Interviews en VO

ALBERT BOUCHARD, January the 13th 2013

Hello Albert,

First I would like to thank you so much for having accepted to answer to my questions for my blog. It is so kind of you.

So, I know you are the former drummer of Blue Oyster Cult and Brain Surgeons too. But today, you have a new musical project Blue Coupe. Today, we will discover more about yourself and learn about your musical career.

When did you start to interest yourself at music? Your first wish was being drummer or another role inside a band? Music was inside your family because your brother, Joe, is guitarist and singer too?

I was first interested in playing the drums when I was 3 years old and saw a parade. I first thought about wanting to be a musician when I was about 11 and heard Walk Don’t Run by the Ventures in grammar school. Our mother played piano and my father played guitar but they never played together as far as I knew. My mother could only play if she had the music and my dad could only play from memory. She played classical and he played jazz.

When did you join Blue Oyster Cult? Was it your first experience inside a band?

I created Blue Oyster Cult with my friend Donald, who I had a band with in college, in 1971. Before that I was in a very successful band with my brother in high school. I’d played in 8 other bands before BOC and made my first popular recording with Tom Paxton in 1968, years earlier.

I know you left Blue Oyster Cult around 1981 after the album Fire of Unknown Origin, what did you do after that? Did you keep on working for the musical world?

I recorded a solo album for Columbia called Imaginos, which eventually came out as a Blue Oyster Cult record in 1988 after the project stalled for several years. I also played in oldies bands for several years and was the musical director for Spencer Davis Group for a couple years in 1987-1989.

How was born Brain Surgeons? And who were inside this band?

After the Spencer Davis Group I retired from performing for a few years. I got a job as a teacher in a NYC public school and I produced younger musicians. I produced and secured record deals for Heads Up (Roadrunner), Maria Excommunikata (Megaforce/Atlantic) and also worked extensively with Kablamachunk who broke up just as I was about to get them a deal with Geffen Records. I then decided that if I made my own band I could keep it together long enough to have some longevity in the music scene so I formed the Brain Surgeons with my wife, Deborah Frost, in 1994. David Hirschberg was in the band from the beginning as well and he played, saxophone, bass, guitar and sang. We also had Billy Hilfiger, Peter Bohovesky and Ross the Boss on guitar at different times during the life of the band. The Brain Surgeons broke up in 2006 due to marital strife.

Since 2008, you are in Blue Coupe with your brother Joe Bouchard and the former bass player of Alice Cooper Group, Dennis Dunaway. How did you meet with Dennis Dunaway?

I met Dennis at a party with Alice Cooper when we were opening the show for them in 1972. We have been friends ever since. I first played with Dennis in 2006 when I sat in for his drummer at a “Save CBGBs show.”

Did you release an album with Blue Coupe? If yes, can we hope a European Tour?

Blue Coupe released our first CD in 2010 called Tornado on the Tracks, which featured Robby Krieger of the Doors, on guitar. We are in the mixing phase of our next CD which has Ross the Boss (Dictators) Buck Dharma (Blue Oyster Cult), Goldy McJohn (Steppenwolf) and other special guests, with Jack Douglas of Aerosmith fame and Warren Huart, who mixed the Fray, behind the mixing desk. We have toured France in 2011 and 2012 and are about to go on our first tour of the UK next week, doing 12 shows in 12 days. I am certain we will do more in the future.

Can you tell us some words about the appearance of Robby Krieger on the song Angel’s Well? How did he come into this project?

It was actually his idea to record with us. We had no plans to make a record when Robby suggested that we do some recording. We sent him a bunch of songs and he was able to complete several leads before his touring schedule took him away. He would be on the new one except that his schedule has been too tight to allow it.

Concerning, Blue Coupe, have you some future projects, another album for example or other things?

We already have a concept for a couple more albums and ideas about who else we would like to work with. We have ideas about more elaborate shows that are beyond our budget at this point but if things keep going the way they are we will be able to realize. We have a live video that we are working on and we still have to complete our vampire hunter series of videos. See You (Like Vampires) on youtube to see the first 2.

You played with Blue Oyster Cult for their 40^th Anniversary. How was it for you?

The BOC show was a great night. A lot of water has passed under that bridge over the years but it’s nice to know it’s still standing even though it’s not travelled on so much. I was a little strange too because they played with the new guys during the first part of the show but when the 5 original guys played it sounded exactly like it used to. We didn’t even have one rehearsal, we just played 2 songs once in sound check. The best thing about it, for me, was the warmth and camaraderie backstage before and after the show.

Thanks a lot Albert for your answers, now we know more about your works. I wish you all the best for Blue Coupe and I would like to tell you, I listened to some songs and I love it. Thanks for all. Have a nice day.

Interview by Alicia FIORUCCI , january 2013