Trip Hop originated in the late 80s with Massive Attack, slowly permeated the mainstream in the mid 90s with Portishead and Sneaker Pimps, now Phantogram and newcomers BOGA are bringing it back around again. Trip hop has always been a relevant force in music throughout the 90s until now especially in today’s EDM scene. BOGA, although very new to the scene, are placing the trend back on the scene again in such a tremendous way. Modern Frequency is premiering the video to the duo’s newest single as of today. Watch “What Do You Say” below.
Modern Frequency also recently interviewed the Interscope newcomers. We discussed how UK is the birthplace of their genre, their future plans, and how they popped up on the Baby Driver Soundtrack.
Where are the two of you from and where is BOGA based now? Did the two of you have the same interests in trip hop when you came together?
We are from many different cities around the globe. Both of us spent much of our lives traveling, but we are currently based in Los Angeles. We both were heavily into trip hop when we met and that is one of the reasons why we started creating music together.
The trip hop scene I felt truly began with Massive Attack in the late 80s and early 90s. Then it culminated with Sneaker Pimps and Portishead. Do you think they all opened doors for BOGA to be here today? Were you fans of them? Do you think Europe was the birthplace for this type of music to occur?
We believe that if it wasn’t for the originators of trip hop in the UK we wouldn’t be here. They created the movement and are still groundbreakers within it. We are fans of all the above mentioned bands! We come from a blues/hip hop background, so trip hop has always been a world in which sonically, lyrically, and tonally we felt at home in. We do feel that in the mid 90’s to the early 2000’s trip hop went from being mainstream to being a little more niche.
I think Phantogram started the ball rolling again with trip hop a few years back. Do you think the trip hop scene has yet to hit the mainstream or do you think it’s still an underground sound?
I wouldn’t classify trip hop as an underground sound, it’s niche specific; however, many other artist from various electronic, pop, hip hop and R&B genres use trip hop sounds and ideas to enhance their music. Everything is a hybrid these days.
How did you get involved with the Baby Driver Soundtrack?
Something we love to do is create covers of classic songs and put different spins on them. We’d actually had the “Nowhere To Run” cover done for a while before ‘Baby Driver’ came around so it was on the radar of a bunch of music supervisors. The lyrics and pacing of the cover matched up so perfectly to the trailer that even we felt like it sounded custom made.
What is the meaning behind your lead single “Soft Goodbye”?
“Soft Goodbye” is a song about being tired of the patriarchy and all the imbalance it causes.
What is on deck for the future for BOGA? Are there plans on releasing a full length?
We are currently working on a full length, while we release a few singles to introduce people to our sound in the meantime.
Would love to see how your music would translate to a live audience. Is there a tour in the works?
We are in the midst of developing our stage show and will begin playing select shows once our full length is ready to go. We may, just may, do a secret/not so secret show before then so stay tuned!
