Boa Morte formed in Cork, Ireland, rising from the dust of a couple of ragged but respected indie bands. In 2002 Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub heard their debut album (“Soon it Will Come Time to Face the World Outside”) and persuaded drummer Francis MacDonald to release it on his label, Shoeshine Records. The band have now recorded their fourth album (they like to take their time), “The Total Space” which sees Boa Morte combine their flair for alt-folk songcraft with ambient, drone and synthesised sound with little to guide them but their innate melodic compass and instinct for unorthodox song. However the Boa Morte fundamentals remain: emotive yet unsentimental vocals; a disquieting ease with space and silence; percussive interventions on drum-shell, tom-rim and cymbal-cup; harmonies that add rather than dilute personality, and a bloody-minded patience when it comes to pacing. The Total Space is released on UK label Gare du Nord Records on 3rd March 2023.
How did the band form and what does the band name mean?
We met in college and used to drink in the same pub which was a hub of the music scene in Cork – called the Liberty Bar. We discovered a shared love of the same bands with Neil Young as a unifying influence perhaps along with bands like the Pixies and REM. The band name is a common Portuguese/Brazilian surname & means ‘a good death’ (not necessarily a reference to our live performances!).
Previous musical projects? How'd you first get into music?
We all played in different bands during our college years including bands called The Exploding Pencils, The Lemmings and Hubble – mostly loud indie guitar bands. It was later that we quietened things way down and found our own voice I think.
First concert that you ever went to?
I saw New Order play back in their heyday and The Wedding Present. At a later stage all of us were at a now-legendary Sonic Youth gig where the support act was Nirvana who were touring Bleach at the time but were just about to get huge.
What's your writing process like?
Paul and Cormac usually write the basic song structures and each tends to sing lead vocals on their own songs or share vocal duties and harmonies. The band collectively works on the arrangements usually messing quite a bit with the overall structure of each song and often they end up sounding very different to the original versions. So ultimately composition involves the entire band bringing in different elements to each song. We’ve been really getting into the technology behind the recording process and have set up a small studio with outboard synths, effects pedals and various sound-plugins. So whilst many of the basic tracks were recorded in a proper studio, we’ve been able to add overdubs in our home studio (and in the studio of a collaborator, composer Justin Grounds). On the new album you can hear the results of this with a combination of proper songs, with verses and choruses, with drifting ambient drones and instrumental sections.
What other artists or songs inspire your music?
For quite some time we’ve been influenced by bands like Low or even the early Spain records and more recently, say, Mount Eerie where the playing is sparse and minimalist with an attention to sonic detail that allows each element to be heard. I like the fact that we can all play simultaneously in a drums-bass-guitar-vocal format, but quietly, so that things don’t sound too crowded on the records. Recently we’ve been listening to quite a diverse range of bands and musicians including electronica and ambient (Inventions, Sarah Davachi, Brian Eno, Mira Calix), hip hop (Billy Woods, Moor Mother) and spiritual jazzy stuff (Alice Coltrane, Alabaster dePlume). There’s a nod to Ivor Cutler thrown in for good measure, but I think you can hear many of these influences on the new album.
What's the live experience like and your philosophy on playing live? Do you think the music live should be identical to the recorded version or should it be it's own thing?
We recently performed two very different shows – in the first we played the new album (The Total Space) in its entirety live – which was a challenge given the amount of drones, ambient and instrumental pieces on the album. It was also a challenge as the audience hadn’t heard any of the songs before! The second gig was us playing more of our typical songs from previous albums with greater focus on vocal harmonies and interplay between the voices. Both shows worked in their own way. I think the type of quiet music we play means that there’s a fragility and tension there based upon the fact that things could fall apart at any moment!
Has the band toured? What has the touring experience been, best shows?
We have done some limited touring; including a tour of the UK for our first album and a tour of Ireland supporting Teenage Fanclub. Some great shows over the years including a memorable show in an art gallery in Cork (The Glucksman Gallery) in 2019.
worst shows?
At the start of our UK tour (in Brighton) we were so nervous that some of us forgot the basic chord sequences of our simplest songs! After quite a few re-started songs we managed to get through the set!
What's up next for the band?
Looking forward to seeing the reaction to our album ‘The Total Space’ which comes out on 3rd March on Gare du Nord records. We’re already writing songs and recording demos for the next album so we’ll see where that takes us.