New name means new sound for local band
Columbia rockers celebrate first release with help from friends.
Published April 27, 2007
Often when a performer changes his or her name, it feels a little forced, or as a seemingly gratuitous PR move (think hip-hop mogul Sean Combs dropping the "P." from his alias to become "Diddy.")
But Columbia rock band Bockman has taken its name change seriously. The band began performing in 1999 under the name Bockman's Euphio, an allusion to a short story by the late Kurt Vonnegut. Two years ago, it shortened the name to Bockman, and its members are strongly committed to developing and maturing their sound and showcasing it on a new album.
Bockman guitarist Sean Canan said listeners should expect a more mature, focused sound in the band's new material.
"Years ago we were doing Bockman's Euphio, and it was more happy-go-lucky stuff, like 'forget your worries, let's escape reality,'" Canan said. "And with our new sound, we're trying to embrace reality with all its fear, sadness, happiness, angst. We're trying to run the gamut of all human emotions. It's very much a more mature music than it used to be."
Bockman's performance Saturday at The Blue Note will serve as the CD release party for Chasing Dragons, the band's "debut album" under its new name.
"The idea behind Chasing Dragons is more or less a synonym for chasing your dreams," Canan said. "Trying to make a living out of any sort of original art is one of the most difficult things you can do, even in America where we're supposedly 'free.'"
Canan said the new name reflects the band's current mindset and commitment to a new direction and larger creative vision, regardless of commercial gain.
"We've been offered individual jobs to play other people's music, which would have been much more lucrative," Canan said. "But we have a bigger vision and faith in the music that we're playing — surely a stronger faith than we've ever had in the music that we're playing."
The album will be released officially Tuesday on the local Co-Opt Records. Canan said he and his fellow band members have a strong commitment to fostering the communal environment Columbia bands and record labels have established.
"We're in several different bands as backup musicians, and we've always really been drawn to the communal aspect of music," Canan said. "And in the Columbia music scene, bands are holding each other up more so now than since I've ever lived here. I think that Columbia's got a really special music scene right now. It's very strong, and it's not gonna be long before people start to take notice."
One of the ways Bockman has contributed to the local music community is organizing its Euphio Campout festival at Camp Zoe.
"It started as more of a party just for the bands in our region, such as Big Smith and Speakeasy and Madahoochi, kind of our little family reunion every year," Canan said. "And it's grown every year to the point where we're including more and more bands, and this year it's so big that we're teaming up with Schwagstock, and there will be some national acts there."
Fellow local juggernauts The Doxies, Stingrays and Shirrelle C. Limes and the Lemons will also perform sets at Saturday's release party.
"I think the evening is gonna be a synopsis of the Columbia music scene," Canan said. "We've got four acts on the bill, all from three different independent Columbia labels. In most cases, record labels are really competitive, and I think this is gonna be a really good representation of all the different types of rock 'n' roll that we have going on in this town right now and the unity that runs through it."