Bôa

Bôa is a British alternative/indie band formed in London in 1993 by drummer Ed Herten, keyboard player Paul Turrell and guitarist / vocalist Steve Rodgers. Boa's current lineup consists of Jasmine Rodgers (vocals), Steve Rodgers (vocals & guitar), Alex Caird (bass) and Lee Sullivan (drums & piano). The band progressed from a funk band to a rock band over the years. They produced two major albums, Twilight (2001) and Get There (2005). Their track "Duvet" was the opening theme song to the anime television series Serial Experiments Lain. The band was originally signed by Polystar in Japan and produced their first album 'Race of a Thousand Camels' (1998). However, the band decided to change labels and signed with Pioneer LDC (now called Geneon) to produce their album Twilight (2001).

Following their success with the Twilight, the band decided to create their own independent label called Boa Recordings to produce. Get There,^[1] was released on 1 February 2005. It took Bôa in a new direction, with more structure in lyrics and melody, as well as a more mellow, yet more harder-edged/indie-rock format. It also had more acoustic elements than the first album.

Biography

Bôa were originally a funk band formed in 1993 by drummer Ed Herten, keyboardist Paul Turrell and Steve Rodgers on guitar and vocals.

Alex Caird, who had played with Ed in another band Draggin' Bones, was soon recruited on bass guitar. Steve's younger sister, Jasmine Rodgers, was invited to sing the chorus part of one of their first songs called "Fran", and she soon became the lead singer of the group. Ben Henderson, who had played with Alex in the band Doctor Sky, was recruited shortly afterwards to play saxophone.

Their first live performance was in January 1994 at the London Forum supporting Steve and Jasmine's father, classic rock singer Paul Rodgers (of Free & Bad Company fame).^[2] In the summer of the same year, Ed Herten decided to leave the band to concentrate on his studies, and they recruited a new drummer, Lee Sullivan. Lee Sullivan is the son of Terry Sullivan, drummer in the band Renaissance. Lee brought a rockier feel to the group's sound which complemented a natural progression away from funk by the band and a migration from saxophone to guitar by Ben Henderson.

Bôa honed their live performances with many gigs across the South of England such as the Glastonbury festival (1995). As a result of their Glastonbury performance, they were chosen as the focus of a TV documentary about the festival that was later distributed on the London show "Shift". In 1996, they accepted a recording contract with a Japanese Company, Polystar. They recorded three songs, "Twilight", "Deeply", and "Elephant" in London, with producer Darren Allison (Spiritualized, The Divine Comedy) at the Red Bus studios in London. They recorded further tracks for the album with producer Neil Walsh at the Monnow Valley Studios.^[3] Although the album was recorded and produced in England, Jasmine and Steve traveled to Japan in 1998 to promote the debut album Race of the Thousand Camels, which was released only in that country.

While signed with Polystar, the band released their first single in 1998, called "Duvet".^[4] It was an instant success in Japan and became the opening theme of the anime series Serial Experiments Lain. "Duvet" was also on the 1998 album Race of a Thousand Camels in Japan. Meanwhile, Boa was working with producer Stuart Epps on new material including an acoustic version of "Duvet" and the song "Drinking".

In 2000, Polystar released both the Tall Snake EP, and featured "Duvet" on the 20th Anniversary of Polystar Collection Vol.1 Female Vocal Love Songs compilation. The Tall Snake EP was released in Japan featuring all three versions of "Duvet" and two songs ("Little Miss" and "Two Steps"). However, in 2000, Ben Henderson left the band to concentrate on his other band, Moth, with his wife, singer songwriter Tina Henderson.

Bôa began touring more extensively and used this time to gain inspiration for their next album. In 2000, Bôa performed a live concert at the Otakon^[5] convention and was well received by fans of the Serial Experiments Lain series. In September 2002, they held a live performance at the Hammersmith Apollo (London) and received strong accolades for their performance.^[6]

In 2001, due to contractual disagreements with Polystar, the band changed labels and signed with Pioneer LDC (now known as Geneon Universal). Race of a Thousand Camels was retitled Twilight and released to a US audience in 2001 by Pioneer Music. Twilight consisted of songs from their original Japanese album plus other new tracks. They worked closely with Todd Culberhouse and toured in the US to promote the album. Halfway through the tour, Paul Turrell left the band to pursue other interests. However, the band went on to finish the tour and played at the Animefest in Dallas, Texas (Aug 2001).

"Duvet" was remixed^[7] by DJ Wasei and in October 2003 was released on another Lain soundtrack titled Serial Experiment Lain Soundtrack: Cyberia Mix. The band also released a video to go with the single which was reported to have been filmed on top of the roof of Lee Sullivan's flat.

By 2003, the band decided to establish their own recording label, called Boa Recordings. They started recording their third successful album titled Get There and released it under their own label in 2004.^[8] The album is currently on sale at the iTunes Store.^[9] However, both their albums Twilight and Get There can be found on their official distributor CD Baby.

In September 2004, Steve and Jasmine performed "Drinking" with their father, Paul Rodgers, at The Strat Pack. The Strat Pack was a concert featuring Joe Walsh, Gary Moore, Brian May, David Gilmour, and many more, marking the 50th Anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar. The film was released in 2005.

In 2012, the band started a JustGiving page and announced their support to raise money for AAR JAPAN, a charity that responded to the impact of the 2011 tsunami.^[10]

Personnel

Members

Lineups

Discography

Film

• The Strat Pack: Live in Concert (2005)

References

External links

• Official website
• Paul Turrell's web site (Boa 1993 - 2001)
• Jasmine Rodgers' MySpace page
• Jasmine Rodgers' Official Website
• Moth's website