The Bravery
The Bravery is an American rock band formed in New York City in 2003. The band consists of lead vocalist Sam Endicott, guitarist Michael Zakarin, keyboardist John Conway, bassist Mike Hindert and drummer Anthony Burulcich. They are best known for their 2005 top 10 UK single "An Honest Mistake" and their certified gold 2008 single "Believe". Before their initial split, they released three studio albums: The Bravery, The Sun and the Moon and Stir the Blood. They also released a remixed edition of their second album, called The Sun and the Moon Complete, in 2008, as well as an Internet live album called Live at the Wiltern Theater in 2010. The group's music is mostly post-punk, dance-influenced rock.
The band was inactive from the early 2010s onward, with Endicott confirming the band's indefinite hiatus in April 2014. On July 31, 2021, The Bravery's website confirmed the return of the group.
History
Formation and rising fame (2003)
Frontman-songwriter Sam Endicott and keyboardist John Conway were classmates at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. The two began a musical partnership, playing together in various bands in the Poughkeepsie area including Skabba the Hut with future CSI: Miami star Jonathan Togo. After graduating, Endicott and Conway moved to New York City, where Endicott switched from bass guitar to vocals and began writing music that would later become The Bravery.Guitarist Michael Zakarin joined after answering an advert in a local paper, and brought with him bassist Mike Hindert, a classmate of his from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Drummer Anthony Burulcich was living in Boston, Massachusetts, where he had studied percussion at Berklee College of Music. After his sister's death, Burulcich moved back to his childhood home in Long Island New York to be with his family. On the day Burulcich was moving, while driving with his belongings in a U-Haul truck, Endicott called him.
The band played their first gig at the Stinger Club in Brooklyn in November 2003. To promote their local shows, they manufactured 1,000 posters and 3 song CD samplers containing the songs "An Honest Mistake", "No Brakes" and "Public Service Announcement". Both items featured the iconic "Phoenix" image by New York artist C. Finley. The same artwork later became the cover of The Bravery's debut album. The band self promoted themselves by handing out CDs and postering the Lower East Side of Manhattan and Brooklyn. The band also promoted themselves on the internet and were one of the first bands on MySpace to have a profile. Their MySpace profile pointed to thebravery.com, where the same three songs were available as downloadable MP3s.
''Unconditional EP'' (2004)
After a few months of headlining and selling out small clubs, The Bravery booked a residency at the Lower East side club Arlene's Grocery. The Bravery played every Thursday at 10pm in May 2004. Every show sold out and garnered the attention of many record labels. Around the same time, the band received their first radio airplay on the show Alter Ego hosted by Paul Driscoll on Boston's WFNX. Aaron Axeleson at Live 105 in San Francisco and Zane Lowe at BBC Radio 1 in the UK, also downloaded the MP3 of "An Honest Mistake" from thebravery.com. With three major radio stations around the world playing the MP3 of "An Honest Mistake" and sold-out shows in New York, The Bravery signed in August 2004 to Island Def Jam in the United States and Loog Records in the UK.For the month of November 2004, The Bravery moved to the Stoke Newington part of London. The band imported their residency idea to London playing every Thursday at The Metro Club in Soho. The band toured the entire UK, France and the Netherlands between Thursdays. The band also opened shows for Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Razorlight.
Loog Records released the Unconditional EP, a limited edition 3 song EP on CD and 12" vinyl containing the songs "Unconditional", "No Brakes" and "Out of Line". NME wrote, "Unconditional already has the time-worn feel of an indie classic." The cover was taken from C. Finley's oil on canvas named Colab. "Unconditional" received heavy airplay on Radio 1 and XFM London.
The Bravery played New Year's Eve of 2005 at the Motherfucker Party in New York City.
The Village Voice proclaimed the Bravery to be "New York's Official Next Big Thing", while MTV and Rolling Stone hailed them as an artist to watch. The band were also tipped in the BBC News website's Sound of 2005 poll as 2005's #1 most promising act.
''The Bravery'' (2005–2006)
The Bravery's first single, "An Honest Mistake", was released in the UK on February 28, 2005, and debuted at No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart. The single reached No. 12 on the US Modern Rock Chart. The CD single contained the b-side "Hey Sunshiney Day". The 7" Vinyl contained the b-side "Hot Pursuit ", a duet with lead singer Sam Endicott and Gillian Conway. The Bravery's second single, "Fearless" was released in the UK on May 23, 2005. The single's slimline CD featured a cover of "An Cat Dubh" by U2 as the b-side. The b-side for the 7" vinyl was a cover of The Cars' "It's All I Can Do". The DVD single contained the Fearless Video as well as live footage of "No Brakes" recorded at club Koko in London on March 1, 2005. C. Finley's artwork entitled "Lady With A Blunt" was used as the cover art. The "Unconditional" single was released in the UK on August 29, 2005. The slimline CD single contained a Michael Brauer radio Mix as the A-side and a Benny Benassi dance remix as the b-side. The remix reached the top 10 on the UK dance charts. The Maxi single contained the b-sides "Oh, Glory" and "An Honest Mistake" remix by Superdiscount. The CD was enhanced with the video for "Unconditional". "Phoenix Girl", an acrylic and graphite drawing on paper by C. Finley's was used for the cover art.The Bravery, was released on March 14, 2005, in the UK. It debuted No. 5 on the UK Album Chart and No. 15 on the Irish Chart. C. Finley's painting "Phoenix" was used as the cover art. The first 10,000 copies in the UK were made with a silver foil cover and a black embossed Phoenix. The band was featured on the cover of the March 12 issue of NME. The album was released in Europe on April 4, 2005. The band was featured on the cover of the French music magazine Magic. Australia released the album on May 4. "An Honest Mistake" became a top ten hit on Triple J radio in Australia.
On May 28, 2005, The Bravery played three shows in one day, taking a helicopter from Homelands festival in Winchester, to Birmingham for Duran Duran's concert at the Birmingham City soccer ground, and then on to London. The Bravery's last show of the day was the first of three sold out headlining shows at the Astoria. On June 14, 2005, The Bravery supported the opening night of U2's European tour in Manchester, UK. During The Bravery's opening song "Rites of Spring", the power failed on stage. The band left the stage coming back 10 minutes later, only to have the power shut off again. Bono wrote a letter to the band thanking them, stating "P.S. If you ever need anything, call Edge, Adam or Larry". The Bravery went on to support other European dates for U2 including a sold out 90,000 capacity Croke Park concert in Dublin on June 27. The Bravery played at Glastonbury Festival on June 26, 2005. Their set was due to be aired live on BBC Three in the daytime, but had to be shown well after the watershed, as bass guitarist Mike Hindert stripped naked on stage due to the hot weather and threw himself into the drumkit to end their set. A photograph of Hindert's buttocks on stage with 40,000 people in the distance was featured in the following issue of the NME and Blender Magazine. His nakedness is now immortalized on film in Julien Temple's Glastonbury The Film. Throughout 2005, The Bravery sold out headlining shows all over the world and played some of the largest festivals including SXSW, Coachella Music Festival, Glastonbury and Lollapalooza. In November and December 2005 and January through March 2006, the band was the supporting act for Depeche Mode on their Touring the Angel world tour. The tour traveled all over the US, UK and Europe.
''The Sun and the Moon'' (2007–2008)
US modern rock radio stations received the CD for The Bravery's first single "Time Won't Let Me Go" the same week as the band played in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and the SXSW festival. The single reached the Alternative Top Ten Hit in America.On May 22, 2007, The Bravery's second album The Sun and the Moon was released, debuting at No. 24 on the US album charts. Endicott described the new album as a departure from the synth-heavy sound of their debut. The cover and artwork are candid photographs taken by Jo McCaughey and Drew King. Endicott and art designer Andy West took a newsprint/collage approach to the album's layout. The Bravery's second single "Believe" reached No. 4 on the US Alternative Charts in April 2008, 11 months after the original release of the album. "Believe" stayed at No. 4 for six weeks, becoming the band's biggest radio hit to date.
Two weeks before the release, The Bravery played a number of special shows in New York City, including two secret shows on May 8 at Arlene's Grocery, the very club that the band credits as the club where they were discovered. The Bravery toured extensively in the US, headlining dates until June. The band headed to Europe on their own headlining tour, stopping to play in Oxegen and T in the Park festivals. Between July and September, The Bravery supported Incubus on their outdoor amphitheatre summer tour. The band then supported The Smashing Pumpkins on their US theatre tour. In October, The Bravery headed to Mexico where they played Motorkr Festival in Mexico City. They finished 2007 headlining more dates in the US.
iTunes announced The Bravery as the first artist ever to pre-release a different song every week prior to the album release. On February 19, 2008, the first single, a re-recording of "Believe" debuted on iTunes. A song a week followed: "This Is Not the End" was released on February 26, "Bad Sun" on March 4 and "The Ocean" on March 11.
While on the road, The Bravery continued working on The Moon recording in the back of their tour bus, in hotels and dressing rooms. In December 2007, The Bravery headed back into their New York City home studios to finish up their more raw and electronic version of the songs. In January 2008, the band announced the new release of The Sun and the Moon Complete, a two-disc set featuring The Sun and The Moon. It was released on March 18, 2008. A new album cover and packaging accompany the two-disc set. The Bravery's single "Believe" reached number four on the Modern Rock Charts during the week of April 13, 2008. It is the highest chart position for the band in the United States. "Believe" stayed at number 4 for six weeks. "Believe" went on to become a certified gold single in the United States.
After a disagreement with the band's UK label, The Sun and The Moon was never released in the UK. Endicott addressed the issue for the first time in public during a feature in the November 4, 2009 issue of the NME. "The big thing was the BBC counted us as the best new band of the year and at that point our label lost its shit. We got off a plane in London and there were billboards of us on the highway. Suddenly we weren't this indie band, we were the Spice Girls!" The band has since been in a legal battle with their UK label over the rights of The Sun and The Moon and the band's future releases.