Castle Bravo

Castle Bravo was formed in the spring of 2006 in a merger of two other bands. Two members of the band Lotus Project (Chris-drums, Pat-guitar) and The Red Umbrella (Mike-lead vocals/guitar, Jesse-bass) came together in an unlikely, but powerful pairing of hard rock, metal, pop, and alt-rock. The connection was a childhood friendship between Chris and Mike.

The name "Castle Bravo" came from a military exercise in the 1950's. Chris had seen recently released video footage of “Operation Castle”, and the testing of the 15-megaton bomb “Castle Bravo”. The US government had kept the details of the 1954 thermonuclear test a secret for 50 years. The footage left a lasting impression on Chris and the band…so much so, that it became the namesake. Today, Castle Bravo continues to perform, write and record music at their upstate New York studio, PsychWard.

On April 2, 2010, Castle Bravo lead singer/guitarist Mike Toyryla broke his neck in a freak swimming accident, leaving him almost completely paralyzed. So Castle Bravo went on hiatus for over six months. In the fall of 2010, Mike returned to the fold and Castle Bravo regrouped, adding a female vocalist (Kristin) to the mix. Now a five-piece, the band forged ahead with a new sound and quickly wrote an album's worth of songs, which it expects to release as singles in 2011.