Boogie Riverside are making music from the soul: an infectious remedy we all need.
As a band, Boogie Riverside are in an early stage of existence, and yet the musical prowess of each individual member, further amplified by the chemistry apparent throughout the band, would suggest otherwise.
It is early days for the band, who exist as an energetic, live-show entity with whispers of recording an album down the track flickering in the background.
But Boogie, as they are endearingly coming to be known, have written their name into the stirring rumblings of folklore through their commitment to the ‘moment’.
Boogie Riverside
- Where: Lulie Tavern
- When: 27 November
- Free Entry
Check out our gig guide, our festival guide, our live music venue guide and our nightclub guide. Follow us on Instagram here.
View this post on Instagram
This has assumed form in their undulating sound that speaks to visceral depths audiences are sometimes only unlocking for the first time listening to them play, or in some cases joining in for a thread of artistic expression themselves.
In their short tenure, they have hypnotised crowds around Victoria, with most audiences vying for more wherever possible.
Those lucky enough to have already seen them play are well acquainted with the flair and improvisation the band bring to their shows. We can wholeheartedly expect them to fill the room at their November show at Lulie Tavern.
Boogie will support Otis Namrell & The Blueprints, whose riffs are sweeping and mesmerising, at Lulie on 27 November, a gig that will add another layer to their captivating manner.
They’ve allowed for this style and sound to blossom through their initial spontaneous jamming, whether that’s riffing on an idea in a shared space or allowing for something to be discovered in situ at one of the parties they have become renowned for hosting on the Surf Coast of Victoria.
And although it’s the enquiry into just playing music that has curated the band’s authenticity, there’s no doubt that the exceptionality of this outfit, who move fluidly through sonic possibilities, has no real ceiling.
“Within four sessions of music together, we had about 10 songs that just wrote themselves,” outlines drummer Max Dawe.
“We’ve used those as a base since then and it’s taken us here. Now we’re making new things like, oh, what else can we do? That was the first explosion of energy.”
The newness and the opportunity to explore speak volumes to vocalist Lily Crisp as well.
“It definitely felt like a big bang,” explains Crisp. “The first few songs that we wrote. I’ve never played in a band where I get to road test songs as we’re playing gigs. I think in other bands we’ve been like let’s rehearse a song, let’s get it perfect, then let’s play it.
“And as a lyricist, it’s really fun to be like, all right, let’s just test these lyrics out and see what works, and then go and play and see how the audience receives it.
“From there we’ve been able to reflect and ask questions like how did that work, what didn’t work, what went well?
“It’s really fun just being in the flow of it, seeing what comes up and what happens as we play it.”
In a sense, this is jazz. But it’s not ‘jazz music’; the band have managed to sculpt jazz into the application of a verb – that is, to syncopate, improvise and feel into any given moment, as if free play were the automated mode when there’s an opportunity to create music.
The embodied representation of this is only reinforced through the band’s establishment of spaces that allow for authentic and present expression to flow.
“The way we’ve played music has always maintained variation,” says double bassist Clarence Smith.
“Those parties we’ve had, along the way, in between all the other gigs is where we have gotten other musicians to join in. It’s just become really free expression.”
“I feel like it really influences how we play as a band,” adds Dawe. “Because we’re accommodating other artists and moving in and around them. It’s challenging, but ultimately so rewarding.
“It shakes us down because it’s no longer just us playing to a crowd of people,” adds guitarist Archie Will Leggett.
“It becomes this whole organic interactive experience, where it’s about what everyone’s feeling at the time. There’s no rules so we just play and see what people move to.”
It’s no wonder there isn’t a genre that can define Boogie Riverside and, rather confidently, the band are just leaning into what feels most true to them.
As the band put it: “We are just playing positive soul music and it hasn’t been an active decision to pick a genre, but we’ve just played our souls to each other and the result is what comes out.”
Boogie Riverside are a band to keep close tabs on, not only because of the sheer awesomeness of the music they are cultivating, but also because of how one might feel at their show and what an audience member might unearth through participating in the band’s welcoming ethos.
For more information, head here.
