute was inspired by Ron Burgundy, well not really…but I can’t help visualising him on the track.
How was it to work with Alba Rose?
I’ve worked with Alba Rose on so many projects, and we know each other very well now. She is a dream to work with. Very sharp, extremely musical and requires so few takes to nail a part. Her new material is stunning. Look up her latest single “Mountains”.
What do you prefer: a studio session or the stage?
Definitely the studio although its nice to get some applause occasionally. The last time I was on stage was back in 2020 where I DJ’d a set for my Bravo Bonez “Love Blast Lounge” EP. I haven’t yet done it but I would like to combine violin and trumpet with a DJ set.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
David Bowie. I would mainly be looking to learn from him though. I have read much about the way he created, and how quick he was create great material.
What's your favorite Album at the moment?
David Bowie back catalogue. So inspiring.
What can we expect from you in the near future?
I have a new EP coming next year under my LearningToDive moniker which is nominally titled the “War” EP for now. It is heavily inspired by trip hop and very different to “TREASON”.
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