Brilliantly constructed electro-pop hits make up the masts of the BUHU ship with textured vocals and undefeatable DIY ethics filling up their sails. Red Fox Grey Fox join them, fitting the theme with strongly written songs bearing electronic tinges underlain by strong musicianship and lofty vocals. RFGF are known in the area for crack songwriting and high-hitting choruses that inspire boisterous sing alongs. BUHU’s thoughtfully blended party-pop will lift the spirits and toss the skirts (whomever is wearing one) with sexy dance-anthems and powerful party-lauds.
The Interview Part:
Work so hard… SO SO HARD. Every day, every week, have a clear goal that you all agree upon and invest your time and money wisely to make that goal come to fruition. It takes the entire band. You have to really work hard. Can’t stress that enough.
Origin story. Something about a radioactive KORG bite? Jeremy was
helping PHOX explode, something with SXSW, and then 2013 BUHU is bestowed
upon the world. How’d you all get together?
Jeremy Rogers – We don’t own any KORG synths but if we did… They would most definitely be radioactive. BUHU met at Spider House in Austin, TX. I served both JP and Clellan at the bar. JP and I met first. We got together and wrote the foundation of the 4-Track Cinemat. I met Clellan on Thanksgiving a few months after. He came in and we played 90’s jams all night. He asked if I was a musician and told me he was a drummer. He was exactly what JP and I were looking for.
How are your musical backgrounds different from what you play now?
Clellan Hyatt – Right out of college, I started playing professionally for the Texas country circuit. Then I moved on to blues, funk, rock, etc… In the end I always wanted to play this kind of music. The opportunity just never presented itself until I met these dudes.
Juan Pablo – When I was 4 I started violin and piano. I grew with music and always being in a band. Every kind of band… Grunge, Tango, bossa nova… I studied film and sound design in college and that’s when I got into electronic music and producing.
JR – I didn’t start playing music til I was 15. The first time I picked up a guitar, I just started writing songs. Even if they were only two notes or one chord. I was completely self taught and it took me a long time to find myself musically. It was a long road. I listened to everything and tried to apply it to my music. Here I am now. Still doing the same thing.
Two weeks in to the Mostly Midwest Tour. How are you all holding up?
JP – AMAZING! I want to do this forever.
CH – Fucking great, man…
JR – Doing very well. This is my career!
What does the “Midwest” mean to you all? Jeremy grew up in Milwaukee,
right? Clellan, Juan?
JR – I grew up in Eau Claire and spent most my adult life in MKE… The Midwest is my source of inspiration, my internal compass… It’s my home.
CH – The land of opportunity. I almost went to college outside of Milwaukee. Now I get to live my almost college dream!
JP – A very unique combination/mash-up of cultures and people. #tacopizza
I feel like this is an appropriate space to embed your live video EP, 4
Track Cinemat. I think it will break up the text nicely. Is that alright?
BUHU – Yes. As long as you also put the soundcloud link to our latest single, “Daytona Beach” somewhere in here as well. We released it in honor of the Mostly Midwest Tour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PozuGCuVeEk
It snowed here last week. Coming up from Texas, how do you feel about
that?
JR – Fine.
JP – I’m wearing shorts and a tank… regardless.
CH – Yeah… Cocaine is a hell of a drug! DON’T DO DRUGS!!!!
Was anything or any particular scenes painfully frustrating in
recording 4 Track Cinemat? There were some odd locations, like the
refrigerator, which I imagine brought some lighting and sound quirks.
JP – Syncing up the video to the audio while keeping the good visual takes with the best audio takes. It felt hard to make it cohesive… to keep the story in tact. Recording all the scenes… knowing it was going to be a pain in post production. But that’s what made it special.
CH – We only had 4 hours to record all of the drum takes and film them at the same time while changing props/scenes. LSD had to be recorded in one take or we couldn’t do it at all. But tha’ts what made it special. #Stressssss
JR – The 4-Track Cinemat was largely my brain child and I didn’t have the know how or the experience to pull off something like that. Convincing JP to do it in such a DIY way was really hard… He would have done it much differently. But that’s what made it special.
How much of Cinemat did you do yourselves? Were there any points where
you sought outside help?
BUHU – We brought in friends and loved ones to do everything from helping us decorate, be dancers, be light techs, be the cat (the theme of the 4 track Cinemat), provide us with their spaces to use in the shots… It took a whole community.
You just formed up in 2013 and you’re in the first half of a six week
tour. I feel like a lot of younger bands would love to be in your position
with that kind of acceleration. Any thoughts or advice on how to get it
done?
BUHU – Work so hard… SO SO HARD. Every day, every week, have a clear goal that you all agree upon and invest your time and money wisely to make that goal come to fruition. It takes the entire band. You have to really work hard. Can’t stress that enough.
Are you heading up to the Cities straight away after the show on Friday or
do you want to go hiking on Saturday? Winona is sinfully beautiful and it
looks to be good weather.
BUHU – A couple drinks and you can make us do anything.