Kilo Bravo

Photos by Alishia Stevens

Kilo Bravo is the kind of gritty California rock and roll band you want to listen to while sipping a spicy margarita at Pappy and Harriet’s. They’ve embodied the Sunny-So-Cal sound in a way that not many bands could quite hit the mark. Out of Long Beach, Kilo Bravo is a refreshing take on post-grunge music that embodies authenticity, fearlessness, and the confidence to embody a unique sound. 

Frontman Kristopher Butcher reverently introduced his bandmates: Dave Pelusi on bass, Greg Anderson on drums, and Adrian Sanchez supporting on guitar. We got to sit with Kristopher and Dave, who offered insight into Kilo Bravo’s journey over the past few years.

Tell us a little about Kilo Bravo. When & How did Kilo Bravo form? 

Kris: This band started as a project of mine, just for fun after leaving another band.  When I started getting serious about it, [Dave] was the first person I was like, “you need to be a part of this.” 

The first EP is just me doing my own thing and then everything after that, Dave and Greg are a part of that. And Adrian hopped on for the last record. We’re all just old friends and it happened to work out where everyone kind of had the space to be a part of this project and be involved. It seems like we’ve all made the band that we want to be in. 

Dave: We’ve all been in bands together. Kris hit me up [to work together] and I just politely declined because I needed a break — and then finally I was like, alright, let’s get to it. So, about early 2019, we finally went into the studio and started doing a bunch of music that Kris sent me and we just worked on it and recorded a bunch of music!

Describe your sounds to a new audience.

Kris: I always just say Rock and Roll because, I don't know, I think it’s funny. You can go so many ways with that. If I had to pick a genre, I’d say alternative rock. We kinda sound like The Beatles if they had listened to Nirvana or something? I don’t know — Like heavy melodic music, but not too heavy. 

Dave: Alternative Grunge or something like that, if we’re going to start trying to categorize. It’s hard to pinpoint it. We recently got on 88.5 (the SoCal Sound) and the DJ there said we sound like a Sun Drenched Beatles — The California Beatles. I like that.  

I have to ask, as a huge Bob Dylan Fan and because your music is reminiscent of his work and gritty yet impactful sound, do you draw inspiration from his music?

Kris: Oh yeah, absolutely! I love Bob Dylan. You know, he’s not for everyone. It’s not the first time someone has said like some of [our] songs remind [them] of Bob Dylan and it’s like — yeah, because I can’t sing. That’s always my response. But most of my favorite singers aren’t technically good singers, they’re people that I believe, you know? People that sing from the heart. 

How does live performance drive you all as a band? Do you create with live performance in mind?

Kris:  We love performing live. We’re a band that thrives on stage. If you want to see us at our best, put us on a stage in front of a good crowd. We definitely have [live performance] in mind. Like, how is this going to feel in a room with people? It’s important for us. It’s one thing to listen to our record but I truly think seeing it live — it’s even more powerful. Just connecting with people. Other than just trying to please ourselves with making music that we think is cool, like the big thing is seeing people enjoy it and connect with it. 

Dave: I agree, for me personally, every time I play live, I just want to be able to sound good. I just want people to hear the songs that they like but just louder and more impactful.

What does the creative process look like for the band? 

Kris:  It varies. I’d say I write the songs as loosely structured folk songs or whatever. I’ll write the melody with a verse and a chorus and we’ll come in and jam. Sometimes I have like things pretty fleshed out on how I think they should go and then — like — you know, we just started working on new music where we came into the studio with like scraps of ideas and we left with three songs completely done and we were like ‘wow, we just kind of made that happen.’ We don't really have a formula. 

Dave: We’ve done both ways where we’ve worked on songs and had them all ready by the time it was time to record and then, like a few weeks ago, we just kinda went in with only maybe working on 1-2 songs and we just kind of went for it. And that’s kinda exciting, too; both ways are lucrative in their own way, but this last time recording these songs was pretty cool. We weren’t expecting them to sound the way they did, like the final product, so so far, it’s pretty cool.

Has the creative process changed since releasing your first music as Kilo Bravo in 2018? 

Dave: The only change I can think of, now that this band has been playing with each other for a couple of years, I think we have pretty much found our sound or what we like to do. We can pretty much play whatever we want and make it sound like something we like. We can turn it into something that’s going to have our DNA in it, have our fingerprint on it. 

Kris: What’s changed big time for me is having more people to bounce ideas off of. It’s a big step to go from making something by yourself. It’s fun but at the same time, I don’t love it. I need people. It’s just a really comfortable process no matter what we’re doing and like Dave said, we’ve really started to find our kind of sound.

Who are some of your biggest musical influences that impact your sound as a band, and what do you each bring stylistically? 

Kris: I like to think of songwriting — like just a song played on an acoustic guitar — as like the most important thing. If it’s good that way, it’s kinda good no matter how you do it. So I always think of people like the Beatles, Wilco, Jeff Tweedy, and we all love Radiohead. 

Dave: As far as my playing and the kinda music I like is basically the same thing. I love Brit-Rock and Brit-Pop. I love old disco stuff — I love when bass lines can have a simple groove to them. So, I guess my influences would be Duran Duran, The Beatles, Radiohead, The Verve. It goes all over the board. We all pull from all sorts of inspiration to make the songs and our individual parts.

What are your intentions regarding any upcoming work/shows? What do you aim to convey in upcoming work?

Kris:  As soon as we finish making something, I am like — okay, what’s next? I’m already thinking of the next record. I am always going to be that way; nothing’s going to change it. I am always going to want to make music. I’ve also handpicked the people I want to do it with, so hopefully they want to keep doing it with me. As far as intentions, I want to put them out [the records] and I band to grow. We’d love to have music sustain us. We’d like to play some new shows for some new audiences, that's huge.  And keep making music that we love regardless of if people are coming. We want to get in front of new people. 

To wrap up, Dave ended with the most impactful advice he has received that has driven Kilo Bravo over the years: “Be confident and don’t worry about what others think.” Kristopher added, “We are very comfortable being ourselves.” Kilo Bravo is in the midst of finding their undeniable original sound and has no intention of stepping away from their musical growth. The band’s mesmerizing catalog explores their individuality's intricacies while holding a rich tapestry of classic rock influences. Kilo Bravo is crafting a familiar sound that is remarkably refreshing in today’s contemporary realm. Follow @KiloBravoMusic on Instagram to stay up to date with local shows and new releases.