Minutes before she is due to sing on live television, Bo Bruce is found in the corner of a room backstage. It’s heaving with chaos. The pre show noise is epic - yet Bo is silent.
“It’s the same at night” says 22 year old Bo. “if there are people around and I can’t get to sleep, I will go where the sound is - it calms me down.”
Insomnia and stage fright were always two secrets Bo was able to keep hidden away. Yet surely the more musical exposure she gains , (she’s had over 250,000 listens on myspace and a Number One video on youtube), the more emotionally exposed she becomes? Strangely, this seems to comfort rather than intimidate her- “It’s about communication” she explains “before doing a gig I know I’m about to be as honest as it gets, and slowly, that’s getting easier”.
Bo’s songs speak to people on an intimate and personal level. Her soft, husky voice conveying in every moment the story of a complicated past and of her hopes for the future.
A product of an eccentric and dysfunctional family, Bo
had a turbulent upbringing, as unconventional on the inside as it appeared traditional on the outside. She left school early and moved away from home as quickly as she could, in a bid to escape what she saw as a life of convention and tradition, amid a crumbling relationship with her father.
“I didn’t know at that point where I wanted to be - but I knew I needed to go away for a while.” It was around this time that Bo’s life nearly gave way to a quickly spiraling mess of drugs and alcohol. A warren of treatment centers and psychiatric hospitals quickly followed, Bo being moved around like a party game in the system, until the call was made to send her to Arizona, the desert, and a residential treatment center dealing with issues holistically rather than individually.
These years were incredibly formative, enabling her to experience and reflect on the darker side of the human condition - this process a huge influence on, and an integral part of, her music. “I’m grateful to be one of the few people that came out of those holes - finding some kind of peace is something I now realize has to be worked on every day.”
It was here that she struck up a friendship with a recovering addict who was the inspiration for “Fighting Arizona”. The song was a heart felt plea to her troubled friend after he was nearly lost to the US federal prison system. It won popular acclaim after her performance on the “Orange Unsigned Act” competition on Channel 4.
Bo was handpicked by Radio 1’s Jo Whiley in the final stages of auditions for the show, and went on to stand out like a sore thumb against the pouting indie bands that knocked her out in the semi final. That she didn’t win Orange Unsigned was merely a footnote. By then, she had gained an ever-growing number of fans nation-wide. Off the back of this exposure and the strength of her material, she was inundated with offers of record deals, receiving them with the same grace and humility with which she did the momentary disappointment of not winning Orange Unsigned – eventually deciding that, for the time being, it was better to keep her head down, keep writing and working on her craft. There had been an acknowledgement of her talent and a confirmation that her journey was well underway. That was enough for now.
Her musical influences are as contradictory as ever - Sigur Ros to Blondie, Bird Yorke to Thom. She hopes to combine her love for 90’s brit pop with a “wash of ambient noise” like the aforementioned Sigur Ros, Mogwaii and Aqualung, over her hooky but haunting songs.
Over an album’s worth of new material awaits, and with an EP release set for February 2010 these are, one might imagine, nail biting times for the girl that likes to sleep in a room full of people.
Not quite. And so confirms 22 yr old Bo. It appears the fear is still apparent and the black dog hasn’t given up chase entirely –
I was just passing thought to express to you some of my festive kisses, they come to you within the form of a Christmas lyric. There's a frost to fall so don't be caught without your something fluffy. You must recall winter's before and the love of not knowing, to you merry Christmas and I say never to stop wishing.
Love your MUSIC. ALWAYS WILL!!! “THANK YOU” for ALL the “INSPIRATION” it gives ‘US.’ Currently, your MUSIC is playing in the “FEATURED PLAYLIST” at the U.B.R. because YOU make ‘US’ – SCREAM - SHOUT and TWISSSTED ALL ABOUT!!! - Yeaahhh… Dig it. Have a WONDER – FULL day, my friend. Love and light… - foni
EXPERIENCE -
“NEO-RENAISSANCE MUSIC” at the UNDERGROUND BOHEMIAN REVOLUTION.
I think my favourite one was 21st Century man! Signed a publishing deal with 4AD last week and have hopefully got a song on Adeles new album which is pretty exciting! Hope you're well? x
How's going with you? Many thanks for the friendship. I really appreciated it. I want also let you know there is a new release "Aproxx - Adore Me - [DJ Solano Remix]".
I hope you come back often, because there is more to come...and don't forget spread the word!
Cannot wait for your EP to come out next year :) xx
I have my fingers crossed about the MUZU competition. I just want to see you perform live again but to have it in my house...now That would be awesome!
Cheers hun! What was that song about ducks called? Also we're starting to try and take over a few venues for full nights of live music and stand up. Really want to get you on the bill. You'd be on the bill with my band and another called the Cutaway (check them out - sick) might be doing one in Monkey Chews in Camden at the start of January. Safe, hit me bakc with what you think?x
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