Getting to Know… BONNIE | Interview 🎤

On our 231^st interview in our Getting to Know… series, we get the inside scoop on ‘vintage soul and roll’ musician/band, BONNIE.

“W

e do what we want.” Love it, 🎙 BONNIE.  More musicians should do what they want as opposed to conforming, which is far overrated.  Bonnie continues, “We have a large range of music we like, and we use to create our style, called ‘Vintage Soul and Roll.’” Awesome, awesome, AWESOME.  A duo highlighting Bonnie, essentially, also includes 🎙 Ueli “Hoffi” Hofstetter, who provides some insightful answers to our intriguing 231^st interview.  As always, we are privy to the genesis musically, influences, a little bit of craziness, and current and future endeavors.  So, without further ado, here is 🎤 Getting to Know… BONNIE: Interview No. 231! 

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Starting things off, for those who may not be familiar with you, what makes BONNIE distinct or unique? How do you rock the audience’s socks off?

🎤 BONNIE: I guess we only can be unique, as we do what we want. Ever since writing and producing songs, we do what we wanna do, we have a large range of music we like and we use to create our style, called “Vintage Soul and Roll.”

🎤 HOFFI: Next to that, it is the voice and personality of “BONNIE” that makes us unique. We love to play live and that’s the place we’re gonna enjoy the power of our rock songs as well as the energy of gentle songs. Sometimes the power and cruelness can be in the lyrics too.

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Okay, let’s explore some juicy backstories. How did your band form and what were some of the goals or the visions you had as a band early on?

🎤 BONNIE: I met 🎙 Ueli “Hoffi” Hofstetter 10 years ago when I worked in an institution for people with a handicap. He showed me some guitar chords for a daily singing routine. After a while, he said: girl – you got talent – so let’s start a band. Since that day, we’ve recorded 4 full albums, 4 EP’s several singles, and videos and played up to 250 shows in Europe. We went through thick and thin, and we love the band.

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Let’s talk more about goals.  Have your goals or your perspectives changed since first starting out? What do your aspirations or goals look like now?

🎤 BONNIE: When we started, we fixed a goal: Playing in Las Vegas – whatever that means. I think it is a process and away we go. We love to create music and Hoffi and I wrote and recorded up to 100 songs so far. The perspectives never changed and probably never will change. We wanna create our music and go out and play it live.

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Everybody is influenced by somebody else. Whom would you consider some of your biggest musical influences and how are they influential?

🎤 BONNIE: As a singer, I am influenced by the likes of Imelda May, Cher, and Amy Winehouse. The band references a range from The Beatles to bands like Vintage Trouble.

🎤 HOFFI: There are so many great musicians around – from the old days as well as from today. I always loved The Beatles, but also guys like Steve Marriott and the bands from the swinging London. Furthermore, I love John Hiatt and Ryan Adams as singer/songwriters and when it comes to rock, I love King’s X.

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Ah, the fun stuff.  What’s your craziest tour story or the wackiest thing that’s happened during a performance?  Feel free to be creative.

🎤 BONNIE: Crazy and – afterward – funny was when we played in Hamburg and had a show in the south of Germany the next day. We started to drive down and suddenly the engine of the car was blocked and couldn’t do more than 80 km/h on the highway. So, we sat in the car, fast as a snake, and everybody saw the hourglass going down. Then, we met a guy from the service – but he had no idea of computers and just yelled around. …we finally made it on stage later – but without a bite before.

🎤 HOFFI: Once the band started a show and BONNIE, who went to the bathroom before, was locked up. So, we played and played and did a funny thing for a pretty long time until she ran on stage and took control.

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Up until this point in your career, what would you describe as your favorite song you’ve recorded or performed live? What makes that song special?  

🎤 BONNIE: Next to our brand-new single 🎵 “8000 Miles”, there is – between many songs that mean a lot to me – the tune “Bourbon” with Swiss German lyrics, that I wrote about my brother and my family.

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Is there anything else awesome, cool, or left of center the world should know about you? Secret talents or surprising tidbits?  

🎤 BONNIE: I guess my biggest talent is that I really love what I do and that I am totally committed to my family and friends.

🎤 HOFFI: Some people assume that I have the capability to drink beer. I guess they are right.

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Closing things out, what are you currently working on, promoting that you can share with us or want us to know about? We love secrets, but there’s no pressure. 

🎤 BONNIE: As mentioned we got our brand-new single 🎵 “8000 Miles” out now, which can be found on YouTube or Spotify. Furthermore, we are working on some songs, we maybe will release in spring under the title, Hello to the other side. There will be 4 songs that remain us to close persons that had to go too early.

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Thank you so much for sharing taking the time to answer these questions, and best of luck moving forward. 

🎤 BONNIE: And we thank you so much for the possibility! Please find us too on www.bonnieandthegroovecats.com; have a great time!! Love BONNIE

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🎤 Getting to Know… BONNIE: Interview No. 231 [📷: BONNIE, Brent Faulkner, The Musical Hype]

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