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Imagine
being brought up in a rustic world where you could skip school
to stay at home and learn music, graduating to session musician
before you're age 10. Think about how practical math class would
seem from the seat of a Toyota Corolla wagon as your lessons calls
for you to calculate the distance your free-spirited family has
traveled from town to town across Australia's golden outback.
What romantic notions would literature conjure up if it were taught
by poets and painters in their habitat — a commune-style
rural setting? Best yet, how great would gym class be if the lesson
plan included tree climbing and then jamming out with your own
band, calling on your six other sisters to fill the parts?
Welcome
to the land of Butterfly Boucher. A product of 80's pop
music and a rich arts curriculum, courtesy of home-schooling and
communal living, Butterfly Boucher gathers her unique experiences
and accumulated talent and pours them into her debut solo CD,
Flutterby, released on A&M Records.
While
Boucher's co-producers, Brad Jones and Robin Eaton, served as
trusted ears on Flutterby, the final stamp came from Boucher
on each song, including the radio-friendly Another White Dash,
and I Can't Make Me. Aside from Cello and a few drum tracks,
Boucher also played every instrument on the record.
After
a tour with The Barenaked Ladies and a round of in-store appearances,
Boucher has lots of new things on the boil, including a current
tour with Sarah McLachlan. I was fortunate to see Boucher perform
a New York City showcase at Mercury Lounge before she left.
WOMANROCK:
You
just finished opening for The Barenaked Ladies and you have dates
lined up through the summer with Sarah McLachlan. How do you feel
about the tours?
BUTTERFLY
BOUCHER:
The
Barenaked Ladies tour was fabulous. It was a real confidence builder
because I didn't have a band with me … I just had a guitar
and songs … It's nice to know that I can get away with that
if I have to … I'm really excited about doing the tour with
Sarah … I'm looking forward to seeing how her audience responds
to my stuff.
WOMANROCK:
It
seems only logical that you'd be most comfortable on the road.
You led a nomadic lifestyle spending a good deal of your childhood
traveling across Australia with your family after your dad's music
publishing deal fell through. In fact, you practically learned
how to read by watching road signs. What were some of the first
words you recognized?
BOUCHER:
I'm
trying to remember … Mom would occasionally just go, "What
does that say?" and I'd have to try to figure it out. Then
she'd get tricky ones, "What does that say?" and I'd
be like, "Ahh, 'rest stop.'" … Another thing is
I'd have to figure out how far we were from the city we were going
to. So I learned math as well. I love that stuff. And it was practical.
You could see that you were learning it for a reason.
WOMANROCK:
When
your family did settle, you enjoyed a commune-style upbringing
amongst dancers, like your mom, painters, and other musicians.
How has that community left its imprint on you and your music?
BOUCHER:
I
lived with a lot of people where what I'm attempting to do now
isn't anything new. My dad was signed to a major label and got
so far, as well as other people that I grew up with. Being amongst
it all I saw the failures and the things that worked. So in a
way, I feel like I'm doing it for everybody that brought me up,
which makes it not so much about me. It's what I can give back
to people. I just want to inspire people. In the community context
you do grow up having that. When you're living with adults and
they respect you even though you're a kid and vice versa, there's
just a maturity you get a little bit younger, as well as respect
towards elders. I hope it all intertwines with what I do and how
I speak and the values I have on life.
WOMANROCK:
You
started using a 4-track recorder when you were only 10 years old.
You also play various instruments, which we hear all over Flutterby.
Did you have training?
BOUCHER:
No,
I haven't had a lesson in my life, but my childhood was really
just like a great big lesson. I grew up, like I said, around other
musicians and I would sit on the piano stool and watch one of
my Dad's friends play piano for hours and hours and that's how
I learned. I would just watch and listen. So by the time I was
about 10, I was in the studio with those guys being a session
musician and learning the ropes. Even before I learned how to
use the four-track I had been playing in different bands.
WOMANROCK:
Including
your sister Sunshine's band?
BOUCHER:
Yeah.
Having so many kids, we were always trying to make kid bands.
We were always making up a new lineup.
WOMANROCK:
You
wrote the song Another White Dash with your sister for
her band Mercy Bell?
BOUCHER:
I
wrote it when I was in her band … I wrote it with the guitarist.
WOMANROCK:
One
of the lines I found interesting was, "There is something
exciting about leaving everything behind." I wondered if
this was written at a time when you were in motion.
BOUCHER:
It
was very literal at the time. Actually I wrote it a couple of
years ago, but I was actually thinking back like three years beforehand
… In [Mercy Bell] we toured our butts off for about 3 or
4 years all over Australia. It's kind of the story of my life.
It's just continually going to new places, which is exciting,
and meeting new people … The sad bit is that you are also
leaving places … I wanted to find a line that was perfect
to explain that feeling.
WOMANROCK:
How
long has Flutterby been in the making?
BOUCHER:
I
finished it about a year and a half ago … Some of the songs
on Flutterby were brand new and I wrote them in amongst recording
which took about 10 months on and off. In studio time, we were
in about three months, but we spread it out because I didn't have
money to pay for it at the time … The producers I worked
with just believed in it. Every time there was a gap in their
studio schedule I would go in for two or three days … I didn't
have pressure from the label. I wasn't signed at that point. It
was a really good time… Another White Dash was the only song
that I really took from a past project.
WOMANROCK:
Do
you have a favorite song on Flutterby?
BOUCHER:
I
don't know about a favorite, but I was very proud of the song
A Walk Outside. I liked them all, but that was the first
one where I went, "That's my sound." There was a good
mix of dirty sounds and clean sounds and little hooks and melodies.
I felt really comfortable in that.
WOMANROCK:
Can
you talk about your thinking going into the album?
BOUCHER:
I
really did go into it with the plan of just wanting to have an
album that could be competitive on radio. I wanted it to get out.
I didn't want to make an album that would just sit on a few people's
shelves. I was sick of making music that did that … So I
aimed to write a pop album and I wanted it to be really hooky
and I wanted every song to be something you wanted to sing along
to … I was being true to myself by doing that. I love music
like that. I grew up on 80's music, which has major hooks. I just
wanted to write an album also that was honest and vulnerable and
of the moment.
WOMANROCK:
Are
there particular subjects or experiences you tend to draw influence
from in your writing?
BOUCHER:
It's
all pretty personal. Some of it's fictional and elaborated, but
mostly it stems from personal experiences. If you read the lyrics,
they are pretty raw in parts. They're about past relationships
and also about the whole struggle of being an artist and wanting
to still keep it innocent and creative, but realizing at some
point it is a job … There's always the balance. You want
to know how far you have to go and how much you have to compromise.
It's all a big kind of game.
WOMANROCK:
How
did you cross paths with A&M?
BOUCHER:
I
met a guy named Mike Dixon who basically just travels the world
and has amazing contacts with producers and artists and labels.
His talent is getting people together. Eventually I hooked up
with Brad Jones and Robin Eaton and they co-produced this album
with me … When it came to getting the recordings out, Mike
Dixon once again stepped in. He introduced me to a bunch of labels
… I eventually met with A&M, which is on Interscope.
Strangely enough I had been signed to Interscope before with my
sister's band. So I've been signed and dropped and ended up on
the same label.
WOMANROCK:
Did
the fact that your father's previous publishing deal fell through
set you up to mistrust the music industry or are you just wiser
because of it?
BOUCHER:
It's
actually a positive thing to realize you can't trust that many
people. It's sad and when you realize that your little world does
get a bit shattered. But it's also part of growing up. Even with
yourself, you can't always know how you're going to react. Essentially
you've got to go with your gut feeling at the time and that's
why it's important to take it a day at a time. You never know
how things are going to change. It certainly wizened me up. It
takes a lot of bruises and falls to get calluses to just deal
with the industry. I was surprised that after everything that
I've seen and been through that I still came back. I'm a sucker.
But I really feel that this is important … I just need to
give it my best shot. If it doesn't work for my solo thing, it's
not the end of the world … Out of anything I've been involved
in this is just amazing the way it has unfolded. I don't know
what I did differently this time. Sometimes things just click.
I have great management and a great label. I still have the ups
and downs, but somehow I can emotionally remove myself from things.
I don't get as excited until things are happening in front of
me.
WOMANROCK:
Your
mom is a very spiritual woman and chose your name based on signs
she felt were divinely inspired. Your dad packed up the family
to move you all away when you were kids, again, based on faith.
How does a higher power play into your life today now that you're
an adult?
BOUCHER:
My faith plays a huge part in everything. It's how I make decisions
… You know how we were just talking about how you can't really
trust anybody, not even yourself. I truly do believe that you
can trust God. Some people would think that I'm crazy, but it
works for me. I trust that going with my gut feeling is ultimately
listening to what's in my heart as a human being.
WOMANROCK:
Your
family is obviously very artistic. Are they proud of what you're
doing?
BOUCHER:
Oh,
very much. They'll drop me emails every now and then and my Dad
looks me up on the internet all the time. He Google's my name
and he'll write me a note letting me know, "Oh that was a
nice article," which is really sweet. It's nice to know they're
all the way across the world and they're still following. My youngest
sister is still involved a lot. She does all my clothes for most
of the photo shoots I've done … My family is still very much
a part of what I do and they support me a lot.
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