Although not born and raised in Las Vegas, Brandon Davis is as proud and fond of his adopted home city as any native born resident. The co-founder, vocalist and guitarist for Vegas-based metal band Bravo Delta, said he and his bandmates were inspired by the civic pride, strength and resilience of Las Vegas residents, particularly in the wake of the horrible mass shooting to took place in the community in October of 2017.
During those moments of madness, a lone gunman brandishing military-grade weaponry, opened fire from a hotel room on thousands of people who were enjoying an outdoor concert. By the time all the chaos had subsided on Oct. 1, 58 people were dead and 851 injured. The incident remains the single deadliest mass shooting incident committed by a single individual in the increasingly violent history of the U.S.A.
But for residents of the city, such as Davis, Bravo Delta’s other guitarist Andy Ingraham, drummer Brian Scott and bassist Roman, the way the city responded to the horrific crime was a truly inspirational experience. How Las Vegas has also regained its energy and vibrancy in the 18 months since the killings provided ample fodder for music for the band’s debut full-length album.
Appropriately entitled Unbreakable, the record was released worldwide in various digital platforms and in physical forms {CD and LP] on Feb. 1 and has already been garnering acclaim and positive reviews.
“We ourselves have been through a lot of shit over the last few years, just trying to put this record together, and being down as a band and almost not being active at all at one point. We fought through some things, so this is definitely about us being unbreakable and rising up and facing the storm. The whole album has that kind of vibe to it,” Davis explained.
“At the same time, our city of Las Vegas has been through a lot in the last couple of years. There was a lot of inspiration from that and kind of dedicating the album to our city and the locals, the people who actually live here. We wanted the title track in particular to be an anthem for them, and for other people too – whatever situation they are going through.
“There is no one song related directly to the shooting but it’s just that we were so inspired by what happened in the aftermath of it and to literally see that night, as things are happening, locals leaving their houses to rush into the line of fire to help people and get people to hospitals and just do what they can. And then there were the weeks that followed with the huge lines at blood donation clinics where you had to wait hours to donate blood. It was amazing to see. There was this huge outpouring of money and supplies that was so beautiful to see. To see an entire city kind of rise and have that unbreakable spirit I thought was so beautiful.”
Other songs from the album follow along similar lines, although are related to more specific stories.
“There is a song called Fire which is about a woman who has had a hard life and she fought through and she’s got a fire in her eyes and she’s so strong. There’s a song called Knights of Desire and originally when I wrote it, it was about a band just getting started who are not afraid of the fire and not afraid of the conglomerations of greed in the music industry. They’ve got the desire to push through all that. So, there’s a number of songs that touch on that same theme, and there’s also other songs that kind of touch on the human condition, there’s some that come from the perspective of somebody who is struggling with anxiety and depression,” Davis said.
“Dark Room is such a song, and anybody who has experienced anxiety and depression would understand the meaning of that title. It talks about somebody wanting to know if there is anybody out there, is there anybody still breathing, is there any heart, anybody who still cares? It’s from the point of view of someone who is in that space where they feel alone like they are in an empty, dark room all by themselves.”
For Bravo Delta, the time, effort and artistry in putting together a full-length album was an endeavour that was important to them all.
“First and foremost, it’s something that we as a collective unit have never done. The most important things for us at the end of the day is are we having fun doing it, does it make sense and it is something we haven’t done that we want to experience together. All those things are considered first before we look at what’s right for the business side, what’s right for the industry side of things,” said Davis.
“We had put out two EPs [Shutdown Sequence in 2013 and Sunset Wasteland in 2012] as well as some singles and we had a little bit of a slow down period, so we decided to do something we had never done before. Let’s do it right, and let’s go against that grain of what is happening in the industry right now that is epic. We wanted a well thought out, creative record that has songs that blend into each other, with intros and outros and instrumental tracks. We really wanted to tell a story and the best way to do that is with a full album. It will really help set us apart and show people that we’re not just another rock band, that we actually have something special and with Unbreakable, we feel like we accomplished that for the most part.
“We were very happy with the EPs and the songs on them are great, but we feel this is a more developed sound, something that’s definitively our sound. It definitely is step up, that’s the best way I can put it.”
Bravo Delta is not a typical hard rock band. Balancing a variety of metal and rock influences, there is a particular attention to lyrical depth as well as musical showmanship bordering on virtuosity in the band’s compositions. While not strictly as proggy as say Dream Theater, there are those influences, but more measured.
“There have been some people that have called it straight rock and roll, some people who have called it nu-metal, some people who have called it hard rock – there’s a million different ways to do it. For me, it’s just rock music with thought-provoking lyrics,” said Davis.
“For the most part, we try to be on the intelligent side of things musically, artistically, vocally and lyrically. We don’t really talk about partying and drugs and stuff like that. While there is nothing wrong with songs that touch on those things, we want to have more depth. In the simplest form, we want to be seen as a rock band that has depth and puts real thought into every aspect of our music.”
The band began shortly after Davis moved to Las Vegas from southern California and soon hooked up with Ingraham to form the nucleus of Bravo Delta. The pair began writing together and performing with hired gun sidemen before bringing Roman and Scott on board by 2011, in time to start recording music for their debut EP. To this day, while the project is quite collaborative, most of the musical ideas begin with either Ingraham or Davis.
“The starting points for songs usually come from myself or Andy or a combination of us both. Then we bring this fledgling idea to a room with all four of us and we kind of chop it up and hammer it out together. Brian writes his own parts and so does Roman. So, the way it always works is that the initial ideas start between Andy and me, but at the end of the day, it always ends up with all of us contributing and moulding it together like clay,” he said.
As for touring, Davis said there are big plans for 2019, with hopes of getting up to Canada at some point.
“I would love that. I have never been to Canada. I know we’ve got rock radio stations in both Minnesota and Michigan that are both spinning our singles, so they’re probably picking them up over the border. If something makes sense when we go to those markets to perhaps pop over the border, that would be amazing,” he said.
For more information on Bravo Delta, the Unbreakable album and forthcoming touring dates, visit www.bravodeltamusic.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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