{"id":26031,"date":"2015-03-23T09:00:28","date_gmt":"2015-03-22T22:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/?p=26031"},"modified":"2015-03-23T09:35:16","modified_gmt":"2015-03-22T22:35:16","slug":"jim-bogios-of-counting-crows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maytherockbewithyou.com\/mtrbwy\/2015\/03\/jim-bogios-of-counting-crows\/","title":{"rendered":"Jim Bogios of Counting Crows"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n<\/a>\u201cIt\u2019s great to have something that\u2019s stood the test of time like that and where people just relate songs to certain periods of their life or certain things that happened to them and you can see that on people faces because they get really emotional about a lot of the songs on that record.\u201d<\/p>\n

From release: Counting Crows have sold more than 20 million albums worldwide after exploding onto the music scene with their multi-platinum breakout album August and Everything After in 1993. They continue to be propelled by the same earthy passion instilled in their songs since their debut. The band recently released their seventh studio album, Somewhere Under Wonderland, to rave reviews. This album is the band\u2019s first new material since 2007. With Somewhere Under Wonderland out now Counting Crows have delivered nine sprawling songs that yield some of the most grandiose, yet intimate material so far.<\/p>\n

In Berkley, California and looking forward to heading back to Australia, we chatted to Counting Crows drummer Jim Bogios\u00a0 about the band\u2019s return to Australia, their newest album \u2018Somewhere Under Wonderland\u2019 as well as coming into an established band & much more\u2026<\/p>\n

You\u2019re headed back to Australia as a part of Bluesfest as well as your own headline tour, do you as a band have to prepare for a festival set differently to that of a headline show?<\/strong>
\nI think you have to a little bit because usually the festival show is going to be a shorter set list for one, and you\u2019re not only going to be reaching just your audience but people that may not know you as well or not as big a fan so you probably want to go a little more heavy on the more popular songs ideally, but we\u2019re always going to give a good variety but I think we would change things up a little bit for the festival shows knowing that we don\u2019t have the ability to play a two hour set which we usually do when we do our own shows.<\/p>\n

Obviously you are doing your own shows too, but with a new album how does a set list come together for Counting Crows in 2015?<\/strong>
\nWell I call it the stress list because it\u2019s always a carnival backstage with everyone getting together and throwing out the songs they want to play that night, so you can either be part of that action or stand back, but everyone gets to put in their requests and we throw it together. One of the rules is we try and just play a few songs from each record so you kind of get all the different time periods of Counting Crows and maybe a little heavier on the new record because it just came out and it\u2019s extra fresh with us and we\u2019re really enjoying playing it and the songs are going over great live. We actually did a tour before the record came out, so by the time the record came out, it wasn\u2019t one of those things where the songs needed to be played a while to get that live thing happening, they were already ready to go, the whole record, so we\u2019re as comfortable playing those as we are stuff from \u2018August and Everything After\u2019.<\/p>\n

As the man behind the kit, you get the view of everything, the band and the crowd, when looking out, in terms of crowd reaction and elation, what song always wins the people over the most?<\/strong>
\nYou know everyone has the relationship with \u2018Mr Jones\u2019 because that\u2019s probably our biggest song and there\u2019s nothing wrong with having songs like that, and people have a serious relationship with that whole record and I don\u2019t think that that is a bad thing. It\u2019s great to have something that\u2019s stood the test of time like that and where people just relate songs to certain periods of their life or certain things that happened to them and you can see that on people faces because they get really emotional about a lot of the songs on that record.<\/p>\n

Well for me it\u2019s \u2018Round Here\u2019 that\u2019s my favourite\u2026<\/strong>
\nOh yeah, that\u2019s a great one, and it\u2019s fun to play a song that speaks to people and that people get excited about and we\u2019ve been getting a great reaction from the new record too and that\u2019s good, you\u2019re only as good as what you\u2019ve done lately *laughs*<\/p>\n

That\u2019s true, but the fact it can blend in with the material from the older albums must mean you\u2019re doing something right, right?<\/strong>
\nYeah I totally stand behind it, I think it\u2019s a great record, now I wasn\u2019t in the band from the beginning, this is my thirteenth year but these songs, in fact all the records I really think that the song writing is strong in this band and that was one of the reasons that I joined years ago because I heard the latest record which at that time was \u2018Hard Candy\u2019 and I was like \u2018wow this band still has things to say, these songs are amazing\u2019 so that really clinched it for me to make the jump from Sheryl Crow to Counting Crows.<\/p>\n

So in joining the band in 2002 and with the band already huge success in the years prior, what was it like coming into this already established band?<\/strong>
\nYeah it\u2019s a sensitive thing, I\u2019ve been used to it in a sense because I\u2019ve played with a lot of different artists, so you\u2019re used to stepping in and fill different shoes, so for me the idea when you\u2019re playing a song you didn\u2019t play on is you want to capture the essence of what that tune is about and yet bring your own theme to it as well, I think I\u2019ve done that, and you\u2019re definitely able to add your stamp. I knew a lot of the guys in the band and then David Immergluck one of the guitar players, we\u2019ve played in bands for a really long time, so having one of my true brothers in the group definitely helped. Then later on when Matt Malley the original bass player left the band, I brought in another one of my good friends that I played with in Ben Folds, Millard Powers and he\u2019s been in the band ever since. I still have these moments where I\u2019m looking over on the stage at some people that I\u2019ve had all this history with and known since I was really young and it\u2019s a really good feeling, it\u2019s like \u2018wow, I get to do this great stuff with some of my true bros\u2019 so we\u2019re pretty lucky.<\/p>\n

So with the newest album out now, the band\u2019s first of all original material in almost seven years, what was it like putting this album together after the big gap since \u2018Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings\u2019?<\/strong>
\nWell, you know\u2026 Adam wasn\u2019t writing for a long time, we were doing other things, he was working on an opera and you know when you\u2019ve been in a band a long time and you\u2019re working a lot, people need breaks and a lot of the guys in the band have families and it was one of those things where he wrote one song and he just had an explosion of ideas and that\u2019s usually how it happens with him. He won\u2019t write anything for a long time and something will happen and then like \u2018boom\u2019 in a short amount of time just this burst of creativity and that\u2019s kind of how it went down. Then it\u2019s up to the rest of us to flush the songs out, but it was super exciting and we all really dug the material and we were able to record in my home town of Berkley which is great and my wife was pregnant and had our baby during the recording process. So many things happened in this process that were absolutely amazing, this record will always remind me of my daughter because that happened in the time, but I love getting in the studio in this band and we love recording things old school, we\u2019re all playing together in a room and looking for that great take together and then you kind of go from there and nowadays I just don\u2019t see bands doing that and I think it takes something out of the emotional aspect of the music.<\/p>\n

Yeah I always try to figure out how a band can record different parts from the other side of the world and put things together like that, that doesn\u2019t really sound like a \u2018band\u2019 to me if you know what I mean?<\/strong>
\nNo it\u2019s not and you can do it that way but I think it loses a serious emotional aspect of music and there\u2019s something about even looking at the guys that you\u2019re playing with and being in that room and I think when you hit a really good take and you guys are all playing together you can hear that in a song and in a recording, it\u2019s jumping out of the speakers\u2026 everyone playing on the other side of the globe to a click track, sometimes that\u2019s what it\u2019s going to sound like.<\/p>\n

Then on the other side of that, without the studio interaction when you do finally get together it\u2019s almost like relearning the songs again\u2026<\/strong>
\nIt is and it morphs into something else, it just happens by playing and there\u2019s things that happen in the song that you may change that you\u2019re aware of and then things that you\u2019re not aware of that just happen from playing it. That\u2019s another aspect I love about this band is that we allow the songs to morph and to change and to do different things to them, you\u2019re not just going to hear exactly what was on the record.<\/p>\n

So I always like to ask, what\u2019s your favourite thing to do in Australia besides playing shows?<\/strong>
\nWell I\u2019m a tennis player so I always like to play tennis everywhere, my favourite thing to do when I\u2019m in Sydney is to play tennis out there and then after, I\u2019m feeling good from getting exercise and playing and then I walk back over the bridge and just looking over the city and going back. I love getting good meals, just walking around the town and getting a feel for things wherever we are and that\u2019s pretty much it for me. Man, one of my first tours was out in Australia with this band, it is always a blast, it is just beautiful out there, the people are great and we\u2019re really looking forward to it.<\/p>\n

OK let\u2019s get a bit of a quick fire insight into you:<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, what band or artist made you want to be a rock star?<\/strong>
\nThe Who.<\/p>\n

Last album you bought?<\/strong>
\nHmm\u2026 man\u2026 this is what happens when you have a one year old, I can\u2019t even remember that, and that\u2019s horrible\u2026<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s try first album then\u2026<\/strong>
\nFirst album I bought was The Beatles\u2026 a bunch of them, a tonne, The Beatles and KISS and Elton John, how\u2019s that for a mix? \u00a0*laughs*<\/p>\n

Favourite band to see live<\/strong>
\nI would say Radiohead, always have. I just have so much respect for that band, I guess their music just speaks to me a lot of those records.<\/p>\n

Lastly, let\u2019s predict the future, finish this sentence, by the end of 2015, Counting Crows will\u2026<\/strong>
\nBe finishing a very successful tour and working on their next record so they don\u2019t go seven years between it *laughs*<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll hold you to that\u2026<\/strong>
\nI\u2019m going to do everything that I can\u2026 *laughs*<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Catch Counting Crows in Australia at the following dates:<\/strong><\/p>\n

PALAIS THEATRE, MELBOURNE<\/strong>
\nSATURDAY APRIL 4<\/p>\n

HER MAJESTY\u2019S THEATRE, ADELAIDE<\/strong>
\nSUNDAY APRIL 5<\/p>\n

CONCERT HALL, PERTH<\/strong>
\nTUESDAY APRIL 7<\/p>\n

STATE THEATRE, SYDNEY<\/strong>
\nTHURSDAY APRIL 9
\nFRIDAY APRIL 10<\/p>\n

THE TIVOLI, BRISBANE<\/strong>
\nSUNDAY APRIL 12<\/p>\n

Ticket details through www.livenation.com.au<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Also appearing at the BYRON BAY BLUESFEST<\/strong> on APRIL 2<\/p>\n

All festival and camping tickets are on sale through\u00a0www.bluesfest.com.au<\/a>\u00a0or phone the office on 02 6685 8310.<\/p>\n

Tickets are also available through Moshtix\u00a0www.moshtix.com.au<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and Ticketmaster\u00a0www.ticketmaster.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Essential Information<\/strong><\/h2>\n

From:<\/strong> USA<\/p>\n

Band members:<\/strong>\u00a0Adam Duritz (vocals), Jim Bogios (drums), David Bryson (guitar), Charlie Gillingham (keyboards), David Immergluck (guitar), Millard Powers (bass) and Dan Vickrey (guitar)<\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong>\u00a0http:\/\/www.countingcrows.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Latest release:<\/strong>\u00a0Somewhere Under Wonderland \u2013 (Out Now \u2013 Universal Music Australia)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n

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