Special: Bumble B. Boy on creating the most bizarre live sensation of The Netherlands

The Live Coaches

What happens when you make a punk-show inspired by children’s television? Why should more alternative artists approach their show like a pop star? And how to approach a concept many people will not understand?
This is a special episode of The Live Coaches, recorded in front of a live audience in De Basis in Nijmegen. Our guest is formerly Nijmegen based art-punk artist Tom Harden aka ‘Bumble B. Boy.’
Bumble B. Boy is an art-punk artist, originally from Australia and now based in the Netherlands. He has been called the most bizarre festival sensation of The Netherlands and is a singular figure in the Dutch music scene. With a unique blend of theatrics, storytelling and electric punk energy he has been growing his cult following and garnering acclaim as well as some pretty harsh reviews.
Performing in a beekeeper suit and with his band members dressed up as insects, he blends genres and conventions and stretches the boundaries of what a live punk show can be like.
In our conversation we discuss his unique vision and the live experience that results, how he’s making his remarkable and sometimes bizarre vision a reality, how he goes about finding an audience willing to immerse themselves in it and how he got to playing successful shows on leading festivals like Best Kept Secret, Down The Rabbit Hole en Into The Great Wide Open.
Follow @TheLiveCoaches on Instagram for inspiration, fragments and updates on new episodes and check out www.thelivecoaches.nl/podcast/bumble-b-boy for links to everything we discuss and more info about our coaching and workshops!
Ready? Let’s go!

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The Live Coaches is recorded in Studio Pandora in TivoliVredenburg and supported by De Basis and Het Cultuurfonds.

Розділи

1. Special: Bumble B. Boy on creating the most bizarre live sensation of The Netherlands (00:00:00)

2. Episode introduction (00:02:00)

3. Bumble B. Boy describes his show (00:05:16)

4. What does Bumble B. Boy want his audience to experience during his show? (00:08:30)

5. How did the vision for the Bumble B. Boy live experience take shape? (00:10:27)

6. How Tom transforms inspiration from children’s television to a live show (00:15:39)

7. How pop stars like Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX and Chappell Roan inspire Bumble B. Boy (00:16:19)

8. Why more smaller alternative artists should approach their live experience like a pop star (00:21:48)

9. Tom tells about the Bumble B. Boy TV show (00:24:32)

10. Should artists explain to their audience what they’re trying to do? (00:27:35)

11. How does Tom think about incorporating different disciplines like dance and stage design in his live show? (00:31:09)

12. How does Tom share his vision and cooperate with people in different disciplines? (00:32:38)

13. How does Bumble B. Boy deal with things going wrong on stage? (00:35:46)

14. The value in reinventing yourself constantly (00:38:35)

15. How does Tom decide what ideas to go with? (00:41:04)

16. Do the Bumble B. Boy character and the costumes ever get in the way of connecting with the audience live and does that matter? (00:44:54)

17. What first steps would Tom advise other artists to make to create a conceptual show around their music? (00:49:53)

18. What’s next for Bumble B. Boy? (00:52:51)

19. Audience questions / Q&A (00:54:10)

20. Audience Question: How do you get over the fear of coming across as ‘weird’ on stage? (00:54:28)

21. Audience Question: was it more or less difficult to find an audience for Bumble B. Boy because of the crazy act? (00:58:20)

22. Audience Question: would the Bumble B. Boy live experience be different / work in a theatre setting? (01:00:42)

23. Audience Question: how does Tom handle constantly reinventing himself as Bumble B. Boy and also handling the business aspect of being an artist? (01:04:08)

24. Do the character and the act ever get in the way of the musical experience? (01:06:53)

25. What is a concert? (01:10:15)