Get to know Jonathan Brightman and some of his music? Downloading and the internet are both a blessing and a curse for musicians. What is your take on the industry as it stands today? Where do you see it heading? Jonathan Brightman: I think the musician will have to catch up with all this technology. In other words, a band may have to use more of their own words, images, actions and give more of themselves up to be noticed. These days anyone can edit a video and put up content. We’re going to have to learn how to be as creative on several formats now. Did the album take long to put together, as I know that you had been planning Black Robot for some time? Jonathan Brightman: The main body of the record was done in a few weeks. We added a few songs to the second version of the record. But overall we don’t like to put too much time into over thinking things. If it rocks, you pretty much know right away.
Jonathan Brightman and Buckcherry: Buckcherry is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1995. The band released two albums, Buckcherry (1999) and Time Bomb (2001), before dissolving in 2002. In 2005, lead vocalist Josh Todd and lead guitarist Keith Nelson reformed Buckcherry with a new lineup and released a new album in 2006, 15. It contained Buckcherry’s biggest crossover hits to date, “Crazy Bitch”, and their first Billboard Hot 100 top ten hit, “Sorry”. Their fourth album, Black Butterfly, was released in 2008, and their fifth album, All Night Long, was released in 2010. Buckcherry released their sixth album, Confessions, in 2013, followed by their seventh album Rock ‘n’ Roll in 2015.[2] They released their eighth album Warpaint in 2019.
Black Robot is a California-based hard rock band formed in 2008 by bassist Jonathan Brightman (JB). In December 2010 the band’s self-titled debut album was picked by Apple iTunes as one of the top 15 rock releases for the year alongside notable artists including Tom Petty, Slash, Elvis Costello and Deftones. Additionally, Classic Rock Magazine ranked their song “Baddass” as the #5 Song of the Year and chose it as the opening track of their Best of 2010 CD.
Are you surprised about the levels of publicity this time around, rather than for the original release? Jonathan Brightman: Absolutely. We still do our best to work with any level of publicity. From a teenager with their own blog site working out of their bedroom to Rolling Stone magazine. Our goal is to let everyone know we’re here and we’re not going away.
Over the past years Brightman Music has been a premium Producer Management firm based in Southern California with a presence in New York City and Nashville, Tennessee and London, England. We represent some of the recording industry’s most highly recognized award winning producers, mixers, songwriters and engineers as well as tomorrow’s game changers. We hold a unique emphasis and proven track record on the discovery and development of groundbreaking chart-topping new artists. Our clients work with artists and record labels, big and small from every corner of the globe. We celebrate musical diversity and support artists of all genres. See additional details on Jonathan Brightman.
How long after the demise of Buckcherry did you begin working on new music? Jonathan “JB” Brightman: The way this happened…right after I left Buckcherry Huck (Johns, singer) was moving to Los Angeles. I had made friends with him and we just started writing. So we had written some songs, but there was no agenda to create a band. What Huck and I really intended to do was to have Yogi (former Buckcherry guitarist) and Devon (former Buckcherry drummer) in the band, but that didn’t really work out. I needed some time away from what would become Black Robot. When it came time, I called Yogi and Devon and said to them, “Let’s just go in the studio for two weeks and let’s make a record.” I didn’t have any expectations. I wanted to get in the studio, record, have a good time and if a great record came out of it then we’d release it. It was no pressure.