Shining Light on Sega Bodega

Trickling into the mainstream in 2020 with his debut album “Salvador,” Bodega put pen to paper for the first time and unleashed an iteration of himself trapped in time, and the recesses of his mind that he felt needed to be expunged. And “Salvador” was born, an angsty, unruly examination of a dark time in Bodega’s past, ruminating on stories of toxic relationships, the suicide of a close friend, and Bodega’s struggle to come to terms with the tribulations of a moment in time.

In conversation with the version of himself first introduced to the world in “Salvador,” Bodega opens a window to a more recent self in “Romeo,” drawing the curtain on darkness, bringing with him, the light. “Romeo,” announced today for a November 12 drop-date alongside the release of its second single, “Angel on My Shoulder” is a re-introduction to Bodega (and a few quasi-alter-egos), as a sinner with the sentiment of a saint.

Check out our interview with the bringer of light below.

You’ve been on the music scene for a while. What were some of your early influences?

I’ve been making music as this name for like ten years now. Which is kind of nuts but I don't really feel like my career started until like 2016. I think my generation of people who are 29 now, we grew up on a lot of like Slipknot, Korn. A lot of heavier kinds of music and like trance. I can really see so much music now that’s influenced by both at the same time. I love that you’ll hear an edit and it’s like Tiësto mixed with Korn. It’s like okay, yeah, we’re the same person. I know exactly who you grew up on because I did too.

And I think it's really nice to see so much music starting to still get big because of TikTok. People are using these really old songs that I didn't know would have a resurgence. I mean even like garage and drum and bass it’s just like, awesome, are really popular again. And that's kind of nuts. Because it wasn't mainstream at the time. Well, garage was, but like, not really drum and bass. And now all of a sudden, it’s making its way into pop music. That's just super, super weird. I really, I really love that. That kind of gives me hope that in 20 years’ time, something I make today might have the chance to have new life.

To give new life to something from your past, I want to talk a bit about SS2015 which draws from iconic movies like Fallen Angels and Gummo. Is it a hope of yours to score a movie one day?

Yeah, that’s the goal, my goal. I really want to do a really good science fiction film. That would be fun.

What’s your favorite science fiction movie?

The Cell. Have you seen it?

I have not.

I don’t even remember the soundtrack. But it’s just such an underrated film. Not a lot of people have seen it. You’ll love it. I think everyone will love it.

So...Romeo. It feels like the album is quite romantic, does your romantic life feel like a tragedy or comedy?

It’s neither. Because I think if it was a tragedy that’s terrible. If it was a comedy, that would simultaneously be terrible, like look at my romantic life, it’s a joke that I need to get together. It’s supposed to be a romantic album, but it’s nothing to do with Shakespeare, the name is just so synonymous with romance now and is the only thing I think I could’ve called it. I also love having a name for an album.

Are the names personas in any way?

Well, the first one was me. The second one was kind of me. I guess they are personas of very boring aspects of me, so yeah.

How did your approach to Romeo differ from Salvador?

Yeah, so the first one was like the first time I'd ever written about myself and all this stuff that it's about happened to me maybe 2015, 2014 when I used to drink a lot. The moment I started to write about myself, there was this backed-up stuff from the past that kind of just happened to come up like, you know, friends killing themselves. All that really dark stuff that happened in my early 20s that wasn't really reflective of anything that has happened in the last five years. So, it became like an introduction to who I am, but it's also got a five-year delay to it. And I didn't really, I mean, I don't care honestly, ultimately, but sometimes I'd DMs from strangers like, “you’re just so toxic, I love it” which was way off the vibe of what I was trying to do.

And then this one was just completely trying to be like, romantic and healthy and really like, how I felt about my friends and family and loved ones for the last five years.

Tell me a bit about Luci, who you “introduced” on Instagram.

When the idea of Luci came about it really was not supposed to be an album thing. It was just that I had this idea for a photoshoot that I wanted to do of me with this woman made of light, and then I’ve spoken about this woman called Luci in two different songs [2 Strong and Mimi] over the last four years. It was always a reference to Lucifer. And I was talking about this shoot with Caroline [Polacheck] and she was like, oh you should call it Luci. And I was like...why did you say that? Because she probably did not listen to those specific songs and clock that, and she said that Lucifer is the bringer of light. And it was like well...that’s just perfect.

There are so many different names and representations of Lucifer in history. This one feels more like the Bringer of Light than it does the Devil or the Biblical idea of the devil. There’s no negativity in this. It’s Lucifer but it’s not like some toxic relationship, she’s very much, just light.

The lead singles off the album are “Only Seeing God When I Come” and “Angel on My Shoulder” is there a religious significance to the album for you?

That wasn’t intentional. I realized that throughout the whole album there are a good deal of references to angels and heaven I did not plan that...There's a lot coincidentally that lined up as sounding like my writing style a lot with Heaven and Hell. Yeah, they do definitely speak to each other, but I don't have any opinion on Heaven or Hell. I just think I love the word heaven, I don't know I just like it, and I really like those like Sodom and Gomorrah style paintings of like Hieronymus Bosch, is that how you say his name? Have you seen his paintings like the Garden of Earthly Delights?

I have, but I don’t know how to say his name.

I really just, I just love them. So I guess I draw from that style more than I do like any religious aspect.

Let’s talk about your Instagram...or rather, your meme account. How’d you start that?

Oh god. I’m just looking at it now. I can remember when I made that page because I was so excited about it. Because I made that at the beginning of the first lockdown. For the first two weeks, I was just researching⁠— well not researching but just looking at other memes. I don’t know what to say about that page, it’s just been pretty fun. How’d you find that?

I do my research. I saw you repost something from it, and thought it was probably you behind the page.

I don’t know if people realize it’s me actually. Which is like, I don’t even care, like⁠—

Do you want them to think it’s not you?

No, I do want them to think it’s me because I want the credit for being funny.

[Laughs]

Music

office x Apple Music: SAUSHA

December 17, 2024

Our second mix with Apple music is brought to you by the one and only Sausha de la Ossa. Born in Colombia and raised in Miami before making her way to the Big Apple, Sausha has made an indelible mark on New York’s underground nightlife scene.

From taking office along her recovery from surgery for issue 14 to chatting with fellow DJ Memphy for issue 21, Sausha has a special place in our hearts — and so does her cheekily-titled set “Freak Hoe Seminar.”

Bringing you nearly two hours of Sausha’s signature gritty techno and sexy Latin club influences, “Freak Hoe Seminar” is guaranteed to teach you a thing or two about a thing or two. Stream the mix below, exclusively on Apple Music.

Image courtesy of Sausha de la Ossa
Graphic Design/Art Direction by W-E Studio, Claudine Eriksson and Piera Wolf
Graphic Design by W-E Studio, Hannah Nathans
Digital Production by Brook Aster Studios

Music

Real as Can Be with Cooper B. Handy

December 16, 2024

Since 2009, Cooper B. Handy has been releasing music as LUCY, a project that feels more like an experiment than a static identity. Along the way, he’s formed and collaborated on a multitude of other ventures, deviating wildly from any one genre: Club Casualties, The Taxidermists, and Safe Mind. The most incredible work flows out of him at an amazing rate, and not without a throughline: his ability to instill his spirit into melodies that stick with you, lingering in the quiet moments, like a tune you hum absentmindedly but can’t quite shake.

I caught up with the long-standing DIY enigma and Cape Cod native over the phone the day before his latest record’s release to talk Vol. 9, his many collaborations, discovering melodies in unexpected places, and naturally, digging holes.

Interview Sofia Castillo
Photography Guy Kozak

A lot of words come to mind when I think of his music—boundless, relentless, choppy, alluring, profound—all of them reminiscent of the ocean. It’s an apt comparison for Vol. 9, his latest record, which opens with Strange As Can Be. On it, he sings about a tale as old as time: conflicting desires. He begins with a reference to Adam and Eve, and follows it with the lines: “Try to be wholesome/We all have different ideas/We have different ideas/Of what it means to be wholesome.” That’s the magic of Lucy. He’s totally out there, and as real as can be. He paves his way charming together aphorisms, cautionary tales, and flashes of wry wisdom, all delivered with a disarming ease. They’re the kind of tracks that have me zoomed in on Bandcamp lyrics, or rapping over a Titanic sample he’s tweaked out. It’s liberating, you should try it. There’s a lot of laughter here, but not the ironic kind. It’s the kind born of genuine awe, of being hit over the head with something at once familiar and wholly unexpected. I recommend getting battered.

So, it's been almost a decade since Vol. 1 came out.

Yeah, pretty much.

Very exciting. Congrats on Vol. 9.

The first single you released is called 2nd Wind. Does that have anything to do with the decade mark?

Thank you. I don't know. I hadn't really thought about that. (Laughs) Yeah, I think that can be thought of like that for sure.

You're from Massachusetts, right?

Yeah, I grew up on Cape Cod, so I’m definitely around the ocean a lot.

Can you sail?

I actually could not sail. I went out sailing one time. I had some friends in high school who were instructors for a kid's sailing camp, so we had access to the boats and took one out. But aside from that, I wasn't really in a sailing family.

Do you like the ocean?

Yeah, yeah. Totally.

How do you think your Vol. albums delineate from the other projects you’ve released?

I think it's almost just a way of naming them without putting too much emphasis on one idea or something. I feel like most of the projects that I've put out solo are these volumes. I've made a bunch of other records with other people that are called different things and I've put out a few projects that are called other things, but most of my releases have been these nine volume albums. And I feel like it's mostly just an easy way for people to know what order they're in.

Do you like to go back and listen to them? You have a massive body of work out.

Yeah, I feel like I do. Every now and then there'll be certain projects I kind of forget about for a while. It's hard for me to listen back to music I made a really long time ago, like from when I was in high school. It sort of cringes me out. But with the Lucy project, I still like how it sounds. I don't feel cringed out listening to stuff from 10 years ago, which is good. I'm glad that I feel like that because I think that means I'm doing something right.

Can you pinpoint the cringe?

When I listen back to stuff that isn't even out, stuff from when I was, I dunno, 14, 15, 16… Obviously no one knows really what they're talking about at that point.(laughs) I definitely listened back to music I was making in high school and I'm like, ‘why was I talking about this stuff?’ Also, I think I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to sound like and it's hard to listen to that process.

Would you say you're a nostalgic person?

Yeah, for sure. But not in a way where I want to relive the past or something.

[Laughs] Right. Do you have any particular artists you’re listening to or are there any other mediums that inspire you at this moment?

I don't know. Not really. I sort of feel like there was a bunch of music I listened to when I was, I don't know, in between 10 and 16 that sort of still feels influential. I'm always influenced by new things, but I don't really listen to as much music as I should. I'm working on music all the time, so I'm listening to all these different things I'm making. I used to listen to music with headphones, but I’ve overdone it a little bit [laughs]. I need to listen to less music or something.

I recently lost my headphones and just let that be a catalyst for me listening to not nearly as much music as usual. I miss it, but it’s nice to actively listen to your surroundings sometimes. And if you're not really taking a ton of outside influences in, it’s easier to deeply connect to yourself as a source. The Lucy projects and a lot of your other collaborations feel very immediately recognizable to me as you.

Yeah, it's true. I feel like also things are- at least for me- things I hear when I'm out and about definitely play a big role in ideas of stuff I make and things I want to make. Even if I’m at the grocery store, a lot of times I get inspiration to either sample something that I hear in a store or by the self-checkout sounds and stuff. There's so many funny little melodic things around.

You love the store.

Yeah, there's definitely a lot to learn at the store.

Your sound is persistent, and self-assured. I love it just as much as when I first encountered the earlier volumes a few years ago. I’d like to know more about your approach to songwriting and if it’s morphed over time?

Thank you. Yeah, a lot of the time I'll have a melody or some ten second vocal melody. Sometimes it doesn’t have words, but most of the time it’s a phrase I’m singing to myself. I'll just make a voice memo and then go to the piano and see how I can make it work. Most of the stuff that's not sample based music that I make is pretty much all written on the piano. And then on this new record, there's definitely a handful of songs that have samples in them. Usually with those, I'll be making the beat before I have an idea for what the vocals will do. Making beats with samples has been a lot more fun for me in the past few years and it's good. But I sort of hope to move along from that after this record and have it be more of my own compositions, not just beats with clips of old songs or whatever.

So this is probably not the most evolved version of your sound so far?

Yeah, I wouldn't say that. I feel like I've been sitting on some of these songs. Some of the ones on this album are almost three years old, and then some that are four months old as well. So there's a bunch of new stuff and there's a bunch of stuff that feels really old to me. I think there's 17 songs on it, and usually I put six or seven songs on a project. It feels sort of mixed tape-ish to me. I'm just so used to it and I've been sitting on it for so long that it's hard for me to think of it as evolved or something. Friends who I showed it to seem to think it's more cohesive than I thought it was, so that's good.

I almost didn’t notice that there were 17 songs on it. I really like that it’s a 30 minute listen. And I agree with your friends, I wouldn't have guessed that you made them across different timelines. It’s a cohesive purge.

Yeah, totally. I feel like it'll be good to get it out and kind of move along.

You use a lot of aphorisms and story-book style language in your lyrics. It’s all very sincere. I really love it, and I think that might be why I've had such an affinity for it for so long too. At the end of the day, it's dealing with those things that never really go away, take as old as time.

Yeah, thank you. That is what I'm always going for. I feel like there's never going to be a shortage of content about those kinds of topics.

Were you in love when you wrote a lot of these songs?

[Laughs] Yeah.

Yeah.

Probably, probably all of 'em in different ways. I don't know. I feel like I try to infuse the music with that. When I think of the songs on there, I feel like you can hear that energy in the happier songs. Then there's a bunch of sad songs, or songs that sound sad- to me. And I don't think I'm showing an in-love side on those, but I don't know. That's kind of a tricky question.

I hear that. It’s not that you’re specifically singing about love, but the melodies on a lot of your tracks kind of lift my heart in that certain type of way. It’s all clearly involved, and there’s humor in it. It puts me in this perfect mood, that comes with good communication. Even the sadder songs.

Alright- Easier question. What are you working on right now?

I guess things are feeling a little bit more chill right now than they’ve been, just because I think I have three projects finished. I have this solo record coming out, and then I have a record with the Taxidermist band that's done and going to come out in March. And this Safe Mind project record that’s also going to come out. So right now everything's lined up and I'm just sort of waiting.

And we wait.

Yeah, I'm excited to start on a new batch of music and try to…I don’t know. I feel like I need to be learning more than I'm learning right now. I want to take the next bunch of months to try to maybe learn something.

What do you want to learn?

I'm not quite sure. I want to learn some new skills. I should be reading more.

For some reason I assumed you read a lot.

I really don't. Honestly, I really enjoy it when I’m into it, but getting to that point isn’t always easy for me.

Right, makes sense. You’re working on a ton of music projects.

I mean, I'm definitely trying to continue to focus on music as much as I do now. I'm just in a position where everything's about to be a clean slate, it’s been a while since I’ve not had files that I keep going back to.

Do you like being outside?

I like being outside, yeah. I walk a ton.

Do you have a favorite walk you do?

There's this range in Western Mass called the Holyoke Range. There’s a bunch of different mountains, and I sort of bounce between a lot of them. I go hiking almost every day, and a lot of the hikes out there only take an hour or two. I feel like that's as consistent as music for me for my life in Massachusetts. I spend a lot of time outside.

Do you have a typical “day in the life” right now?

It's always different. I feel like I'm really bouncing around. I'm in New York now and I'm going to go back to Massachusetts, and then I have another show in New York on the 10th.

Oh really?

With another project, Club Casualties. It’s me and my friend Nick Atkinson. He's completely off grid. Never was on social media or smartphone or anything. And he's a producer, but he's on the mega outskirts of the scenes. We're opening for that group Kassie Krut. Then a couple days later, I’m coming back to New York to do another show with the Safe Mind project.

Lots of movement. Have you ever made a time capsule?

Yeah. When I was a kid, I did one.

What did you put in it?

I put my school picture and some little Legos or something. I just put a bunch of toys that I liked. At the time, it was in a peanut butter jar. I think it had one of those wallet size school pictures, and I don't know what else was in it. I feel like I put some little notes, but I dug a really deep hole because I was obsessed with that book Holes.

Legendary book.

Yeah. My dad was like, you can dig a hole in the yard if you want to. I really wanted to, and I wanted to make it the same depth as the ones in the book, which were, I think they were six by six foot holes. So I was out there with my neighbor digging for weeks, and then it was deeper than my head, and then I buried the capsule in there.

I'm obsessed with that. That's so cool.

Yeah. It was before the movie came out, but the trailer was out, and I think I was like, this looks really cool. But the book was a big inspo.

What would you put in a time capsule now?

Probably some, probably like a flash drive. I don't know. It's hard to know. I feel like lots of stuff is going to be obsolete, so it's sort of hard to know what would be good to leave in there.

Yeah, that's true.

[Laughs] But maybe a more contemporary school picture.

Sweet.