bôa are an alternative rock band that have recently reformed, releasing their first new tracks since 2005 with their latest album, Whiplash. The band is made up of three of the previous members of bôa: Jasmine Rodgers, Lee Sullivan, and Alex Caird. We interviewed Jasmine to discuss bôa’s reformation, Whiplash’s conception, and the legacy of their most famous song, ‘Duvet’.

bôa had previously been inactive since the mid-2000s, but Jasmine certainly hadn’t. In that time, she released a self-titled EP, and two albums: Blood Red Sun and Dark Tides, the latter being released the same year as Whiplash. bôa’s revival has largely come about thanks to the astronomical resurgence of their song ‘Duvet’, largely due to the song’s use on TikTok. ‘Duvet’ has since been certified Platinum by the RIAA in October 2024, over 25 years after the song debuted.

The return to performing as a band was certainly welcomed by Jasmine: ‘I have been performing as a solo artist in this time, so coming back as a rock band is a big thing. When we started performing again, at one of our first shows at Colours Hoxton, we were still using wedges (on-stage monitors), and now we’re using in-ear monitors. It’s strange and lovely, and now that we’re back, we’re touring way more than we were before. But thinking back on the last few years, we didn’t even think we’d be touring! When our record label said, “You could release old material that you haven’t released, or you could record a new album”, we were instantly like, “Yes, let’s write a new album!’ And then suddenly it’s all “Do you want to do a show? That one did really well, do you want some more? Ok, here’s a whole wave of tours.”’

Whiplash definitely maintains bôa’s signature sound despite the time between Whiplash and Get There, and Jasmine relished the opportunity to perform as a group again. ‘We did jump back into things quite quickly; I love my solo music, but there are some things that I can’t do that I can do with bôa which I really enjoy. Things like the louder singing, and we can explore the slightly more abrasive side of music – getting a little bit punk in a few places – but there’s still room for the folk elements too. When you’re an independent musician, you tend to do everything yourself, and we also came from a culture of DIY where everyone was doing everything. It’s actually been a bit hard to give up that independence; to let the record label and social media do its thing, and go, “OK, this is too big for us to handle now”, and that’s quite mad.’

The amount of time between albums meant that there were a lot of question marks regarding the creative process, and Whiplash’s creation hinged on the trio finding their feet again after so much time apart. ‘We came back with a lot of excitement and curiosity, because you just don’t know what you’re going to come up with or what you’re going to do. You don’t even know if you’re going to be able to write a song, let alone an album’s worth. It was quite joyful to sit there and start going through things, running through our old material; the songwriting process was actually really nice.’

Whiplash’s strapline was, ‘Breakups, Breakdowns, Divorces, and all the mental unhealth in between.’ Jasmine thought this was bôa’s long-lasting mantra; ‘Those were the general overarching themes of bôa’s music over the years: being really in touch with your own fragility, feeling vulnerable, and feeling strong enough to feel vulnerable. I think one of the benefits of being older and writing this album, was that we could write it as if to say, “we’ve been through some really hard times, and we’re here to let you know that – at least for now – we made it through”. I think there’s a comfort in that.’

The process of creating Whiplash was far different to what bôa had done in the past, both in terms of song construction and the time frame. Whiplash’s titular track was the last song to be written for the album: ‘We were literally writing ‘Whiplash’ as we were recording it, so in the end we had all of the themes coming together for this final track. Whiplash was a very different album for us because we wrote it so quickly compared to our other albums. We did Whiplash in one and a half years, whereas Twilight and Get There took about six years each!’

Nettwerk were the label to pick up bôa after the resurgence of ‘Duvet’ in the pandemic years, but not much has changed in terms of the band’s vision. ‘The three of us are all still very much involved with the voice of bôa, but we are trying to do so many different things, like when we are touring we’ve got to wear lots of different hats for different situations. You have to invest so much effort into the business side of things as well as the creative side; I think when these tours finish then we can see, and that’s when I can be creative again.’

‘Duvet’ is almost assuredly a song you will have heard in the past few years since the pandemic, but it hasn’t lost its lustre to the band, even if its meaning and legacy have changed with its resurgence: ‘When we were on tour, we always got teased by the crew asking us “Are you going to play the sped up version?” But the thing is is that the song is really meaningful, and it’s still really amazing; we usually make it a bit different when we play it, we change it up every now and again or we play it really straight. It’s a bit naff, but it’s true; seeing everyone really happy when we’re playing ‘Duvet’ is just really nice.’

Regarding bôa’s future though, Jasmine explained that there wasn’t really a set plan for the band, and they were going to see how the various tours, alongside Whiplash’s reception, played out: ‘I think we want to see what’s happening; we don’t want to put pressure on anything because you just don’t know. I think we’ve also become quite philosophical; if this album doesn’t land, then just give it another twenty years or so! But if we need to get a job that’s not music, then that’s not scary. One thing that’s definitely changed is that everyone knows that everyone has to hustle, and everyone’s got a side hustle, and another side hustle, and so on.’

Jasmine expanded on the culture of hustling, the widespread commercialisation of all areas of music, and what it meant for new or returning artists: ‘The chance of “making it” has always been pretty small, and financially it’s really hard to make a living. Algorithms are going to do what they do, and I’ve been reading that people are engaging less with social media now, so that’ll be something new to tackle. One of the things I’ve found really interesting was the conversion of digital metrics to our live shows. “Conversion” sounds like a real business term, but we really didn’t think people would want to come and see us! But the reality of looking at someone’s face that has enjoyed our music from consuming it digitally is pretty amazing. But I do think that you have to be able to perform, and one of the difficult parts – especially as a smaller artist – is ensuring that you have the opportunities to perform and cut your teeth in a given scene; I think that has become a lot harder, and that makes me sad. Like when we were starting out, we were able to perform in little pubs and small venues, and get that feedback from people on a small scale, and I just wonder if that opportunity is there in the same way for new bands. But that being said, I do think that people now are much more savvy, and they know how to present and market themselves.’

bôa have a handful of UK tour dates over June, and you can listen to Whiplash on all music streaming platforms.

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