Q & A - Superhuman Happiness

I asked Stuart Bogie a few questions, and he kindly answered them. Find out some things you didn't know about Superhuman Happiness, their approach to music, and Stuart Bogie's role in the Fela! Musical. *Just noticed this wasn't published when it should have been, oops.

1)Labels can be helpful but they are not always accurate when it comes to music. If you were to label the genre or sound of the music Superhuman Happiness makes, what would you call it?

Labels for music always carry baggage - baggage that gets re-appropriated and served back to people. It seems more helpful to speak of movements and eras and geography - whether physical or not. Superhuman Happiness' music is often compared to Talking Heads (a band i grew up listening to a great deal of) and modern groups like MGMT (who i only discovered after people made the comparisons). Our group is from New York (like Talking Heads, LCD Sound System, Liquid Liquid, etc) but i am from Chicago - home of Tortoise, Isotope 217, the Art Ensemble of Chicago, the Jesus Lizard and many other groups that influence our music. So you could say there is some Chicago in our music, too. Couple that with the fact that we also play a good deal of Afrobeat music in the style of Fela Kuti, and you can kind of get the gist musically.
But our syllabus doesn't end there - we also incorporate cooperative and theatrical games into our work. We use various exercises to unlock new combinations of rhythm and melody, only accessible through the convergence of these particular artists. All groups do this to an extent, but by employing a specifically tailored set of games i can steer the direction passively and incorporate the essential creative sparks of all my collaborators.

"Theatrical Dance Rock" sound more like Mama Mia the Musical, so we've taken to calling it "YessWave" or "Physical Music" Because of its optimistic and dance oriented tendencies. YessWave also references the New Wave music of the 80s which contains a beautiful combination of African elements, minimalist modalities, dance beats, and a forward leaning approach to experimentation.

2)Do you prefer to have songs be just instrumental? Or is it on a song by song basis?

I do not believe in one song for every melody - or one melody for every lyric, or one rhythm for every song. The music we are working on does not begin or end with the song. The track you download or spin on your turntable is one piece, or one angle, of the elements in a piece. It is easy to forget this as a musician, as well. Forgetting this can make you stale. Thank you for reminding me of this need!

3)Between all the members in the band, how many different instruments do you all play?

The primary instruments in Superhuman Happiness are 2 guitars (yin and yang), bass, drums, keyboards, saxophone, trumpet, and lots of vocalizing (on the latest records). These things are just brushes to a painter though - by using the Intentional Collaboration process we could generate our music with any instruments. That is to say, i don't think it's important.

4)Does it make live shows more difficult playing with more than the standard guitar, bass, drum, e.t.c?

The biggest challenge to performing live is submitting to sound. That may come off as corny, but it is true. If you are in the moment, difficulties are knots in the woods to whittle around. Also, standards are changing so rapidly and the rules get re-written with each achievement. If anything - it is more difficult to get into new places with more typical instruments. Fortunately for us - we have some gifted and devoted artists in our group who develop original approaches.

5)I love your video for GMYL, who came up with the concept? And was it difficult to produce?

That video was made single handed by Tatiana McCabe - who was beginning to play with animation and various effects. She spent countless hours editing and animating the shots. For us, we just spent an afternoon having fun and creating material for her to use. Lucky us!

6)Your website says, "The band has 2 tracks with Sahr Ngaujah, who Bogie knows through the Fela! musical." What role did you play in the Fela! musical?

I played the lead sax in Fela! with the original Broadway show. So i developed and performed Fela based improvised solos each night, while Sahr (playing Fela) mimed the sax. He treated me like an artist and we became great friends. I played better knowing he tuned in to what i was playing. It was fun and could always feel his energy on stage. The promoters and producers of the show weren't eager to credit me because they felt it would detract from people's enjoyment of the musical overall - which i can't speak to. I can say it was an incredible experience to with Sahr, and to be directed by Bill T jones. Some of the heavier artistic minds i've served under since Frederick Fennel and other great conductors i had in high school.

7)Would you like to work on musicals in the future? If so, what type of musical?

Yes, I want to write and perform in musicals and explore new dimensions of performing art. But first the next Superhuman Happiness album (titled HANDS).

8)Finish this line: Without music I....

would be a ninja, hopefully, or an Alien piloting a spacecraft with my friends and family across the milky way.