Bully Biography

Biography

Bully is a rock band headed by guitarist and singer Alicia Bognanno. The band was formed in Nashville in 2013. The band signed with Columbia Records label Startime International. The band has since released three albums from 2015 to 2020. The band started out as a three-piece but is currently a solo project with accompanying members.

Early Start

Bully was founded by singer and guitarist Alicia Bognanno, a Rosemount, Minnesota native. Alicia earned a degree from Middle Tennessee State University in Audio Recording. She later gained an internship at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio Studios in Chicago. Before relocating to Nashville, TN, she began recording demos of her own music. In Nashville, she worked as an engineer at Battle Tapes Recording and The Stone Fox venue.

Musical Journey

Alicia formed Bully with Stewart Copeland (not The Police) on drums. The band first released a limited cassette and then their first single, “Milkman,” in April 2014. After signing with Columbia Records Startime International, the band released their debut album “Feels Like” in June 2015. The album generally gained favorable reviews from critics.

Via Sub Pop, Bully’s second studio album was released on October 20, 2017. The entire album was recorded in Chicago at Electrical Studio. The reviews were also favorable. The project was called “grimier and sugar-slick” than their debut project, “Feels Like.” 

Bully began releasing popular song covers in 2020. In May, the band released covers of Nirvana’s “About A Girl” and Orville Peck’s “Turn To Hate.” Rolling Stone wrote about the covers, “About a Girl” cover; hearing the Nashville band cover Nirvana is almost too obvious—but, good God, is it glorious. Their spin on 1989’s ‘About A Girl’ strikes a perfect balance of raw and melodic without ever sounding like the output of a cover band…Still, it’s not just a skilled copy of a classic.”

The band’s third album, “Sugaregg,” was released in August 2020. The song “Every Tradition” tackled society’s expectations for women. It also targeted an unnamed individual.