(This Interview from November 2006 Originally Appeared in Noctigram Magazine.)
N-Hello! Nice to meet you-I’m Natasha.
B-I figured that. (smiles)
N-Someone stole our tape recorder while were in the guest balcony-some hippie who knew someone that works here sat down next to us and when I came back from the bathroom-it was gone.
B-Well, thats fucked up!
N-That’s Chicago style.
(Boz goes to chat briefly with the crewmen and returns, leading us out of the aftershow party up to the backstage area)
B-I’m not sure which balcony-but one of these (points upwards) was where Al Capone and his crew always got together…
N-If you’re ever in Chicago again and have the time we’ll show you some of Capone’s old bootlegging routes-theres a gravel road that is comepletely hidden from the streets that will get you from Chicago to Indiana and back without anyone ever seeing you-There’s also a house in Chicago Heights with gun turrets in the basement windows.
B-Wow! Thats interesting…
N-It appeared you had about 20 guitars onstage tonight- Whats your favorite guitar- If, say, you had to use one guitar all the time -?
B-Well the tele I think, the 63 tele– I have had it for about 15 years now.
N-I noticed the Fender amp up there the entire time-do you use those exclusively? (I myself use the same one actually…)
B-Actually,before we came here I using a Bassman, which is my own one, but when we came over here, it a lot of shit getting everything over so we just used the one from the rehearsal space-so that one’s going back to LA.-We’ve got other gear that will go to Greece
N-so–why only one show in America this tour?
B-(Rolls eyes)–well….
(N-Because of a lot of bullshit going on right now?)
(Jason: aside from the obvious)(All–Laughs)
N–or more Importantly-why Chicago? Do you know?
B-Well weve got a good history with Chicago-and a good history in this place as well. Done quite a few shows here…
N-I dont know if you know, but this is supposedly on of the most notoriously haunted buildings in Chicago.
B-I had that feeling while I was playing quite a few times-I saw things and I thought–(turns head from side to side)–Oh, man..
(Jason:They used to have real Ballroom Dancing here in the 1920s)
(N-a bunch of unnecessary historical recollections about the Uptown neighborhood where the Aragon is located)
N-Good old Uptown Chicago!
B-We’ve spent a lot of time here- we started up a tour here in Chicago once..we rehearsed here-we rented like a room, it wasn’t a studio, but like a just huge film studio.. we put our rig in there and rehearsed and we did two videos here: one was at a bar-Solomon Mines..no-…Kingston Mines
N-Yeah I also remember the one in the sand….
B-Yeah we did the one on the beach
N-Yes, that was in the sand on the south side-
B-I remember being very hung over at 5 o’clock in the morning..haha
(Jason: I’m surprised you didn’t get yelled at for being out there..)
(N-I’m sure they paid for a permit)
(Jason-No I mean by the local people!)
(All: Laughs)
B-I was only in that video for about two seconds hahah
N-(J)-So what do you enjoy more-Playing Morrissey’s band, or the ones you do off on your own, like say-the Polecats-You guys are still playing shows right?
B-Yes we did Japan last year-we just did some shows-the last show I did was in London about two weeks ago; Just before I came over. And that’s very easy–its a lot of fun-we never rehearse and it’s y’know thirty years down the line–(smiles) we’re like brothers….
N-Yeah…
(El train goes by the window-VERY LOUD-Chicago style)
B-Theres different things-Well in one way-I have a good time performing, but I’ve been doing this for so long that I kind of have a higher standard of what I expect when I go and do shows. The soundman has to be good-It has to sound good and have the good quality for people to dig it.
(Jason-The train noise-it just like the Blues Brothers…)
(B-Smiles)
(J-we used to share an apartment that was like that by the train-it was very loud at night)
B-Seems you guys have lived a lot of places..haha
(N-Oh yeah-we’ve lived everywhere-Independent Musician’s budget..sometimes you gotta just move)
N-So what’s going on with Boz & the Bozmen?Coming to America anytime again soon…I know there was Texas last year….
B-I’ve been um, busy..
N-Also, Does Lyn play in that all the time?
B-Um mostly-She only really plays with me now–(rolls eyes) sounds funny, but-She doesn’t really do a lot of playing apart from with me-Ive been just too busy to think about it..I don’t really know how long this tour is going to go on..its going to go into the new Year-Ive got some production stuff to do over here-a Polecats show maybe in New Orleans, in February. I think weve got one in LA, But I dont know- I have to kind of keep everything open-Its a bit hard for me because these tours often come on all at once at the last minute.
N-That would be a good question: Skinhead-what went wrong-how did fashion become considered fascism?
B-The first time I ever even saw skinheads was about 1978 at a Sham 69 show. They all got in a row and charged at the front-pretty much just beat up everybody in the place.
N-Whats your favorite skiffle record?
B-Probably Les Hobeaux- “Mama dont allow”
N-Which would you rather have a classic Nancy Whiskey record or a bottle of Jack Daniels Whiskey?
B-A bottle of Jack Daniels Whiskey-I recently had some sort of antique Jack Daniels Whiskey bottle-with a fancy old label-from some year.
N-The feeling you get from real whiskey lasts longer than the Nancy Whiskey song, eh?
B-Yeah.
N-Well-I think that’s all the video we can fit on this thing.
B-That seems like a lot for that type of camera.
N-Yes-this one was worth the investment-especially since that hippie palmed our cassette recorder, but the video is actually better anyway.
Website:www.bozboorer.com