We had the pleasure of chatting with BODEGA and asked them a few questions about what inspires them, their recording process, and what’s next for their band!<\/p>\n
Q: What inspired you to start Bodega and how did you pick the name? Why did you decide to drop the “Bay” in “Bodega Bay” and relaunch as “BODEGA”?<\/strong> <\/span> Q: What were you most excited about when releasing your debut album Endless Scroll?<\/strong>
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\n<\/span>A: Me and Nikki used to be in a band called “Bodega Bay” (which is a reference to the town in Hitchcock\u2019s \u2018The Birds\u2019 and also, of course, the NYC corner stores). I noticed that people started calling us “Bodega” much in the same way people refer to the Rolling Stones as “the Stones.”\u00a0 When that band broke me up me and Nikki started this new band with new friends – which is very different but coming from a similar philosophical place. The music and concept felt more streamlined, hence the simplified BODEGA.<\/span><\/p>\n
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\n<\/span>A: Getting to go out and tour the record. The songs really come alive when played with an audience.<\/span>
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\n<\/span>Q: How different was the recording process compared to the one you had with Bodega Bay?<\/strong>
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\n<\/span>A: Extremely different. The Bodega Bay album was all recorded onto a MacBook internal microphone (we were very into harsh lo-fi in the vein of Times New Viking) whereas the first BODEGA record was recorded on tape in our friend\u2019s practice space (Austin Brown from Parquet Courts). Furthermore, the BODEGA record was all tracked live with everybody playing at once. “Our Brand Could be Your Life” was done in the more bedroom-collage style. The results are very different: “Endless Scroll” is a very classical sounding mid-fi rock record whereas “Our Brand Could Be Your Life” is a bit anti-music (while still being pop).<\/span>
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\n<\/span>Q: What\u2019s the hardest thing to do as a band or musician new to the game? Do you have any advice for new artists?<\/strong>
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\n<\/span>A: Good question. I suppose the hardest thing to do for any artist is to translate the ideas in your head into the physical realm. Whenever younger new bands ask me for advice on the \u2018music business\u2019 I always tell them to befriend other bands in their town they look up to (or who they\u2019d like to be seen are their \u2018peers\u2019) \u2014 and reach out to them. This is much more productive and inspiring than randomly contacting venues, bookers, labels, etc. In a way, band-dom starts from fandom. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>Q: Endless Scroll was an awesome fresh take on Punk. What inspired you to tackle “Dance Punk”?<\/strong>
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\n<\/span>A: We never consciously decided to do “dance punk” per se. We just wanted to make songs that were passionate and could get people moving. All five of us had a lot of pent up energy that needed to be released. At the time we were listening to a lot of classic post-punk – Early Fall, Wire, GoF, Pylon – which definitely comes through in our record (some of which I think could be classified as “dance punk”).<\/span>
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\n<\/span>Q: Is there anything you want to experiment with musically that you haven\u2019t attempted yet?<\/strong>
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\n<\/span>A: Yes! Live this year we\u2019ve gotten into extended improvised drone jams that I would like to attempt to translate into the studio soon. Coming soon.<\/span>
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\n<\/span>Q: Do you think Bandcamp is the perfect place for any bands to start their careers? We’ve heard of bands complaining the large commission BC takes. Does that bother you?<\/strong>
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\n<\/span>A: There is no “perfect place” to start doing anything as a band. Put your music out wherever you want and if it\u2019s interesting (and you are lucky)\u2026 people will listen. I do quite like the Bandcamp interface (and ordering directly from bands\/labels).<\/span>
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\n<\/span>Q: What’s your favorite album of this year?<\/strong>
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\n<\/span>A: I don\u2019t really like to rank things but some of my favorites are the new Guerrilla Toss, Iceage, Lithics, Courtney Barnett, Palberta, Gift Wrap, Shark Toys, Pill, Beak, Daniel Blumberg, Parquet Courts, Veda Rays, Shame, Big Bliss, and Mezzanine Swimmers.<\/span>
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\nQ: Do you feel like your childhood and your hometown contributed to your tastes in music?<\/strong>
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\n<\/span>A: Definitely. All of my life experiences have contributed to the song. How could they not? That is partially what our song “Jack in Titanic” is about. On further thought \u2014> the sing-songy melody of that song has a very 90\u2019s feel to it (which is when I first started hearing pop music).<\/span><\/p>\n