BOP ENGLISH CONSTANT BOP

BLOOD AND BISCUITS, 2015

Petralli finally releases his longgestating solo record, and a raucous tour ensues

PETRALLI: The bank of songs for Bop English was pretty big – I started making this record right after we finished Fits. I’d always been writing without any target specifically, just trying to write good songs. And I liked those songs, so I wanted to get them out there. I think it was about 2009 with all the touring, so it seemed a big ask to be constantly employing Steve and Josh to make all of my songs happen. I didn’t want to form a band or tour that record, so I tried to make it clear to everybody in White Denim that it wasn’t going to be a proper thing. But somewhere in that two-month break the Leon Bridges thing happened, and the guys [Austin Jenkins and Joshua

Block] quit. It’s not a fun subject for me, still. I don’t have a relationship with either of those guys any more, it’s a drag. I’m still really surprised every day – it’s hard to be so in it and sacrifice so much for one another and then have it fall apart in this way that felt very managed, you know? It was not like a real personal conversation that took place, it just happened and I didn’t have any say in the matter. It sucks that it went down that way. After that, Steve had just had his little girl, so I called him and threw this Bop English band together with Steve on keyboards. We hit the road and it served as an audition for [new members] Jeff

[Olson] and Jonathon [Horne]. I’d just got a new credit card so we hit it hard – we’d never partied as much on tour as that, treating it like a last dance thing. I’m still paying the card off!

“The split is not a fun subject for me, still. I don’t have a relationship with either of those guys any more” JAMES PETRALLI