Interview with John Boegehold by Frank Dowen during a mixing session for SB 9
September 13, 2006 (Edited for length. Originally from spocksbeard.org)

SbOrg: When did you start your music career?

Al Morse: You're still waiting for it to start.

John Boegehold: [Everyone laughs] Yeah, good point, 2008 hopefully. Up through the mid-80's I was playing bass in different bands, not getting anywhere trying to be a rock star. Nothing was happening. I was making no money at it and I quickly realized that I was an OK bass player, but to be where I thought I had to be, I just couldn't put enough hours in the day into practicing. So then I started writing. I had one of the first sequencers, and I started sequencing things for a friend who was scoring for the Dick Clark TV show. In fact, Dave Meros and I both worked on that one. I branched out from there. Actually, when I started doing this for a living was probably in the early 90's. That's when I had my last "real 9-5" job.

SbOrg: You're doing it so now here they come.

John Boegehold: Exactly. I'd go out and try to drum up work, but that rarely panned out for me. Usually, people know you do a job and say "OK hire this guy." From there I did a lot of infomercials with this partner I had. We did music for the Psychic Friends Network, a lot of things things like that. From there I did some independent films. I'd usually get those through friends or friends of friends. From there I started getting hired by a lot of late night HBO/Showtime/Cinemax "adult" type of stuff. Playboy. I worked a lot for them.

SbOrg: What was your first band?

John Boegehold: It was in high school and it was a 1950's rock group, like Elvis, Beach Boys, all cover stuff. It was back in '73 or '74 when the movie "American Graffiti" came out, so 50's/60's nostalgia was a real big thing at the time. I didn't play an instrument, but picked up bass because my friends and I wanted to start a band, but didn't know anyone else who played.  We were kind of horrible, but it was a lot of fun.

SbOrg: I found on-line that you were in a band called "Map of Shadows" did they ever record?

John Boegehold: Yeah, we recorded a lot of stuff. Map of Shadows sort of grew out of an earlier band called "Man Made". It was 1982 and it was this weird, kind of progressive, didn't-fit-anywhere type of group. I was playing bass and we were going through all of these different guitar players. I finally just got fed up with looking for someone, so I thought "I'm just going to start playing guitar, and find a bass player." That's when we found Dave Meros. Eventually, the keyboard player in that band left and we fizzled out for awhile. When I met the singer Diane Boothby, I switched over to keyboards and we started up Map of Shadows with Dave, Steve Klong and guitarist Gary Cambra. I switched over to keyboards at that point. We recorded a lot, but no records were released, just a lot of demos. We played a lot of gigs around town, the usual places, and went nowhere. It was fun and cool stuff, but it just didn't quite fit in anywhere.

SbOrg: We're going to have to do one of those Family Tree things [laughing]

John Boegehold: Exactly. [laughs] It's complicated. Al was the first and then Dave --- I think it was in 1985 that I met Dave.

SbOrg: A lot of fans heard your name for the first time just prior to the release of Feel Euphoria -- you know "here's a guy who's helping us write", but a lot of them probably don't know that the first time you were actually credited on a Spock's Beard album was on "Beware of Darkness". You were credited with "overdubs".

John Boegehold: I think you're right.

SbOrg: So what were you doing?

John Boegehold: That was after "The Light" I told the guys "I have a studio in my apartment and anytime you want to do overdubs at my place, feel free to bring the tapes over." I was doing anything I could to help since I was friends with the band and loved the music. I did a little photography and design at that point for them too. The overdubs, if I remember correctly, were Al's EBow guitar parts in the song Beware of Darkness. Maybe some keyboards, too.

SbOrg: So you were doing engineering?

John Boegehold: Yeah, just recording. I mean I did play one note on that album if I remember. On Beware of Darkness, there's that big note "gzzzsssshhhhhh" at the beginning of the song. That big first swell thing. I just came up with Synth Patch for Neal and I said wait, let me play this so I can say I played one note on the album. They also came over and did some vocals over at my place for that and for the Official Live Bootleg album. Dave and I mixed a couple songs at my studio for that one. For "Into the Fire", Neal and Nick both did the lead vocals over at my place. Ryo did some Mellotron there as well. The basic tracks they'd do at a bigger studio, but when they just needed to do some guitar overdubs or a synth thing here or there they'd come over, bring the tapes and plug it in. Aside from that, I did some photography for the some of the records.

Al Morse: You took the first pictures that we ever had of the band.

John Boegehold: Yeah the group pictures. I shot them off of Mulholland Drive at some little park up there. In fact, some of those are on the reissue of "The Light" or "Beware of Darkness", when Inside Out rereleased and remastered them. They stuck some of the original promo pictures inside.

SbOrg: You also did the cover for "Beware of Darkness"

SbOrg: I was there.

John Boegehold: That's right, you were there. I figured I'd go to the gig and ask about the rumor. I went and hung out and everyone was acting kind of weird so I never brought it up. I remember Nick saying "Hey do you want to go get something to eat" but it was kind of a strange situation and a weird vibe was happening so I said "Nah, I don't think so, I'm just gonna go home" because I had work to do. The next day, Dave called me and I asked "Is it true? is Neal leaving?" And he said, "Yup, Neal left". And the first thing I asked was "Well, are you guys going to keep on going?" Dave said "Yeah, we're just going to keep writing". I said "I would love to get a chance to write with you guys. At any level, lyrics, music, whatever you want to do." So that was pretty much it. I inserted myself into the whole situation!

SbOrg: They were talking for a while about putting an EP out right away to get the new persona of the band out there just as something to establish the band as a four piece. I remember the debate happening as to whether that was a good idea or if they should just wait and put out the full album. Obviously that won.

John Boegehold: Exactly, because they were already scheduled to do that "Shaming Of The True" concert and I think they were going to present themselves and the new lineup at that point. At the time I first talked to them, I don't even think that they were 100% sure that Nick was going to take over the singing duties, or if they'd get someone else but that was settled pretty quickly since Nick pretty much wanted to do it the whole time.

SbOrg: That was a great show, "The Shaming of the True", the songs they did. It sounded great.

John Boegehold: It was. When I talked to them a few weeks before that they'd just started to write new Spock''s Beard material. I actually didn't start writing with Dave first, I started with Al. He and I got together and he brought a CD of just different ideas --- some instrumental stuff, some musical ideas, and we picked a couple to start with. Out of that came "East of Eden, West of Memphis," "Carry On" with Stan Ausmus , and "Onomatopoeia." Nick had already written and demo'd "Sid" which was really cool. The first time I heard that I thought, wow this is going to be a really good record. I loved that whole thing. So I kept bugging Dave and that's when he sent me some musical ideas for what would become "Ghost of Autumn"

SbOrg: Tell me about your writing for Spock's Beard

John Boegehold: On "Feel Euphoria" I co-wrote "East of Eden, West of Memphis" with Al, music and lyrics. I wrote the whole last 13/8 instrumental jam section. "Onomatopoeia"; I wrote lyrics on that one. Al pretty much had the basics of that song, Nick wrote the bridge. It was pieced together, from two different songs, but turned out really cool. For "Ghosts of Autumn", Dave wrote the music for the verse and the chorus, and I wrote the melody and lyrics and the instrumental bridge. And then "Carry On". Stan and Al had written most of that song then Al and I wrote the lyrics together. "Moth Of Many Flames" on the special edition was a song Al put together from a set of lyrics I had.

"Octane" was done differently. After "Feel Euphoria," they went out and started touring. I decided I was going to try to initiate some song ideas and see if they were into it. So while they were touring, I started writing.

For "Flash Before My Eyes," I wrote the whole story and most of the lyrics before there was any music. I thought OK, I'm going to present this as a possible idea for an epic or song-cycle. So, I wrote the first three or four minutes of the music for "Ballet of the Impact" and demo'd it.

When they got back from touring, I got to talking to Nick and Al about ideas for the next album. They didn't seem too enthused about going with an epic. Maybe they would go with shorter songs. I said, not a problem with me. Maybe what we can do is use some of these lyrics for individual songs.

Originally with Flash, I wanted each part to be a stand-alone song. So the first thing I did was I emailed Al the lyrics for "I Wouldn't Let It Go" to see if he could do something with it. Al came up with the a verse and chorus the I wrote the bridge. We hashed it out as a song, not thinking that it was going to be part of a larger piece..

Then, I sent the instrumental music I had written for "Ballet" to Dave. He thought that was cool and said "let's just go for it and write the whole epic." Fine with me. Dave finished that song and we started writing "Surfing Down the Avalanche" and "She is Everything", Dave would come up with musical ideas and send them to me. A that point, I'd add some more musical ideas then flesh them out with words and melodies.

For "Surfing Down the Avalanche", Dave wrote the -- da da da Da da da da -- that whole riff and the rest of the music . Because I didn't have a real feel for it melodically. I wrote a few lyrics and gave them to Nick, then he finished the song. On "She is Everything" there's a chord progression that Dave wrote for the verses and the guitar solo, which I took and wrote the rest of the music, the lyrics and melody around. Same thing with "Climbing up that Hill". "The Beauty of it All". was "Ballet of the Impact" reshuffled around with new lyrics, a few different parts and a different arrangement. "As Long As We Ride" I wrote the lyrics on that one. Nick and Al were jamming -- they jammed that whole thing together and I wrote lyrics for it pretty much on the spot.

SbOrg: Am I right that, right now you're doing all the string and horn arrangements?

John Boegehold: For Octane I did. On this one, Dave and I are doing them. There's a long piece called "As Far As The Mind Can See," which is about 17 minutes long. I don't want to call it an epic because that's a loaded word that makes some prog fans freak out if it doesn't fit their precise definition. More of a song suite. Anyway, I wrote the lyrics and the melodies on that one. Dave had already written string and horn arrangements for some of the sections. Then, I took some of those and embellished them and changed them a bit here and there. So we co-wrote the string and horn arrangements. But then there's one other piece called "On A Perfect Day" that I did all the string arrangements for.

SbOrg: What role do you play in the production?

John Boegehold: Production? Well, I'm local and I work for myself so I can be here for long periods of time. I get to hang out and listen to everyone play their parts and make suggestions along the way, like this vocal part sounds good, that guitar part sounds good, etc...

I also make sure the things I've written end up being performed correctly. When other people do stuff you've written, especially if the demos are really basic, they don't necessarily hear parts that should be played without some suggestions.

I've been in situations before with bands where I've written stuff for or with them. Then they go into the studio to record . When they come out , I'll hear it and think "what happened? that was the main keyboard part", or "you're not doing the right melody". I'm definitely not a tyrant as far as telling -- well with these guys you can't really tell them exactly --- but there are things I would gently suggest, "ah, this really should be like this". The bottom line is that I just show up here, hang out, and throw in an occasional comment or suggestion.

SbOrg: Did you play any instruments on the album?

John Boegehold: There are a couple little things from demos that have ended up being left in the mix. You know, a synth part here, a guitar thing here or there. There are a couple of times where my voice will end up on it. That song you just heard "They Know, We Know", we all yelled into the microphone, so little stuff like that. But no one sat me down in the studio and said "now play this guitar part" -- that doesn't happen.

SbOrg: Are you happy with your role in the band currently? Would you like to see it change in any way? More or less involved?

John Boegehold: Oh yeah, it's perfect. I've got the best of both worlds. I get to write my favorite kind of music with a whole bunch of my friends and just hang out, goof around and order dinner. And, I also get to write with one of my favorite bands! You can't beat that. I don't have to deal with the business end, the touring, etc. I just get to do the fun part. I have all the benefits but little of the negative stuff.

SbOrg: Do you have any desire to do any performing or be a touring member of the band?

John Boegehold: No, absolutely not. First off, I'm nowhere near the caliber of musicians that these guys are. I was an OK bass player when I was playing and that's because I was really working at it. But Dave is a far, far better bass player than I ever was. Now, I play enough guitar and keyboards to write with but these guys are just kings of their instruments. Also, I'm past the point of wanting to be a performing musician. I'm way more at home in the studio or writing. It's more fulfilling for me doing that kind of stuff. I just enjoy it a lot more.

SbOrg: What's your favorite Spock's Beard song that you've co-written?

John Boegehold: Favorite? On the first album, "Ghosts of Autumn." Although I like all of them, I just think that one is best , especially lyrically. I like the way that one plays out. On Octane, I like different sections. I think "She is Everything" is probably the best crafted complete song. I also like "When She's Gone" which is on the bonus disc. Lyrically I like that one a lot because there are some really dark lines I'm really happy I thought of.

SbOrg: How about your favorite Spock's Beard song that you didn't co-write?

John Boegehold: Probably "Go the Way You Go," but "The Light" was the first thing I heard, so that really made the biggest impact on me. I heard that when it was Neal's demo tape when it was just Neal and Al. Al brought it over and said, "you've got to hear this". The rest is history...

SbOrg: Let's talk about the upcoming CD 'Spock's Beard'. Is there a concept piece on the album? You know, like "A Guy named Sid", "Flash Before My Eyes"....

John Boegehold: There's not really a concept piece per-say. There's a long song, that's like seventeen minutes long. Concept piece --- that's such a loaded question. Like for example, "Flash Before My Eyes" that was a concept piece to me because lyrically it's tied together with a story, the whole thing flowed in a certain way and everything was tied together, and musically there were things that came and went --- reoccurring themes and stuff like this. On this one there's a piece called "As Far As the Mind Can See". It's the one Dave and I wrote. Musically there are themes that come back in and repeating themes, or there are a few sections which stand alone as songs within a big section. But lyrically there's no overriding theme to it. There's no conceptual tie to the lyrics.

SbOrg: Story line?

John Boegehold: No story line. There's four individual sections where there are vocals. One part is a reprise of an earlier theme, but the two sections in the middle really have nothing to do with each other, lyrically. There is a flow. That's the only real concept.

SbOrg: News on the street is that this is going to be the most progressive CD they've put out now. What's your take?

John Boegehold: There's a lot of really progressive stuff on this album. There's some real main-stream stuff on this record, but yeah, this is definitely going to be proggier than the last couple. That's a weird word, "proggy". But there are a couple things on here that are definitely more prog oriented. Although, there are some tracks on here that are straight ahead mainstream stuff. Overall, I think that's probably true.

SbOrg: Have you ever considered putting out your own solo CD?

John Boegehold: Yes and no. Again, it's a lot of work. Dave and I have been kind of working on something on the side, you know, bits and pieces, which with each album keeps getting pushed aside. But maybe sometime we'll put out something like that, but myself, no. I just don't have the desire.

SbOrg: What's next?

John Boegehold: For me or for the band?

SbOrg: Both, either.

John Boegehold: I'm working on a film right now called "Short Track." I'm scoring it. It's about a family that is involved in NASCAR racing and musically it's all country, country/rock type of stuff. I write a ton of that stuff. I love country music. I have people I write with all the time doing stuff like that. So I'm working on that. Aside from that we'll see. Ask me tomorrow, it'll probably be totally different. It changes day to day. As far as this one goes it'll be getting the record ready and getting it to the mastering and the manufacturing and they're going to try to have it out by November. And after that they'll start. putting together a live show.

SbOrg: That's it! Thank you for your time.

John Boegehold: cool.