It’s been a long time since Bad Suns last headlined in the UK and Europe, and they couldn’t be more delighted to be back.
In the seven years since their last run, a lot has changed, both within music and in wider society. Even the way that music is created and shared is completely different. But for the band, their purpose within all of this is still very much the same.
Their brand of neon-stained pop-rock continues to be timeless, as does the emotional vulnerability and infectious storytelling that sit at the heart of it, most recently and notably on their 2025 album ‘Accelerator’, and that has allowed them to approach their return to this side of the Atlantic with a comfort and confidence that doesn’t always come easy.
As they make their way from city to city, Rock Sound caught up with vocalist/guitarist Christo Bowman to take stock of where they are and what that means as they continue to make huge strides worldwide.
Rock Sound: How does it feel to be back in the UK and Europe once more? What are the things that you enjoy about being able to do your thing overseas in this manner?
Christo: To be honest, I hadn’t been thinking about it too much in the lead-up, but it was always in the back of my mind. It’s really exciting, the prospect of going overseas and being back in the UK and Europe. It’s been nice to have something to look forward to rather than fixate on. I wanted it all to unravel in front of me in real time.
The last headlining run we did was in 2019. That’s such a long time ago now, and I feel like I’m the same person, but it was such a different moment in our lives. We were in our early to mid 20s, and it was just this really exciting moment. Just being in the van together and going out to falafel shops after the shows, or standing in the streets outside a pub in Glasgow with all of my friends. Just all of these simple but unique experiences that were so different to what we could have at home. Being able to breath in the night air, or hear a siren that’s different to anything you hear in the States. It’s all those nice little details which really stick out in your memory. Like being in Amsterdam in a sold-out room and everyone in there knows all the words to your songs, even though English isn’t their first language. It’s things like that which really stay with you.
RS: And how does it feel to be doing with an album like ‘Accelerator’ firmly in your back pocket? How does it feel to be able to share the stories and the wisdom that inspired them and see how people have reacted to them?
Christo: When we’re making an album, pretty much up until the moment when it gets released, it’s such an involved part of my life. To the point where I’m listening to it constantly. So once it is out, I know there is nothing else I can learn from it, and I mentally move on to the next thing. So I stop listening to them, and then from there, when I am performing them on stage, those lines I have written, or little nuggets of things I have talked about, take me by surprise. They serve as real-time reminders. And I wouldn’t say I am ever trying to tell the audience something with my lyrics, it’s more a case of reminding myself of these things I have said and done.
I’ve gotten to the point where I look back at or hear a song from one of our earliest records, and enough time has passed that I can have a bit more objectivity. And oftentimes I’m thinking, ‘Wow, I really get a sense of who the person was who wrote that song’. Who I was whilst making that record at that moment. And I’m thankful to say that, in our early work, it all feels like a very authentic expression of myself, and I still feel very connected to the person who was saying those things. That he meant those things.
I want the songs I write to reflect who I am at any given moment. So to see an audience singing those words back to me, lyrics that may mean one thing to them and something completely different to me, or to any other person singing them, it’s really amazing. If only you could bottle that feeling.
RS: That connection and understanding you have with that older version of yourself should never be taken for granted. Because for some people, they look back and see themselves as a stranger. Within that, though, how do you go about taking stock of what has changed? How do you face those versions of yourself, and how does it influence where you want to go moving forwards?
Christo: It’s actually something that I’m not thinking about too much on a day-to-day level. But there will inevitably and invariably be these moments where it becomes somewhat essential for me to revisit those songs. But the thing with this band and the way that we are is that we have to be our biggest fans and believers in what we’re doing for it to work. I feel very lucky that I don’t look back and feel like what we have done before feels contrived. We made our first album when we were teenagers, and I remember having the sense that it was going to be heard and that it was going to last forever. I wanted this to always serve as an authentic and true reflection of ourselves. I wanted to make something that would still sound good ten years later. Something that could exist outside of a moment in time.
And now we are able to experience the benefits of all the thought and care that went into it. It’s easy, especially when you’re making your 5th or 6th album, to take shortcuts. I’ve been around the block, therefore I don’t need to do X, Y or Z. But it serves as a reminder that going the extra mile is integral to creating something that has that lasting feeling and impact. I don’t want to feel pangs of regret over something I have made.
RS: What would you say are some of the biggest things that you picked up throughout the process? What are the aspects that you didn’t expect to feel the way that you do about?
Christo: To be able to have that trust in yourself, that innate sense of making something which you want to serve as a reflection for who you are in that moment, it comes down to developing a clear pathway between yourself and your intuition. Sometimes something can feel off, and it can mean one of two things. It can mean to get out of there or to push further. So, it’s learning to have this really acute sense of being in touch with yourself as an artist, and that’s a continuous journey.
I learned a bit about how I work within the process, too. There’s a part of me where some songs are more diaristic and stream-of-consciousness, which is much more revealing and what is actually going on in everyday life. And there’s another where I might run a different way with a story, because I love storytelling and writing, but it all comes back to the same emotion I am trying to convey. Because that’s the thing at the end of the day. We’re all different people with different experiences, but we all experience the same emotions. We feel the same things. It’s just the reasons why what we’re feeling might be different. It can make us feel like we are so different from one another when we’re not, and I think that’s why songs resonate with people on such a level.
Another thing I found with this record was that I was using it as a device for me to look at how different my life could have been down the line if I had made choices and important decisions differently. The idea of being at a crossroads in your life, making a really important decision that is going to impact your future, and looking down one path and then the other. The second half of the album, in particular, made me look down the path my life could have taken had I made the wrong decision at a crucial moment. It became an exercise in gratitude, which turned out to be really poignant and really beneficial.
RS: Being comfortable enough to open those doors and question those sorts of things, it takes a lot. So being able to feel that gratitude when you poke and prod at emotions that may make you feel uncomfortable is really important. It also opens up the potential for what may be in the future.
Christo: I think there’s a part of a lot of us where there is a tendency to wish things had gone differently. That’s something that we’ve all felt from one time or another, and I was really trying to flip that on its head. There’s a chance that things could have gone a lot worse. You really have to look at both ends of those things and then compare them to where things have actually ended up. Whilst writing these songs, I feel like I have just gone over the edge of a really challenging period in my life. And so at that particular moment in time, I think it was important for me to take stock of all those different things I have experienced, and in order to find the happiness and gratitude, I had to understand and appreciate that it was a journey to get there.
RS: So, with all of that considered, what does it mean to you to have the band still be such a central and important part of your life all these years later? What does it mean for your art to be providing you with these opportunities and experiences?
Christo: It feels amazing. When you do something for so long, you can begin to take it for granted. I could do whatever today, and then wake up tomorrow and all of this would still be here. But I know not to take any of this for granted, one way or another. I am still very much in touch with every step of what this has been. I remember the feeling of wanting to be heard and wanting to connect, and I am still so grateful that I get to continue doing this thing that allows that. Writing songs is what brings me fulfilment in my life. It gives me an excuse to listen to music and watch movies all the time, too. To be constantly engaged in the creative act. Being in that headspace is where I love to exist. Being in this band and doing these things gives me license to be myself. And that’s awesome.
Bad Suns are making their way around the UK and Europe on tour. Here are all of the dates.
04 – MANCHESTER Gorilla
05 – LONDON Electric Ballroom
07 – COLOGNE Artheater
08 – ANTWERP Kavka
09 – AMSTERDAM Melkweg
12 – PRAGUE Cafe V Lese
13 – BERLIN Privatclub
14 – COPENHAGEN Hotel Cecil
