ALBERT BOUCHARD, January the 13th 2013
Hello Albert,
First I would like to thank you so much for
having accepted to answer to my questions for my blog. It is so kind of you.
So, I know you are the former drummer of Blue
Oyster Cult and Brain Surgeons too. But today, you have a new musical project
Blue Coupe. Today, we will discover more about yourself and learn about your
musical career.
When did you start to interest yourself at
music? Your first wish was being drummer or another role inside a band? Music
was inside your family because your brother, Joe, is guitarist and singer too?
I was first interested in playing the drums
when I was 3 years old and saw a parade. I first thought about wanting to be a
musician when I was about 11 and heard Walk Don’t Run by the Ventures in
grammar school. Our mother played piano and my father played guitar but they
never played together as far as I knew. My mother could only play if she had
the music and my dad could only play from memory. She played classical and he
played jazz.
When did you join Blue Oyster Cult? Was it
your first experience inside a band?
I created Blue Oyster Cult with my friend
Donald, who I had a band with in college, in 1971. Before that I was in a very
successful band with my brother in high school. I’d played in 8 other bands before
BOC and made my first popular recording with Tom Paxton in 1968, years earlier.
I know you left Blue Oyster Cult around 1981
after the album Fire of Unknown Origin, what did you do after that? Did
you keep on working for the musical world?
I recorded a solo album for Columbia called
Imaginos, which eventually came out as a Blue Oyster Cult record in 1988 after
the project stalled for several years. I also played in oldies bands for
several years and was the musical director for Spencer Davis Group for a couple
years in 1987-1989.
How was born Brain Surgeons? And who were
inside this band?
After the Spencer Davis Group I retired from
performing for a few years. I got a job as a teacher in a NYC public school and
I produced younger musicians. I produced and secured record deals for Heads Up
(Roadrunner), Maria Excommunikata (Megaforce/Atlantic) and also worked
extensively with Kablamachunk who broke up just as I was about to get them a
deal with Geffen Records. I then decided that if I made my own band I could
keep it together long enough to have some longevity in the music scene so I
formed the Brain Surgeons with my wife, Deborah Frost, in 1994. David
Hirschberg was in the band from the beginning as well and he played, saxophone,
bass, guitar and sang. We also had Billy Hilfiger, Peter Bohovesky and Ross the
Boss on guitar at different times during the life of the band. The Brain
Surgeons broke up in 2006 due to marital strife.
Since 2008, you are in Blue Coupe with your
brother Joe Bouchard and the former bass player of Alice Cooper Group, Dennis
Dunaway. How did you meet with Dennis Dunaway?
I met Dennis at a party with Alice Cooper when
we were opening the show for them in 1972. We have been friends ever since. I
first played with Dennis in 2006 when I sat in for his drummer at a “Save CBGBs
show.”
Did you release an album with Blue Coupe? If
yes, can we hope a European Tour?
Blue Coupe released our first CD in 2010 called
Tornado on the Tracks, which featured Robby Krieger of the Doors, on guitar. We
are in the mixing phase of our next CD which has Ross the Boss (Dictators) Buck
Dharma (Blue Oyster Cult), Goldy McJohn (Steppenwolf) and other special guests,
with Jack Douglas of Aerosmith fame and Warren Huart, who mixed the Fray, behind
the mixing desk. We have toured France in 2011 and 2012 and are about to go on
our first tour of the UK next week, doing 12 shows in 12 days. I am certain we
will do more in the future.
Can you tell us some words about the
appearance of Robby Krieger on the song Angel’s Well? How did he come into this
project?
It was actually his idea to record with us. We
had no plans to make a record when Robby suggested that we do some recording.
We sent him a bunch of songs and he was able to complete several leads before
his touring schedule took him away. He would be on the new one except that his
schedule has been too tight to allow it.
Concerning, Blue Coupe, have you some future
projects, another album for example or other things?
We already have a concept for a couple more
albums and ideas about who else we would like to work with. We have ideas about
more elaborate shows that are beyond our budget at this point but if things
keep going the way they are we will be able to realize. We have a live video
that we are working on and we still have to complete our vampire hunter series
of videos. See You (Like Vampires) on youtube to see the first 2.
You played with Blue Oyster Cult for their 40th
Anniversary. How was it for you?
The BOC show was a great night. A lot of water
has passed under that bridge over the years but it’s nice to know it’s still
standing even though it’s not travelled on so much. I was a little strange too
because they played with the new guys during the first part of the show but
when the 5 original guys played it sounded exactly like it used to. We didn’t
even have one rehearsal, we just played 2 songs once in sound check. The best
thing about it, for me, was the warmth and camaraderie backstage before and after the show.
Thanks a lot Albert for your answers, now we
know more about your works. I wish you all the best for Blue Coupe and I would
like to tell you, I listened to some songs and I love it. Thanks for all. Have
a nice day.
Interview by Alicia FIORUCCI , january 2013
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