HARRY BODLEY-SCOTT TALKS BAD DANCING
"Always been dangerously absent-minded"
Daniel John
How long has music been part of you?
It’s been part of me for as long as I can remember. I’ve always been dangerously absent-minded and this was a real problem at school when I was really young. I would just disappear off into my head for most of the day which makes for a less than attentive student. There was music there, a kind of perennial thrum of melody and rhythm that I would play with endlessly. I would tap out the beats and sing with the melody much to the annoyance of pretty much everyone. I must have been so annoying to teach I feel dreadful about it now! So it was always there, but it took some years to figure out what that meant or what that was, I had no idea that it was in any way unusual or might mean I could have a musical future. But certainly, it was there. I write a lot of my music exactly like that now actually. I wrote the whole of 'Bad Dancing' whilst on a long shift stacking shelves in a branch of Waitrose, where I worked for a while. No wonder I got fired! But anyway, I began formally writing songs or at least attempting to at about thirteen.
One thing I like about your music is that while it is feel-good, it never really feel rose-coloured. It's down to earth but with a uplifting outlook?
Songwriting is wonderful in all sorts of different ways at the same time. It’s part musical composition, part poetry, part truth, part puzzle, part rush. I love music, I live for beautiful words, I am obsessed with truth, I adore puzzles, and who doesn’t love a good rush? Music is a mystery to me, I don’t know why its so beautiful I just know that it is. Sometimes it can be the most beautiful thing in the world. And as for poetry, what else is language for? I feel like we all say the same things over and over again, the same words facilitating interaction without connection. If I can be a poet, then maybe life won’t be as lonely. The truth? The truth is I’m terrified. Life is so short and love, something I have always felt with acidic intensity, is so frightening. I am alive, and so, ultimately, I will have to watch everyone I love die, and then I will die. It’s hard to find meaning in that without trying to convince yourself of things we cannot know. But there is meaning in it, in other people. And while I am here I want to connect with them because if I do not I will not lead a meaningful life. But it’s hard isn’t it? Connecting. Harder than it should be. I think we are afraid of eachother, and so many of us are lost, lonely and scared to be our authentic selves because it makes us vulnerable. Whatever I write I always find myself saying this in some way. Songwriting is a puzzle, a little like a cross word or a sudoku. There are spaces that need to be filled but only if all pre-existing conditions are satisfied. As a songwriter choosing a word or a note we must consider rhyme scheme, syllable count, lyrical meaning, musical scale and key, time signature, tempo, and so on. Some people don’t like puzzles, fair enough, but I love them and songwriting is my favourite kind. And the rush? Songwriting happens to me. I'm only really conscious of it when I am struggling for inspiration. But when inspiration do strike there is this feeling of flight and freedom. Like Bilbo running out the shire shouting, "I’m going on an adventure!" Its so real to me. It’s also like perfect meditation. Whole days can disappear in a euphoric trance. And that is seriously addictive. I am not disciplined, I am not a grinder, I’m just a kid who could never bring himself to put down his favourite toy.
What is the meaning behind ‘Bad Dancing’, what inspired you to write this new song?
Like I said, I always catch myself finding different ways to write the same thing! 'Bad Dancing' is no different. If you can risk being authentic and being honest, then you can connect with other people. If you can connect with other people, you can find the only real, concrete meaning there is in this life, at least as far as I can tell! 'Bad Dancing' is just an exercise in authenticity! But its also a celebration of what I believe is actually important in life. Not just connecting, but also embracing the chaotic miracle of human existence. We are alive, we are awake, a momentary flash in an infinity of sleep and darkness. I am often so preoccupied with the tonnage of the tragedy of living and so I often write songs to remind myself to look up and see the magic of life. I need that.
Is it important for you to have honesty?
When I write sometimes it feels a lot like putting messages in bottles and floating them out to sea. There’s no reason for me to lie in those messages, its just the opposite. I feel compelled to write things that are as true and as thoughtful and as meaningful as I possibly can write them. I want to connect, and so I have to tell the truth about myself and my life because that is the only way.
Letting ourselves loose can sometimes be easier said than done. Could you always dance badly, just be yourself fully?
I did not always feel that way, no. I think I was thirteen when I realised that I was not being myself, in fact I had no idea who I really was, and that needed to change. I was just performing all the time, trying to be liked and neglecting the people I actually loved. I was miserable. Early on I saw that if I was going to "be myself", it wasn’t something I could contrive, or control, it’s wasn’t going to be an effort of any kind actually, more like relaxation. And so I went through this process of discovering the person that would emerge when letting go of how I was perceived and in that way I came to realise who I really was, and most importantly what I loved, I think that is definitive of a person in many ways.
What are your plans for releasing more music this year?
This year is going to be about releasing the music I have been working on for years now, ever since I taught myself to produce in my very early twenties. It’s going to come out as a sequence of singles so there’s going to be lots more coming this year!
So, while on the subject of bad dancing and trying to make it in music these days. What is the likelihood of you putting out a “TikTok-dance” around this release?
Yes. That’s very much the plan!
