Bôa has a unique story. Coming together in 1993, the band released two successful albums, “Get There” and “Twilight,” before disbanding in the mid-2000s. 

Soon after the 1998 single “Duvet” surfaced on TikTok in 2021, the band reunited, coming back to the music world and releasing “Whiplash” in 2024 — their first album in 20 years. 

The London-based band, consisting of Jasmine Rodgers, Alex Caird and Lee Sullivan, graced the Bud Light stage Saturday afternoon with a melodic set that combined both ‌new and old songs from their discography. 

Right at 2:30 p.m., “Bôa” appeared on the screen in block white letters as the audience cheered and the band took the stage. They immediately started their set with “Deeply,” Rodgers’ evocative vocals ringing out from the stage over the driving melody of the guitar.

“Hello everybody,” Rodgers said in a thick English accent. “We are Bôa, and we are very excited to be in beautiful Chicago.”

Rodgers’ voice soured in each song, sounding almost identical to when the song was recorded over 20 years ago. Governing the crowd with her vocal prowess and authoritative stage presence, Bôa put on a performance that solidified the band’s timeless impact on music. 

Following their set, Rodgers sat down with The Daily Illini for an intimate interview where the lead singer talked about her journey over the past few decades, the viral success of “Duvet” and being reunited with her band after a 20-year hiatus.

DI: Can you talk to me a little bit about what initially sparked the band’s formation and original vision?

Rodgers: My brother and our friend Ed, who was our first drummer. I think they got together, and they said they wanted to do a band. Then Ed brought in Alex, and I think also Paul, and Alex brought in Ben, and I was downstairs in the house. So, the guys were rehearsing upstairs, and I was just playing my guitar, and then Alex was like, “We need a singer, do you want to sing?” and I was like, “I mean, okay, sure.” And that’s it. 

DI: What do you feel like the most significant challenges have been over the years?

Rodgers: Well, I would imagine in the beginning, when we first started doing the album and stuff, honestly, streaming wasn’t a thing. Putting music online without anything was a thing. So we couldn’t make any money, and all the music was online. But also, I think life got in the way, and we did other things. But now … I think it’s amazing. I don’t have any complaints. I’m like, “Wow, this is really cool.”

DI: How does it feel to have a whole new fan base since “Duvet” blew up on TikTok? You are kind of a generational band.

Rodgers: Yeah, I know, it’s amazing, and we’re very grateful. Also, people have really good taste, so what can I say? But also, I think the thing is, as well, I think people are less judgy. You know, younger generations are less judgy about different genres and age and things like that. People are just coming up to music. It must be really cool for you because you’re just like, “I have all this music on hand that I can listen to.”

DI: Everything is constantly at our fingertips, to listen and to soak up everything.

Rodgers: That must be quite a massive thing as well because the people who are listening to the music are proper listening to it, and they know the lyrics, and that’s one thing we weren’t expecting. 

DI: How do you continue to find inspiration and maintain your creativity after all of this time making music?

Rodgers: I think I’m always curious, and I love music, and I love art and I love books. Anything I can consume in this way is inspiring. You know, the more we get to travel — I mean just hearing the cicadas here, I’m like, “Wow, this is different.” You know all the different landscapes sonically, and you’re like, “Wow, okay.” I think it’s about keeping curious. 

DI: Are there any specific influences that you have?

Rodgers: I’m sure there are. I mean, they’re actually tons of influences. I love Siouxsie and the Banshees, Blondie, PJ Harvey. There are older ones I love  — Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, Duke Ellington, Jeff Buckley … I don’t know who my biggest influences are, but I know that there are many of them. And that’s the point, though, isn’t it? You can’t help but absorb everything, and then you turn out what your thing is. And that’s what I think is really beautiful about being a human is we just have these different ways of sensing the world around us. I think that’s kind of nice. 

DI: How did it feel when the band came back together after not making music for 20 years?

Rodgers: Really weird. Kind of cool. You know. Kind of really cool. We were not expecting this. Nothing. We weren’t expecting this at all. And then it happened, and we were like, “Oh okay, people are listening to the music, okay that’s nice,” and then they were like, “Do you want to write an album?” and we were like, “Yeah, obviously.”

DI: So what went into writing your new album? How did it differ from your solo work or work from the band’s previous era?

Rodgers: I would say Alex is very driven, so he really drove us and pushed it, whereas I might not finish a song because I’m lazy. He’s like, “Let’s keep this going.” To be able to have Lee and Al put things together and create these bigger sounds is just wonderful and very different from my solo music in that respect. And I can sing different as well. It’s a lot more dramatic to be able to sing this way, you know. You have to be kind of a different person to be able to sing like that, too. So that was fun. 

DI: How do you feel like you stay true to your artist’s vision while kind of navigating this new music industry and commercial success?

Rodgers: I think you have to be really honest with yourself. You know if it’s really crappy and you’re like, “Oh, I don’t like this,” you kind of have to say it. You know what … I think we’ve been quite honest about it if we don’t like something. We want to keep to the integrity of the music and what we’ve done as much as we can, but also way back when we would have been like, “A sped up version, no way,” but now we’re like, “Yeah, go for it. Have fun with it. It’s fine.”

DI: Do you think the band will continue to evolve, and how do you see the future working out? 

Rodgers: I kind of think it already is, you know. The different musicians that we’re performing with bring their different flavors and their own sense of things and their musicality, that’s been wonderful too because they’re inspiring to work with … Hopefully we get to play in a lot more countries and internationally and stuff, because we are an international band, and I think that’s kind of key for us. You know, hopefully we can go to other places and hear some cicadas.

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