Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub
Biography Phillip Boa & The Voodooclub
Phillip Boa & the Voodooclub
were formed in the western part of germany in 1985 by Phillip and vocalist/keyboardist 'Pia Lund', later joined by percussionist / voodoodrummer 'The Voodoo' (all 3 had just entered university where they met ) and drummer / programmer 'Der Rabe'. They released their first album 'Philister' in the same year on their own Constrictor label and received excellent reviews in their home-country, where it soon topped the indie-charts.
In 1986 Rough Trade (Germany) director Heino Drecker helped to sign the band to english indie label Red Flame, who re-released the album across europe. Several singles of that album gained 'single of the week' status in NME, Sounds and Melody Maker and so did the whole album itself. The british press described their style as a form of pop avantgarde: strange music, often beautiful and pop/rock, but noisy and angst ridden with ironical / cynical lyrics full of great, different metaphors and twistssome early critic called it a collision between B 52's / Talking Heads, the german feel of Can with the wisdom and cynical approach of The Fall. Phillip's main influences were also Joy Division, Velvet Underground, XTC, Magazine, Wire etc.
In 1987, encouraged by the reaction, the band decided to rehearse and play their first concerts in Germany, England, the Netherlands, Scandinavia etc. Later that year they met german producer legend Conny Plank (Kraftwerk, Can, DAF) who's been a fan since the band's first album. Sadly Conny could not fullfill his commitment because of health reasons (he passed away 2 years later), however he had recommended a replacement in a former student of his, Eroc. Slightly mad ex Krautrock figure Eroc recorded the second album 'Aristocracie', released also on Red Flame, receiving brilliant reviews, single and album of the week in NME etc.
Phillip Boa & the Voodooclub still remain the German band with the most "Album and Single of the Week's" in the British music press ever (8 x "Single of the Week" and 5 x "Album of the Week" reviews in NME, Melody Maker and Sounds). The band toured indie clubs across europe and got signed by a major-label, Polydor in Hamburg. This move triggered a backlash for Phillip as he was at first called a traitor for doing this (Phillip was a symbolic figure of the 'never sell out' indie ideology).
Through the years, Phillip Boa & the Voodooclub were special guest of the great John Lydon's band P.I.L., played smaller alternative-festivals with, just to name a few, Nick Cave, Sonic Youth, Björk, The Fall, Residents, Gun Club, Iggy Pop or Manic Street Preachers. And big festivals such as Roskilde, sharing the same stage with people like David Bowie or Bob Dylan. Phillip did collaborations with magnificent metal-people like Dave Lombardo from Slayer or Chuck Schuldiner from Death and Mille from Kreator.
Furthermore the Voodooclub has been remixed by acclaimed electronic masterminds such as Aphex Twin, The Notwist, Zombie Nation, Locust, LFO, Schneider TM etc. .
Anyway up until today, Phillip still keeps his 'never sell out' indie ideology alive and well refusing to appear on tv, rejecting advertising / sponsoring even in 2008, were this practice is wide spread amongst a lot of bands. Phillip however was aware of the negative impact the 'signing to a major' would have on his international career he released several albums on Polydor in the later 80's til 1997, 'Copperfield' and 'Hair', 'Helios' and 'Boaphenia' receiving great reviews. 'Container Love' from the album 'Hair' was a minor hit in some European countries and, together with ''Kill your Ideals', 'Fine art in Silver', 'This is Michael', 'And then she kissed her' and 'Love on Sale', still is the band's most popular song. Phillip decided to 'stop' his international career, well aware of the fact that he would never receive that credibility and praise of the leading, influential journalists for longer than 3 albums. He stopped touring outside of germany from 1991 on and did his best to make sure he did not releases his albums outside of his home country. Nowadays via Amazon or I-Tunes a lot of Boa's stuff is available internationally.
However his ever loyal hardcore fans inside and outside of germany guarantee him concerts and releases that are always somehow doing well enough; Boa nowadays is still very well-respected, almost lost non of his credibility and, yes, he never ever sold out!!! Since the beginning of his career international producers (John Leckie, Bowie-producer Tony Visconti-currently working with the great Morrissey and loads of others) liked to work with Phillip Boa & the Voodooclub; in the recent years he worked, for example with Gareth Jones (Interpol) and with Strokes-producer Gordon Raphael on an album called 'Decadence & Isolation' (yes, Phillip knows that the album-title is uncool but he doesn't care).
This unique approach to music making is again visible in the latest Voodooclub creation, 'Faking to blend in' album released on the 03/08/07. On this latest outing one not only sees the return of 'Der Rabe', one time original drummer of the Voodoclub as co-producer but also a 'rising star' of the Berlin / Kreuzberg underground scene, Tobias Siebert as producer. This is a definitive return to old form for Boa. The album is packed with a collection of great songs with infectious melodies wrapped in a warm but spiky blanket of "beautiful noise", not far from the best work of the ever influential CAN, "maestros" of the avant-garde scene. Complex yet romantic musical and lyrical structures flow effortlessly throughout the whole album that one can clearly savour with the first listen but at the same time discover further intriguing arrangements rooted deep into the compositions with repeated plays.
After Phillip ended his business-relationship with the record-label Motor, he wasn't sure what to do in the future. It didn't take him long to decide. Now signed to Rough Trade Distr./Germany, Boa finished writing a new album at Temple studios (Malta) - once more returning to the ideology of the former described avantgarde/popmelody - clash. Phillip took on an idea of the late producer Conny Plank: to work with the genius drummer Jaki Liebezeit of CAN. Together with producer Tobias Siebert, Phillip and Jaki met up in Berlin to record drums and percussion for the new album (released February 13/2009). Very interesting recording sessions took place: Boa, Tobias and Jaki (once called the 'best drummer in the world' by NME), – trying to achieve a common purpose: discover new aspects within the structures of pop/rock music. As a result of this cooperation the music sounds more spacious, cinematic and yet intense with the typical Boa Songwriter-qualities and the Voodooclub individual style. They unfold: with the unusual but yet groovy Jaki-stamp on it. Mixing of the album was finished in December 2008 in Berlin. The album was released in Germany via Rough Trade Distr. / Export and iTunes worldwide and received very positive media response. Five very special shows were played in October 2009 with Jaki, who usually refuses to play to songstructures. After a first nervous show in Hamburg the experiment turned out to be brilliant and Jaki and Phillip were so happy that they did not exclude to repeat that live concept in the future. As the whole outlook for the Voodooclub is concerned: the future is unwritten - but, talking to Boa, an end of the "career" is not planned for the near future. He seems too be too addicted to the habit of writing weird but beautiful indie/pop/rock/avantgarde-whatever music. A livealbum will be released more or less as a Fan Edition, available via The official Phillip Boa shop, in July 2010. It will feature Jaki Liebezeit's drumming on 5 of the songs and is not reproduced, overdubbed etc.-only authentic 1:1 recording mixed in Malta in the spring of 2010. Meanwhile Phillip started writing new material and decided to keep the year concert-free with the exception of a few shows in Sept./Oct., where a good selection of singles and great songs of Boa's catalogue will be presented.
