Bodega, completed by co-vocalist and songwriter Nikki Belfiglio, co-vocalist and guitarist Ben Hozie, guitarist Madison Velding VanDam, bassist Heather Elle and drummer Montana Simone, recently played a show at The Moroccan Lounge in Los Angeles. There, I caught up with Nikki and Ben to talk about their album, Endless Scroll. Endless Scroll is a technological adventure as it captures our place within this modern, tech-drenched society. How often do you find yourself endlessness scrolling through something? Instagram, facebook, blogs, texting, sexting, other forming of -xting. It is relentless and my fingers are tired. Bodega addresses this tendency with a ‘radical honesty’, as they say. With an inexplicable energy, the words they speak-sing are as true as this collective technological addiction. Bodega has an ability to juxtapose humor and irony that actually makes you laugh, alongside blatant truth so simply honest. It forced me to take look at the part I am playing in this world. I am not so sure whether or not this part is something to celebrate or something to mourn but it is something that makes you look and want to figure it out. It makes you want to change if you so believe there is room to and I do believe there is always room for that.
As I spoke to Ben and Nikki, they said they think “Things can always be better and that things can change… The best way to move forward is to closely analyze it, question and feel things really strongly.” Among a number of things their words and stage presence made me feel, it made me feel a tenacity to want to change things for the better by forcing me to see and analyze how things are. This undeniably relatable album will be a mirror to those who let it. I highly suggest letting some of this honesty in and further, cycle it back out through in through until your actions follow suit.
Check out our conversation below:
**Meagan:** How did you guys all meet each other?
**Nikki:** Montana had a gallery space called _Idiogallery_ that had really great shows for artists. In the basement she had rock shows. It got shut down though. Landlords run that town, you can’t do anything under a leadership that only wants your money and as much as possible. The more money fueled into the space around you, the more people are going to try to police you. Self-policing too. All these people that are paying so much money for their rent and policing their 9 to 5 on you. It is hard to create in that environment. But on the flip side, art goes on. So many of our friends host shows and bring artists together.
**Meagan:** This is your first full length album you have released, what has changed thus far in your career since your new album came out?
**Ben:** The most concrete change is now when we play shows, people know the lyrics.
**Meagan:** Hows that feel?
**Ben:** Incredible, it is really great.
**Nikki:** We’re real rockstars
**Ben:** The biggest thing is now that we have this out in the world. It’s no longer ours. It belongs to whoever comes to it now. They can interpret it however they want to use it however they want to. Now, we have to do something else.
**Meagan:** Is there a hope that they interpret it in any specific way?
**Ben:** No, I mean the songs are like little mini essays. In the classic sense of an essay. Not in the middle school sense where you have one thesis and three paragraphs, but more so like you have one topic and multiple opinions that leave question marks. What I hope is that we leave people scratching their heads. We are not a message man though…
**Nikki:** There was this one review written about us that said, this song clearly mean, this and that’s why it’s not a timeless album and they were completely wrong about what the song was about.
**Meagan:** You can write one sentence that can mean a thousand things. That is a bold for someone to claim to know your intentions or your thoughts behind something.
**Nikki:** Music journalism is varied. A lot of people will say that they know exactly what they are saying.
**Meagan:** I don’t necessarily think that it is possible to. I can interpret what you say but my interpretation has more to do with myself than it does with your music. My interpretation is coated with my experiences and my thoughts, It is difficult disregarding your own biases.
It is hard to know what is going on in someone else thoughts and to claim that you do is quite a step I would say. Interpretation is different though.
They way you guys write, you write thoughtfully…stating the complex in a simple way in which I can take it and run with it in a number of directions if i want to. It allows for interpretation and It can fuel my day however I want it to. Thank you for that.
**Ben:** The best thing I think songs can do is to inspire people to make their own kind of art right afterwards. So hopefully it helps you do that.
**Meagan:** What do you want listeners to take away from your music?
**Nikki:** You hear it in our album. They album is about documenting ourselves in this time and place that we are experiencing.
**Meagan:** What does writing mean to you? Is it a soothing process, or a coping mechanism at all? Can you even help it?
**Nikki:** To me, it is not. It is more like pulling teeth. I clearly have a need to express myself but the process it takes to do that doesn’t feel relaxing in any way. It is one of the more painful things to go through.
**Meagan:** Thats really admirable that you put yourself through that. It is a strength to come out on the other side and listeners can hear that.
**Ben:** I always say this about our band, people think that there is a detached, intellectual component to our band when we are critiquing all these things. But I always say that we are a romantic band. What I mean by that, we really think that things can be better. That things can change. That is why some of the sweeter songs on the record are no different than some of the fiercest punk songs. They come from the same emotional state of thinking that things can be better and that the best way to move forward is to closely analyze it. Question and feel things really strongly.
**Meagan:** It is really important to feel things. Its easy to turn away from it but in order to learn from it, you have to feel it.
**Nikki:** Oh yea, you have to talk everything out to understand it. You might not even get there but to write and do things to try and understand because you don’t.
**Ben:** Songs are good documents. I thought about this recently and it might seem kind of obvious. but the reason record are called records and because they are literal recordings of an event. They are a documentary, a document of something. It slices a little bit of that time and wherever your head was at that time.
**Meagan:** Like a storybook, or a history book rather.
**Ben:** Right, I have already moved on emotionally from so many of the songs that we are playing so it is nice to have those to remind myself of who I am and where I came from.
**Meagan:** So, what is next for you guys?
**Nikki:** We actually have an EP that we are going to try to record. I don’t know the time frame but sometime next year. It is hard because we have been touring since April or May. Recently we have only had 3 or 4 days off in between shows.
Trying to make grand ideas when you are constantly on the move is really difficult. You think like, oh i’m in a band, i have all this time but really you don’t. you need time away from everyone. its hard to create when everyone’s energy is in your space. You need to be able to try things out and make mistakes and fail. I think we are very private band. we do things very individually and then we take it back into the sphere. In a way our band is like a big social media account. We don’t present anything until its ready for presentation. Then the comments start and you realize how wrong you could have been and you have to defend yourself, thats how this band works. we are one giant facebook post. I don’t want to undermine the collaboration process at all. We are collaborative but we do realize how our band works. You have to defend your idea and it changes and you defend your work and it comes together.
**Meagan:** Everyone has a different creative process so I can understand and appreciate how you allow each other to do so. I am really excited to see what you guys do in the future.
Written and photographed by Meagan Rafferty
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