Bully — the musical project led by Alicia Bognanno — visited The Current studio in late September while out on tour in support of the band’s latest album, Lucky For You.

Following performance of songs from the record, Bognanno met with host Ayisha Jaffer to talk about her Minnesota connections, her love of animals — dogs in particular — and how Nashville has become her home.

Watch the three-song performance above, and use the audio player to listen to the interview. You can also read a complete transcript of the interview below.

Interview Transcript

Edited for time and clarity.

Ayisha Jaffer: Hey, I'm Ayisha Jaffer, we're hanging out in the studio here at The Current with Bully. Thanks for being here.

Alicia Bognanno: Yeah, thanks for having me.

Ayisha Jaffer: So I know recently, just a few months ago, you finished a tour with the Pixies and Franz Ferdinand. And I'm just curious, what was that experience like?

Alicia Bognanno: It was very cool. I just, I'm a huge Pixies fan, so I just set side stage every night and watched the set. I feel like I did a pretty good job of staying present because I just didn't want to take advantage of the opportunity. So I really soaked it all in.

Ayisha Jaffer: And now you're on your headlining tour. You're here in Minnesota, and we're so excited to have you. And I heard that you had a little bit of an upbringing in Rosemount, Minnesota.

Alicia Bognanno: Yes! Yeah.

Ayisha Jaffer: So welcome back.

Alicia Bognanno: Thank you.

Ayisha Jaffer: And I'm wondering if there's any part of your upbringing here in Minnesota that led you to music.

Alicia Bognanno: I went to Rosemount Public Schools, and my senior year, we got to take electives at [The School of Environmental Studies] the Zoo School — it's what we call it. And they had an [audio] engineering class, and I took that elective, and basically my teacher from there was the one who showed me and told me about MTSU [Middle Tennessee State University] so I am forever grateful for him and that program.

Ayisha Jaffer: Yeah, what a cool elective from the Zoo School. 

Alicia Bognanno: I know, yeah, that school is so cool.

Ayisha Jaffer: So Rosemount to Nashville. And it seems like you've embraced Nashville as a community, and Nashville has embraced you as well. And what is it like then going from Rosemount to Nashville? And how was that scene kind of been for you since you've been there?

Alicia Bognanno: I mean, I had never been to Nashville before I moved there, I just kind of like showed up there on my own. So it was drastically different. But the whole reason I went was because of the audio engineering program at MTSU. And then I just stuck around because I was running sound there and started Bully. And for a while it was just an easy place to exist in a band because you could rent a house and keep your van and the trailer and have animals and stuff. And yeah, I mean, the city's changed quite a bit, and it's not so affordable anymore at all. But I'm still there.

Ayisha Jaffer: It's home, right?

Alicia Bognanno: Yeah, it's the longest I've lived anywhere, any one place. So, yeah.

Ayisha Jaffer: So well, and speaking of long, I'm going to talk about your new album, Lucky For You, the longest process that you've ever spent making a record. Is that right?

Alicia Bognanno: Yeah, yeah.

Ayisha Jaffer: And so in doing that, did it add something different to this album?

Alicia Bognanno: I think, you know, just not giving myself a deadline did, because I had the time and space to kind of sit with things and rework them or take a break from them and kind of revisit them and then see how I feel about them. Because lots of times I'll write something. I'm like, "Oh, this is so cool." And I'll go back a week later, and I'm like, "Ooh, this sucks." But yeah, I mean, it wasn't intentional. It was just like the nature of the producer. Now, he lived five minutes away from me, I didn't even know until we started working together. And so I could do stuff at my house, he could do stuff at his. And I think we both just realized when we started the project that we were equally as, like, dedicated and really wanted to see it through. So the outcome of that was just not rushing anything, slash, also like not settling for something for time's sake.

Ayisha Jaffer: Do you think you'll carry that timed process into your next project?

Alicia Bognanno: If I have that privilege, yes.

Ayisha Jaffer: The time privilege, yes.

Alicia Bognanno: Yeah.

Ayisha Jaffer: Well, you just mentioned your producer J.T. Daly, right, of Paper Route. And you really just self produced most of your work before that. So what led you to J.T., and what was that, I mean, you kind of touched on the process a bit.

Alicia Bognanno: Yeah, I had just met him through management. And I feel like I'm always really skeptical of working with people off the bat just because I'm not used to it. But I went over there, and he was genuinely a Bully fan, and he didn't want to change my sound, he just kind of wanted to elevate it. And there was little like, characteristic aspects of my music that he wanted to keep and hang onto. And I just really realized how lucky I was to have him, because, you know, you can hire somebody to produce a record, and they're out in two weeks, but it was very apparent that he really, really wanted to do it. So I said, Let's do it.

Ayisha Jaffer: Perfect.

Alicia Bognanno: Yeah!

Ayisha Jaffer: I mean, that's the way to go. And so we're playing a couple songs here at The Current, one of them being "Lose You" featuring Soccer Mommy, and I haven't seen a lot of collaborations in the past with you. So I'm wondering how that one came about?

Alicia Bognanno: Yeah! I mean, that was the first time I've ever collaborated with anybody. The idea was just tossed around. And Sophie [Allison, aka Soccer Mommy] was the first person I thought of, because I think her voice is really incredible. And I'm just a fan of her. I think she's a very talented artist, and she's also based in Nashville, and we had crossed paths before, so I asked her to do it. And she did. And I am so thankful for that.

Ayisha Jaffer: Do you think you'll do more collaborations now that you've done this one? 

Alicia Bognanno: I will if it's the right person.

Ayisha Jaffer: It's got to be right.

Alicia Bognanno: Yeah.

Ayisha Jaffer: Absolutely.

Alicia Bognanno: Yeah.

Ayisha Jaffer: Well, we're also playing the song, "Days Move Slow," which I know the catalyst for is losing your best friend, your dog Mezzi. And I'm wondering if you're willing to share that experience, how that experience kind of fed into your record and fed into that song? 

Alicia Bognanno: Yeah, I mean, I feel like I waited my whole life for Mezzi. I always wanted a dog growing up, but we were never able to get one. And so I got Mezzi right after I was out of the dorms when I was 19, which is, you know, not a good idea for a 19-year-old who's working and finishing school to get a dog, but it was the best decision I ever made. And I just have never really, like, experienced love in that capacity. I was just her and I for 13 years. And she traveled with me, she was always right by my side, especially when I was writing. And when I was in school, and when I was a kid, I just, I wasn't, I was trying but failing at everything. And I felt like — I mean now I'm older and it's like I know what's going on in my brain; it's just different, and so I like accept it in a different way — but at the time when I was younger, I just kind of felt like "I don't know what's wrong with me. I don't know why I can't get this or I can't figure this out." And I felt like I always experienced unconditional acceptance and love through animals. I just, like, had this deep connection with them where it was just like, I could pet or hold a big dog and my whole body is like, calm. There still isn't anything else that I've experienced that gives me that sort of inner peace. And so being able to have Mezzi and a dog of my own was just massive, and I felt like empowered for the first time. And I felt really proud, because I was really, really proud of her.

So but yeah, I have like pictures of me when I was seven sleeping on my aunt's dog bed with her dog all night. I would just lay there, because I was just like, "I gotta soak it all up. I don't understand why I love animals so much." I mean, I do, but now I'm like, "Oh, yeah, I was just, had really bad ADHD and neurodivergent; the public school system was not working in my favor, and animals were like, "Ahhhh." Just like, yeah.

Ayisha Jaffer: And so "Days Move Slow" then, is that kind of a love song for Mezzi?

Alicia Bognanno: Yeah, definitely. Yeah, yeah.

Ayisha Jaffer: Speaking of that, outside of Bully, I know in Nashville, you also foster dogs.

Alicia Bognanno: Yeah, I do.

Ayisha Jaffer: Do you have any, like, like a cool success story that you want to share?

Alicia Bognanno: Oh, I mean, all of them have been fostered out, so...

Ayisha Jaffer: Oh, that's magic!

Alicia Bognanno: Yeah, they're all the ones who got away. Like every time I get one and I'm like, "Oh, my god, I really should keep this, this dog is so special!" And then it's like they're gone and I'm sad, and then I get another. But I feel like, even though Mezzi passed like a year and a half ago, I still don't really feel like I'm ready. But it is really funny. Like, one of the big takeaways is, well, A) it's a lot of work, because you don't really know much about the dogs before they get taken in, so you don't know if they're potty trained, what their health issues are all that stuff; but B) it is so funny how much personality each dog has. Like, they are so different, and it is so cool to see and live with, you know, a dog you've never met before for a few weeks and they get adopted, get another one, because it just, it's so funny how like unique they are in their personalities, and it's just really cool to see. Yeah.

Ayisha Jaffer: I love that. Well, so, outside of fostering and making music, I also heard, you know, in the past couple years you've done a lot: you produced the record for the Mountain Goats, Bleed Out, and were part of that musical supergroup with Slanted! Enchanted!, the musical for Pavement.

Alicia Bognanno: Oh, yeah, yeah.

Ayisha Jaffer: And so I'm wondering, is there anything else you're working on that we can know about at this point?

Alicia Bognanno: Um, I might be talking to somebody about possibly putting a song out with them by the end of the year, another artist, but I don't think I can disclose — and I also have to write it first! So I'm like OK, but um, no, I mean, I've just been touring nonstop and all I want to do is write, so like as soon as I get the time I'm absolutely going to write. I cannot wait to — I love touring; it's like a big sense of relief, it's very cathartic — but writing is like, all the time I'm gone I'm just like thinking about the gear that I'm going to set up when I get home and yeah.

Ayisha Jaffer: That's awesome. Before I let you go is there anything else you want our listeners to know?

Alicia Bognanno: No, I don't think so.

Ayisha Jaffer: Perfect. Well, Bully, thanks for being here at The Current.

Alicia Bognanno: Thank you for having me.

Ayisha Jaffer: And Lucky For You is out now.

Alicia Bognanno: Yay! Thank you so much.

Ayisha Jaffer: Yay!

Gallery: Bully in studio at The Current

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Songs Performed

00:00:00 Lose You
00:02:54 All I Do
00:06:39 Days Move Slow

All songs from Bully’s 2023 album, Lucky For You, available on Sub Pop Records.

Musicians

Alicia Bognanno – guitar, vocals
Elle Puckett – guitar, vocals
Nick Byrd – bass
Benji Coale – drums

Credits

Guests – Bully
Host – Ayisha Jaffer
Producer – Derrick Stevens
Video Director – Derek Ramirez
Camera Operators – Derek Ramirez, Peter Ecklund
Audio – Evan Clark
Graphics – Natalia Toledo
Digital Producer – Luke Taylor

External Link

Bully – official site