Bôa

Bôa (stylized bôa) are an English alternative rock band formed in London in 1993, by drummer Ed Herten, keyboard player Paul Turrell, and guitarist/vocalist Steve Rodgers. The band progressed from a funk band to a rock band over the years, as bassist Alex Caird and multi-instrumentalist Ben Henderson joined the group, and Jasmine Rodgers was added as vocalist.

They produced two major albums, Twilight (2001) and Get There (2005). Their track "Duvet" was the opening theme song to the anime television series Serial Experiments Lain. The band was originally signed by Polystar in Japan and produced their first album The Race of a Thousand Camels (1998). However, the band decided to change labels and signed with Pioneer LDC (now called NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan) to produce their album Twilight (2001). Bôa's current lineup consists of Jasmine Rodgers (vocals and guitar), Alex Caird (bass), and Lee Sullivan (drums and piano).

Following their success with Twilight, the band decided to create their own independent label called Bôa Recordings to produce. Get There was released on 1 February 2005. It took Bôa in a new direction, with more structure in lyrics and melody, as well as a more mellow, yet more harder-edged/indie rock format. It also had more acoustic elements than the first album.

Career
Originally a funk band, Bôa was formed in 1993, by drummer Ed Herten, keyboardist Paul Turrell, and Steve Rodgers on guitar and vocals.

Alex Caird, who had played with Ed in another band Draggin' Bones, was soon recruited on bass guitar. Steve's younger sister, Jasmine Rodgers, was invited to sing the chorus part of one of their first songs called Fran, and she soon became the lead singer of the group.

Ben Henderson, who had played with Alex in the psychedelic rock band Doctor Sky, was recruited shortly afterward to play saxophone.

Their first live performance was in January 1994, at the London Forum, supporting Steve and Jasmine's father, classic rock singer Paul Rodgers (of Free & Bad Company fame). In the summer of the same year, Ed Herten decided to leave the band to concentrate on his studies.

The new drummer, Lee Sullivan, is the son of Terry Sullivan, the drummer in the band Renaissance. Lee brought a rockier feel to the group's sound which complemented a natural progression away from funk by the band and a migration from saxophone to guitar by Ben Henderson. Henderson started writing for the band on guitar, with the song 'Twilight' moving the band to a darker, indie feel.

Bôa honed their live performances with many gigs across the South of England such as the Glastonbury festival (1995). As a result of their Glastonbury performance, they were chosen as the focus of a TV documentary about the festival that was later distributed on the London show Shift. In 1996, they accepted a recording contract with a Japanese Company, Polystar. They recorded three songs, Twilight, Deeply, and Elephant in London, with producer Darren Allison (Spiritualized, The Divine Comedy) at the Red Bus studios in London. They recorded further tracks for the album with producer Neil Walsh at the Monnow Valley Studios. Although the album was recorded and produced in England, Jasmine and Steve traveled to Japan in 1998, to promote the debut album Race of the Thousand Camels, which was released only in that country.

While signed with Polystar, the band released their first single in 1998, called "Duvet". It was a success in Japan, and became the opening theme of the anime series Serial Experiments Lain. "Duvet" was also on the 1998 album Race of a Thousand Camels in Japan. Meanwhile, the band was working with producer Stuart Epps on new material including an acoustic version of "Duvet" and the song "Drinking".

In 2000, Polystar released both the Tall Snake EP, and featured "Duvet" on the 20th Anniversary of Polystar Collection Vol.1 Female Vocal Love Songs compilation. The Tall Snake EP was released in Japan featuring all three versions of "Duvet" and two songs ("Little Miss" and "Two Steps").

However, in 2000, Ben Henderson left the band to concentrate on his other band, Moth, with his wife, singer-songwriter Tina Henderson, who together currently record, and perform regularly at Steampunk festivals and other events in the UK.

Bôa began touring more extensively and used this time to gain inspiration for their next album. In 2000, Bôa performed a live concert at the Otakon convention and was well received by fans of the Serial Experiments Lain series. In September 2002, they held a live performance at the Hammersmith Apollo (London) and received strong accolades for their performance.

In 2001, due to contractual disagreements with Polystar, the band changed labels and signed with Pioneer LDC (now known as Geneon Universal). Race of a Thousand Camels was retitled Twilight and released to a US audience in 2001, by Pioneer Music. Twilight consisted of songs from their original Japanese album plus other new tracks. They worked closely with Todd Culberhouse and toured in the US to promote the album. Halfway through the tour, Paul Turrell left the band to pursue other interests. However, the band went on to finish the tour and played at the Animefest in Dallas, Texas (Aug 2001).

"Duvet" was remixed by DJ Wasei and was released on another Lain soundtrack titled Serial Experiment Lain Soundtrack: Cyberia Mix in October 2003. The band also released a video to go with the single which was reported to have been filmed on top of the rooftop of the flat in New Malden where Alex Caird, Paul Turrel, and Lee Sullivan used to live, and where the band used to rehearse.

By 2003, the band decided to establish their own recording label, called Boa Recordings. They started recording their third successful album titled Get There and released it under their own label in 2004. The album was sold on the iTunes Store, and both their albums Twilight and Get There were sold by their official distributor CD Baby.

In September 2004, Steve and Jasmine performed Drinking with their father, Paul Rodgers, at The Strat Pack. The Strat Pack was a concert featuring Joe Walsh, Gary Moore, Brian May, David Gilmour, and many more, marking the 50th Anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar. The film was released in 2005.

In 2012, the band started a JustGiving page and announced their support to raise money for AAR JAPAN, a charity that responded to the impact of the 2011 tsunami.

On 4 January 2017, former keyboard player Paul Turrell passed away, which the band announced via their Facebook page on the following day. That May, an unreleased Bôa album was discovered on Turrell's website titled The Farm.

In December 2018, a vinyl edition of Duvet was released exclusively for the Japanese market. This was a surprise to Bôa, who were not aware of the pressing of the record. The band shared the news on their official Facebook page and asked if fans bought the edition from Japan.

In August 2021, "Duvet" saw a massive resurgence in popularity, especially on TikTok, with over 250,000 posts using the song as of August 2023.

In June 2023, the band announced that they were going to be releasing a new album.

In August 2023, the original members of Bôa (from The Race of a Thousand Camels/Twilight/Duvet years) - Jasmine, Steve, Alex, Ben, and Lee made a master recording licensing agreement with Nettwerk Music Group Inc.

On 28 September 2023, "Duvet" charted on the Official Charts and peaked at number 18 and charted for 2 weeks from 28/09/2023 to 05/10/2023.

In March 2024, the band announced on their Facebook page that the song "Duvet" had achieved gold disc status. On 21 March 2024, the band released the lead single for their album Whiplash titled "Walk with Me", their first piece of new music in 19 years. A second single, "Beautiful & Broken", was released on 3 May.

Band members
Current
 * Jasmine Rodgers – vocals (1993–present), guitars (2023–present)
 * Alex Caird – bass (1993–present)
 * Lee Sullivan – drums, percussion, keyboards (1994–present)

Past
 * Steve Rodgers – guitars (1993–2005)
 * Ben Henderson – guitars, saxophone, percussion (1993–2000)
 * Paul Turrell – keyboards, strings, percussion, guitars (1993–2001; died 2017)
 * Ed Herten – drums, percussion (1993–1994)

Discography
Albums
 * Acton Live (unreleased, first uploaded in 2010)
 * The Race of a Thousand Camels (1998, reissued as Twilight in 2001)
 * Get There (2005)
 * The Farm (unreleased, first uploaded in 2017)
 * Whiplash (2024)

EPs Singles
 * Duvet (1998)
 * Tall Snake (1999)
 * "Duvet" (1998)
 * "Walk With Me" (2024)
 * "Beautiful & Broken" (2024)
 * "Worry" (2024)

Film

 * The Strat Pack: Live in Concert (2005)