Bôa

Infobox musical artist
Name = Bôa


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Background = group_or_band
Origin = London, England
Genre = Alternative rock Indie rock
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Years_active = 1993–present
Label = Polystar, Geneon
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Current_members = Jasmine Rodgers Steve Rodgers Alex Caird Lee Sullivan
Past_members = Paul Turrell Ben Henderson Ed Herten
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Bôa are a British alternative/indie band formed in London in 1993 by drummer Ed Herten. They are most widely known for the song "Duvet", which was used as the theme song for the anime series "Serial Experiments Lain". Because of this, they are fairly popular among anime fans around the world; in particular, they performed in a live concert at the anime convention Otakon in 2000.

Their new album, "Get There", came out on the February 1, 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.

Biography

Bôa were originally a funk band 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 band Doctor Sky, was recruited shortly afterwards to play saxophone.

Their first live performance was in January 1994 at the London Forum supporting Steve and Jasmine's father, Paul Rodgers. In the summer of the same year, Ed Herten decided to leave the band to concentrate on his studies, and they recruited a new drummer, Lee Sullivan. He 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.

Bôa honed their live performances with many gigs in across the South of England and, in 1996, they accepted a recording contract with a Japanese Company, Polystar. Although the album was recorded and produced in England, Jasmine and Steve traveled to Japan in 1998 to promote their debut album "Race of a Thousand Camels", which was released only in that country.

The first single, called "Duvet", was used as the opening theme of a new anime series of that time called "Serial Experiments Lain". The international popularity of Lain introduced anime fans all around the globe to Bôa.

In 2000, Ben Henderson left the band to concentrate on his other band, Moth, with his wife, singer songwriter Tina. Then, Bôa signed to Geneon (formerly Pioneer), U.S. distributors of Lain, and went to perform a live concert at the Otakon convention in the same year, being well-received.

In 2001, Bôa released their U.S. debut album called "Twilight", on Pioneer's label by Todd Culberhouse with songs from their original Japanese album plus other new tracks, and made their first mini-tour in Los Angeles to promote the album. But in that year they had another loss: Paul Turrell left the band to pursue other interests.

The band started to record their third album in 2003 but was released in 2005, called "Get There", and is on sale through Bôa's official site, the iTunes Store, [ [http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playlistId=76843437&s=143444&i=76843250 Bôa at the iTunes Store] ] Amazon.com, and elsewhere.

Members

Current lineup

* Jasmine Rodgers – lead vocals, acoustic guitars, percussion
* Steve Rodgers – electric and acoustic guitars, vocals
* Alex Caird – bass guitars
* Lee Sullivan – drums, percussion, keyboards

Note: Jasmine and Steve are the children of British classic rock singer Paul Rodgers, of Free, Bad Co. and currently Queen + Paul Rodgers.Fact|date=April 2007

Former members

* Paul Turrell – composer, keyboards, strings arrangements, percussion, electric and acoustic guitars on 'Race Of A Thousand Camels' and 'Twilight' albums
* Ben Henderson – composer, electric and acoustic guitars, saxophone, percussion on 'Race Of A Thousand Camels' and 'Twilight' albums

ession musicians

* Sue Baker – 1st violin
* Jude Gonella – 2nd violin
* Kate Wills – viola
* Hannah Birch – cello

Discography

* "Duvet" (1997)
* "The Race of a Thousand Camels" (1998)
* "Tall Snake EP" (1999)
* "Twilight" (2001)
* "Get There" (2005)

References

External links

* [http://www.paulturrell.com/ Paul Turrell's web site (Boa 1993 - 2001)]
* [http://www.myspace.com/cubinoid Ben Henderson's MySpace site (Boa 1993 - 2000)]
* [http://www.myspace.com/jasminerodgers Jasmine Rodgers' MySpace page]