Bogmen refuse to swamp crowds with rehash trash

By Gus Bode

The Bogmen aren’t looking for a carved-out niche to crawl into.

Rather, the group uses an original combination of rock and roll and lounge music to create what it terms hi-fi/lowbrow supercharged lounge fodder, a cubbyhole shared by no other bands.

We just wanted to come up with something catchy that didn’t have the words alternative, pop or progressive in it, vocalist Billy Campion said.

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When we play on stage, it’s a mash of rock and roll attitude of songs delivered with a lounge mentality.

This combination attracted a loyal following in the region around the Bogmen’s Long Island, N.Y., birthplace which, in turn, attracted talent scouts from Arista Records.

The group signed in June 1994 and began work on its debut, Life Begins At 40 Million. The disc turned out to be more than a musical offering;

Arista asked the Bogmen if it would like to make Life a multimedia experience.

Arista has a department that does that, Campion said. They kept bringing it up, so we came up with an agenda to do (it).

The home screen displays the disc cover, and viewers are told to hunt around the picture for hidden icons that lead to audio interviews, live performance clips, photographs and a comic strip while selections from the disc play in the background.

Some of the things on there aren’t the most flattering, but it’s excellent, Campion said. It gives people more to play with.

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The comic depicts the band on the road between gigs. The old road manager, depicted as a Rastafarian (although he is Irish in reality), comes complete with stars rotating above his head indicating his intoxication.

We really had some wild times when he was managing us, Campion said.

Wild times are all part of the Bogmen’s philosophy. The band’s original den, aptly named Disgraceland after an Elvis Hitler album, epitomized the lifestyle of a band named after 40,000-year-old corpses found perfectly preserved in northern Europe.

It was like a big pile of empty beer cans, dirty laundry and grass residue all over the carpet, Campion said.

The Bogmen, now based in New York City, will shoot its first video next week for The Big Burn, as it winds its way in and out of the Rolling Stone New Music Tour.

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