Veteran German duo Boozoo Bajou have been in the game for almost two decades, and they’ve just put out their stunning new album 4. Gorgeously rendered soundscapes that evoke beautiful vistas and a stirring emotional landscape, the pair drafted in a sterling team of musicians to help them out – guitarist Frank Zeidler, Stefan Pötzsch on strings and mbira, horn player Markus Stockhausen, duduk player Frank Freitag and synth extraordinaire Max Loderbauer. We spoke to Peter Heider about the work that went into the album, their change in labels and what to expect this summer.
Stream: Boozoo Bajou – Jan Mayen (Apollo Records)
First off thanks for speaking to us. How are you? “Excellent, the weather is stunningly here the last weeks…” This is your fourth album, so you’ve chosen a rather functional title. What led to that choice? “Well after three album titles with definition, we thought why not to use something very short and simple, let’s take a number it’s our 4. Album and the logo looks great on the cover..”
It’s an impressive listen. Can you tell us about the process behind it? “We had a lot of time, and no pressure from outside, what we really enjoyed. We also moved our studio, and the new surrounding was inspiring. Mainly we got a very laidback working attitude. We let things happen, and when something hits us, we know we are on the right trail..if you remember, on “dust my broom” for example, there where some short ambient-cuts, like “Barkensignal” those pieces where pretty much our favourites to do, so we took our time to follow that and to concentrate and process that ambient vibe – we waited for a good situation, and it became achieved right with the contact to Renaat´s Apollo/R&S.”
You released the Jan Mayen EP last year on Apollo. Have you noticed a change or development in your audience since then? “Not really. We are not on the road, and we stopped our local dj night. Right now we are only in the studio world. We get some feedback by friends from time to time. But let’s see what happens when the album will be released….could be we find new listeners, could be our old audience will be overstrained. you know, we both change and develop always a little bit , personally – musically, so it needs some time to follow that…or even not. Krautrock, Ambient or contemporary music or fine arts in common get more and more in the foreground, so it´s a n interesting process to expand. “Jan Mayen” is a really stirring piece of work, everything shimmering and growing and of course that horn. Was there ever any doubt that it would open the album? “To be honest, no. In our view it is one of the strongest titles on the album. The atmosphere is very intense, and it is a good entrance for a inner journey, and it´s important for the audience to know, that we are not a chillout thing. we don´t want that “easy listening” attitude…Jan Mayen and “4” generally is a good ambitious piece to realize, that we did a change. as the first track, the audience will realize, what they´ll expect.”
For me the album conjures up memories of a place visited in the past, and a return to that past that not only fails to live up to one’s expectations, but actively disappoints and ruins those memories. “Der Kran” and “Tiefdruck-Hochdruck” are the truest expressions of that heartbreak. What do you make of that description? Does it tell a story? “Well the album is very personal and works well for inner travelling. The winter 2012/13 was so dark here in Germany that we start to search for pictures of arctic islands. It reflected very good our mood and the landscapes we found fit perfect to the music, so that we followed this way. there where strong personal mood changes, a family damage…heavy exposures that left some strong influences on “4”.
Stream: Boozoo Bajou – Der Kran (Apollo Records)
Peter, you said that: “Doing abstract-noise soundscapes is easy too, but not a very interesting challenge for our project.” At points throughout the album there are elements of soundscape, yet they are grounded or bolstered by melody or instrumental prowess. What was it like trying to anchor those experimental passages? “Long story behind my personal alteration. i studied classical drums/percussion – orchestra percussion and piano and played e-music for many many years. also my father is a composer for his entire life writing contemporary music…i was grown with that, but was always fighting a little bit against it, not to get too introverted with my approach to music in general, and i never wanted to leave behind that soul in music. now i am at the point to say, if i do compositions with abstract elements, i want them exactly to the point and still with a deep warm attitude…and not by accident, only to make it sound stranger or darker…it is intended. now i think it´s very interesting to combine those different worlds.”
The album is largely instrumental, save for a few samples. What led you not to use vocalists this time around? “It was not forced, it just happened. There was no plan or something else.. maybe it brought us back to the early days when we started. We’ve been in the beginning more focused on strictly instrumental music. in progress we always discuss, with who we could collaborate on the layouts, but there wasn´t more to do, with vocals for example..
Have you any plans to translate the album to a live setting? “Not easy, as you can imagine…in fact, me (Peter) has to do a lot of work, to feed my family, so i spend all my remaining time in studio…and to fix a good working live situation, there must be a strong interest from the outside and paid bookings. but there will be possibilities we hope, we need to find a solution. right now we are expecting a video from that Berlin film/video artist Robert Seidel for “Der Kran” we are really looking forward to it, he is amazing in his genre !!”
Stream: Boozoo Bajou – Hirta (Apollo Records)
The album’s artwork is quite dark (in every sense of the word), seemingly presenting a world of beautiful chaos and power. How did it come about? “Werner Knaupp – the artist/painter of that front picture,did this after a while spending time in the north atlantic, the name is “Westmännerinseln” . he is a good friend of our family, we are in personal contact, so he told me, when he lived there for a while on a boat, he became fear about the blackness of the sea, and the violence of the nature around. we had this picture for more than three years on our table, and there was never a doubt, not to take it for our coverartwork on “4”… we are just sinking in it´s…how you say beautiful chaos.”
What are you looking forward to most this summer? “Beer gardens ;-)”
Boozoo Bajou – 4 is out now on Apollo. Buy here.
