BOYO : Wheels Always Turning
Blending indie rock reinvention and bedroom pop flair, BOYO is one of those artists whose music refuses to be ignored. Full of laid-back melodies and vibey tones, it’s the perfect soundtrack to modern alienation, in the sense that it provides the listener with more than enough levity to get through the messed up times, like a friendly shoulder to lay your head on while your watching life come at you hard. Robert Tilden just released Where Have All My Friends Gone? under the moniker, it’s a great soundtrack to a surreal summer, songs to sing-along to with a mask on. To celebrate this new release, we talked inspiration and desert island synths with Robert.
Can you take us through the creation of Where Have All My Friends Gone?
I had just gotten back from a tour and was pretty creatively ripe, if that makes any sense. I was revisiting a lot of records that were super inspiring to me in high school and they kind of jolted me back into this mode where I wanted to really explore guitars again.
The lyrics and kind of urgency to the music was a result of me exiting a period of my life where I had come to terms with physical ailments and medical conditions. I guess it feels mature because it felt like I was hitting a second, emotional puberty in a way as fucking strange as that sounds — I was relearning who I was, being put on the right meds after being misdiagnosed with a seizure disorder before finally getting diagnosed with epilepsy.
Making the record was pretty free-flowing and easy and happened over the course of two or three weeks. It's the first BOYO record where I play every single instrument on every track, and a roommate or a friend isn't lending their drumming to a tune of a part here or there. It's really isolated and I think you can tell.
Your new album has an edgier, more overdriven sound. How did you achieve that sound?
Using shitty Tascam 4-tracks as preamps going into the computer. Trying to make the signal as less-digitally as possible, whatever the hell that means. Just a lot of EQ-ing and saturation and then handing it off to an engineer to finalize the mixes.
You’re quite prolific. What’s your trick for staying inspired?
My self-worth is pretty contingent on making stuff, so I only really feel good about myself if I'm productive. There are albums worth of material no one will ever hear because it's pure garbage fire but I have to keep the wheels always turning no matter what, and that's how writer's block doesn't happen.
You’ve collaborated with Sam Valdez on Forget It. How did this collaboration come about? How did you like the experience?
My label has worked with her and I really dug her tunes and voice and just sent her the track and she sent back her beautiful overdubs and bam boom!
In a Cast Away-type scenario, what would be your desert island piece of gear or production tool?
In this scenario, if I also had a 2,000 dollar gift card to Reverb or Guitar Center or some shit, I'd probably get a Moog on and just play arpeggios until I lost my mind.
Who are a few artists you’ve discovered recently? How do they inspire you?
My friend Maddy writes incredible songs under the name Your Angel. It's the kind of thing where she send me a new song and 99.99% of me is beyond stoked and a fan and 0.001% is pissed and like fuck why didn't I write that, "Damn you!" She's seriously a genius.
I hope I’m not invading your privacy, but your bio mentions you had a pretty dramatic health scare in 2017. How are you 3 years later?
Not invading at all, I'm pretty open about it and it started a cool dialogue with other kids in my same situation with epilepsy. I'm definitely aware of not being an immortal 20-something able to consume endless substances and not sleep and tour until I drop. I take care of myself and feel like I tour and live sustainably and found the right meds to keep my brain tip-top
What’s next for BOYO?
Another record very soon because what the hell else am I doing?