In terms of heavy rock, especially the alternative heavy rock from the 90’s, Bully has been one of the most talked about acts, because of how vigorous, contagious, brutally honest, and energetic the Nashville-based quartet sounds like. It was about their debut album, Feels Like, that we talked with guitarist/singer/producer/engineer Alicia Bognanno, who had a chance of intern at producer/engineer Steve Albini’s own studio, Electrical Audio.
How was your relation with music growing up?
Well, I didn’t really come from a musical family and I didn’t really play a lot of music growing up, but I wanted to sing for as long as I can remember. So, when I was growing up I would just write little melodies and stuff to work on, and that’s kind of what I did until I was introduced to the engineering side of it.
When did you start singing for other people?
Not until I was in college because that was just the first time I was around people that were in bands and that were playing instruments. It was kind of the first time I had the opportunity.
Was the keyboard your first instrument?
Not really. I played a little bit, but I wouldn’t even call myself a keyboard player. I was really bad at it. I guess I did a little tiny bit but…
But it came first and then the guitar, right? When did you start playing guitar?
Yeah, right. I had roommates and there was a band that would practice at my house and they would leave their instruments over there, when I was starting college, and that was kind of the first time that I started playing.
Was that band King Arthur?
Yes.
So, you played in King Arthur. What made you quit the band?
It just stopped as a band. Stewart Copeland was the main write for it and he’s a drummer now [for Bully] and I was writing him stuff and I said, “Hey, I want to do this and I want to play this.” He was like, “You should start your own band and I would play drums for it.”
How was it to intern at Electrical Audio and learn from Steve Albini?
It was great. Electrical Audio is a great studio, well equipped and put together, and everybody there is really smart and professional, so it’s a great place to learn.
Are you still working as a recording engineer at Nashville studio Battle Tapes?
Just for Bully stuff. Since we’ve been kind of on the road since September… I don’t have really time for it.
What’s your relation with music as a listener and fan? I guess it must be a little bit different since you work with it on a regular basis, whether with Bully or working on other people’s records.
Well, I try to keep up and listen to new bands. I really love the new METZ record, I like Protomartyr, I like Speedy Ortiz… But yeah, every once and a while I just need a break from making records, it’s just good to step back. But I still find myself listening to music in the van every day. [laughs]
Does the title Feels Like work like the title for the opening song “I Remember”? I mean, in a sense that it can be a bunch of different things.
I kind of picked the title just because overall the record is packed with a bunch of different emotions and about kind of different feelings going through it, and I just felt like it was a really appropriated title and it kind of suited the record. I just think it makes sense.
Your lyrics tend to be quite brutally honest and direct. Was it always like that?
No, I don’t think so. I think it was just something I did on this record. I’m trying to become a better writer in general and I think that was just something focusing on, being honest, because it was a way from me really understand what I was writing about and make sure I knew what I was writing about, and I wasn’t just drawing words on a page.
“… if people want to judge then they can but… It’s true and I would rather write something that is honest than something that is fake.”
Does it make you look at life and its complexity in a more practical way?
Yeah, I guess so.
On “Reason” you say “I’m not that social anyway”, and I was wondering what it was like for you touring, an activity that involves much contact with other people.
I think that in high school I was really social and I loved to be around people, but once I kind of started into college and really figuring out what I wanted, and became more passioned about engineering and writing music… Yeah, maybe it got a little bit harder to connect with people and when I’m home, after being on the road all the time, I kind of like to go to bed at 10pm and get up at 7am, and I’ll go out once in a while to kind of see everybody that I haven’t seen for a while, but in general I just have like a couple of close friends and that’s kind of it.
I’ve got to ask, how did you break your sister’s arm?
[laughs] Oh, she was riding a bike down in our driveway and there was a string attached which I stepped on it and the bike fell over… and she broke her arm. [laughs] I have three siblings so if you can imagine four little kids just playing and messing around in the yard… with strings attached to all these different toys. [laughs]
Who are the jerks that you talk about on that song?
Well, people in general who don’t really see kind people for who they are and can be judgmental and can treat people poorly without thinking even twice about it. It hurts my feelings just thinking that someone would ever treat… someone like my little sister, who was just like a saint, in any sort of way other than be nice and respectful. It really bumps me out.
On that song you talk about something [the bike accident] that have happened 20 years ago. Writing about it… does it feel therapeutic?
Yeah, it’s definitely therapeutic. That’s why I like to talk about situation that have actually happened in real life, and obviously I’m a pretty sensitive person because that’s why I haven’t been able to let that go after 20 years and still feel guilty about it.
Weren’t you afraid of writing such honest and personal stories?
I was at first, but then I just kind of realized that… I mean, everybody usually goes through the same stuff I wrote about. And if people want to judge then they can but… It’s true and I would rather write something that is honest than something that is fake. They can just take it how they want to take it.
Bully’s name is frequently associated with the Seattle’s alternative rock scene. Would it be fair to say that some of those bands have indeed influenced you but more in terms of lyrics, that brutal honesty that we talked about?
I don’t think that scene necessarily influenced me lyrically. I would say Liz Phair and Exile in Guyville (album) like that kind of honesty has definitely influenced me. It takes a lot of guts for her to write songs like she did at the time that she wrote them, and I think that’s really admirable. I really respect that.
Why did you decide to include four of the five songs on Bully’s debut EP on this new album?
Because pretty much once the album is released that EP has to go away forever and kind of disappear and there were a lot of songs that I wasn’t ready to just be gone I felt they deserved to be on the full-length.
How both Chicago and Nashville did influenced writing these first batch of songs?
I don’t know. Chicago definitely influenced me because I was alone and I think I work best when I’m alone. I wouldn’t say Nashville… I mean, I’ve only been in Nashville for about three years, I’m not from there. I guess it probably influenced me with my work ethic because everybody works really hard there. Maybe influenced us to practice a lot because there are a lot of good musicians in Nashville and we don’t want to embarrass ourselves.
Do you consider the possibility of working with a producer – not an engineer – in the future on a Bully’s album?
No, not now. I don’t really feel the need to. I want to give myself a chance first and give the band the chance before I bring someone else in to kind of tell us what to do.