Voice in Attic - content.bandzoogle.comcontent.bandzoogle.com/users/VoiceintheAttic/files/GFH Magazine June... · In a nutshell, what genu- ine artistic expression should feel like

Voice in

the Attic

in

Inter-view

with

GFH

Text:

Peter Cleave

Pictures:

Paul Johnson

82 GFH

I

T'S AN UNCOMMONLY COLD AND WINDY DAY IN EARLY MAY WHEN we meet B.C. Bogey, the mastermind behind VOICE IN THE ATTIC, one of contemporary rock music's hottest newcomers, in his recording studio in Cologne, Germany. "A bad weather front is such a great source of inspiration. In fact, one of my favourite

working titles for VOICE IN THE ATTIC's forthcoming debut EP, Earily Familar, was 'Sad Songs for Grown-ups.' Oops, how very clever of me to give it away. I still might wanna use it someday, so don't you go telling anyone," Bogey jokes. "Do you consider yourself as being the depressive personality type?" GFH inquires. BCB: No, not at all. I make fun of my own follies as often as I may and try to take life's miseries with a smile if possible. But do I also like to wallow in self-pity and say things that sound melodramatic? Perhaps. Don't we all at times? But I make serious efforts not to. GHF: Tell us about VOICE IN THE ATTIC. When and how did the band come into existence? BCB: Well, just how much time have we got on our hands? I'll give you a summary. In mid-2009, V. i. t. A. started out as a solo project, with

options for the

Early design

EP cover

"We liked the devil figure so much that it will be revived for the full album," Bogey promises

"This

is who

I Am"

B.C. BOGEY

GFH 83

me doing everything myself, from chord strumming and arranging to recording, mixing and even mastering the music. The reason for this was simple. I had planned a musical project with a friend of mine, with whom I had successfully worked together in 2000. The CD we recorded and produced back then had received raving reviews in several magazines. But, alas, it was not fated to be. Just now you ask me, am I a depressive personality? I'm not but this friend of mine, Will, suffered from depression and did not emerge victorious from the battle against his unconscious. A mere two months from his informing me that he was looking for professional help he committed suicide, walking out into the woods one Sunday afternoon to hang himself. Apparently, the psychiatrists had seriously misdiagnosed him. But I do not wish to put the blame on anybody. The whole thing is no laughing matter, and of course it inevitably inspired my recent songwriting. GFH: Forming a new group just then, after your friend's unexpected death, would have felt like betraying an old comrade, perhaps? BCB: No, I wouldn't put it like that. Put like that the statement sounds cynical. It wasn't about 'betrayal.' After all, Will had made his move, had made a tough and lonely and perhaps also wrong decision in taking his own life, and I simply must react and try to keep going. For weeks after his suicide I was completely out of order. I moved about like a zombie or a robot, I guess, barely managing the simplest task. I'm not sure you can understand what the suicide of someone you love does to you if you've not experienced it yourself. A complete breakdown of reason. Meaninglessness looming everywhere with its mocking voices, which is what I describe in "Day," which will be on the full album. Eventually, to play music again felt like paying tribute to a wonderful human being and one of the best friends I've ever had. I guess I had to begin the project on my own, without involving others who hadn't known him, since that process was a very personal, intimate one. GFH: Was that also when you picked the name of the band? Going by what you just said, it

would appear you were on the brink of 'flipping your lid' . . . BCB: Well, perhaps I was. VOICE IN THE ATTIC is of course reminiscent of 'toys in the attic'. However, it was only later, not in the immediate aftermath of my friend's death but when already convalescent and in an analytic mindset, you might say, that I picked the name. I was inspired by Patrick McGrath's novel Spider, in which the schizophrenic protagonist hears voices allegedly coming from the attic of a boarding house, whilst truly emanating from the nethermost depths of his disturbed mind. I use the phrase as a tongue-in-cheek expression for creative processes of any kind, where you always have to pay attention to 'Muses' of all sorts. Sometimes they'll sing for your entertainment and inspire you, sometimes they won't, no matter how much you plead or strain to hear. They can be wicked. GFH: While we're at it: tell us more about your background, musical and otherwise. BCB: Sure. Among other things, I work as a university lecturer, teaching contemporary lit- erature. Before completing my PhD in the humanities, I studied opera at a conservatory, where I would sing arias from Mozart's Don Giovanni and the like. And before that I was the lead singer in various hard rock and progressive metal bands as well as independent studio projects, such as e. g. Moshington D.C., Face the Facts, Tangram or Tide. GFH: Is singing opera complementary to or at odds with being a rock musician?

"Why

bother at all to

feelings

if what I say

doesn't

true

A thoughtful interlocutor:

The Face behind

the Voice

ring

even to

me?"

express my

84 GFH

Music Sweet

Music

BCB: It's funny you should ask. I often wonder that myself. GFH: Why is that? BCB: Well, it's no secret that in western societies all popular forms of contemporary music have their origins in classical music, so not surprisingly there are many similarities between the two. Take a look at classical melodies and harmonies, then randomly peek at the chord progression of one or two chart-breaking singles and you'll know what I mean. So, to return to your question, rock and classical music should by no means be at odds. The problem is one of social status and etiquette, you might say. Many classicists - there may be ignorant rock stars too, don't get me wrong - often want nothing to do with 'lesser artists,' such as

jazz, pop, folk, or rock musicians, whose means of expression, if to be referred to as proper music at all, they consider inferior. It's a pity, and it's nonsense, to be sure. Fair enough, Mozart, Beethoven, Bach are among the all-time greats. But we live in different times and artists must relate to issues no one could have conceived in, say, the 18th century. There is still artistic greatness today, although the proliferation of rubbish is probably at its all-time peak as well . . . As a time-travelling professor of chronology puts it in Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency: "We live in dull times, but dull for interesting reasons." (laughs)

GFH: Who - meaning bands, songwriters, composers, etc - do you think has had the greatest influence on your songwriting?

BCB: That would be a long list, I'm afraid, and you would not necessarily hear how the people I named have impacted on what I do; I might only myself know it is 'there' in manifold and subtle ways. To begin with, I love King's X, one of the most under- rated bands ever. Their Dogman album did the trick for me, and I've been hooked ever since, although as a rule of thumb, their new release will sound radically different from the album preceding it. I like much of what the Foo Fighters do, and I dig The Tea Party, up to their Triptych record. I love folk singer Tracy Chapman, she stirs some- thing deep inside of me in ways few artists can. I also like Jeff Buckley's Grace, as well as many of Damien Rice's songs, though he sometimes overdoes it a bit. Jack Johnson's In Between Dreams. I like 'scatty' yet brilliant artists like Tori Amos or Kate Bush, who remind me that one doesn't have to follow trends in order to be commercially successful. What else? Mark Knopfler, K.T. Tunstall, Coldplay, Travis, Keane's Hopes & Fears. Musico-political activists like Ani DiFranco. She's really got something to say.

innermost

try and

GFH 85

T

O

Y

i

th e

n

S

C

i tt A

Memento of V. i. t. A. 's European tour: Check out the band's website at www. voiceintheattic.com

Online registration for the newsletter entitles you to download a free track and get access to other interesting stuff.

.

GFH: Is there a particular method to your songwriting? BCB: Often, songs emerge the way you'd expect them to, with me humming or singing a tune and strumming along on a western or classical guitar. I experiment a lot with open tunings, if you want to know one of the 'secret ingredients.' Sometimes, I'll have the lyrics of a song first with no idea yet what to make of it in terms of music. Other times I sit down at the piano or I'll build the song 'mixing engineer-fashion' - like building a house, from the basement up: drums and bass first, and then the rest falls into place. But usually, I'll begin with what's most important to me: the lyrics, the vocals. Hence, Voice in the Attic and not Drums in the Attic. The Incredible Holg would object if he were here today (laughs). My attic thus often hangs in mid-air, with no scaffolding to support it. 99 out of a hundred times that'll suit me just fine. GFH: What is it you wish to communicate? In the best of all possible worlds, what should your listener experience?

BCB: I want the listener to feel what I feel when I listen to music that means something to me: that the song was truly heartfelt by the artist at

But otherwise, why bother at all to try and express my innermost feelings, if what I say doesn't ring true even to me, the artist? So that's where you begin, that's the hardest part. In a way, if you can justify to yourself the things you do, that'll also help you steel yourself against unfair criticism, because you know you've done the best you could, given your all. There is this line in a Tracy Chapman song, how did it go? "There's one thing I know / I know I will die / If anyone cares / Some stranger may critique my life," or words to that effect. Which, to me, does not mean you shouldn't care about your listeners, on the contrary. In the long run, what you sing may even change your audience's lives, who knows. Am I being naive, pathetic or overly optimistic? Perhaps I am. Perhaps not. Music has that power. It can change your life, if you let it. The last part, the 'if', is an important premise, however. GFH: Agreed. Thank you very much for the interview. BCB: My Pleasure.

the time of writing, performing, recording. In a nutshell, what genu- ine artistic expression should feel like for the artist in question is: "This is not an act. This is who I am." And if someone is also a good craftsman or -woman, then their honesty, their truthfulness, will transfer to the audience's eyes, ears, hearts. For me, there is no other way. It's a hard way, and no mistake.

.