Simon RushworthIt’s been a breakout year for Bobbie Dazzle and this month’s shows with Alice Cooper and Lita Ford maintained the glam metal flag bearer’s blistering momentum. Rushonrock editor Simon Rushworth caught up with the new name on every rock fan’s lips.
Rushonrock: Can you encapsulate the sound of Bobbie Dazzle?
Bobbie Dazzle: I’m a 70s-influenced glam rock fan but my music brings in a bit of prog and a bit of hard rock — basically whatever I want to do! When it comes to making music I want freedom, fun and energy. I just want it to be freeing. I want people to have a good time at my shows so I want to create happy music.
Rushonrock: Creative freedom is great but it’s not always easy…
BD: I would say so. I’ve been in bands before and, when you’re performing in a certain way, it can be a little bit stifling. So when you start to do something as a solo project and you’ve got all this openness and freedom it’s a fun experience for sure.
Rushonrock: Where are Bobbie Dazzle’s origins?
BD: This is a bit of a sad story. In 2023 my sister passed away from ovarian cancer and I really needed to take myself out of feeling sad. And for me, glam rock music does that. It’s such a lovely feeling. So I started creating music and started to perform it as well. And while we were just having fun making music together, I got an amazing band together — The Dazzle Band — and we’ve been performing since then. Fandabidozi, our debut album, came out at the end of last year and it’s been great fun taking it on the road.
Rushonrock: Tell us about inheriting your dad’s record collection and how that played a key part in the Bobbie Dazzle story.
BD: Yeah, so when I was clearing out my sister’s house I found boxes of vinyl. She’d stored our father’s record collection — he passed away around 20 years ago — and as I was sorting through it, I found some lyrics that my dad had tucked away inside of a Bob Dylan sleeve. There were lots of different songs in there. One of them was called Lightning Fantasy so the lyrics from the opening track on Fandabidozi come from my dad. It’s amazing that I’ve been able to have him be a part of this. It’s so special.
Rushonrock: So Bobbie Dazzle’s a real family affair…
BD: Yes it’s all so connected. Without my sister and my dad I don’t think this band would be here. It’s like they’ve given me a little gift to help me along my way. To have them involved in this part of my life is incredible. Fandabidozi is dedicated to them. It’s really, really special.
Rushonrock: How much fun is it being part of the Bobbie Dazzle Band?
Chris Dando (keys/backing vocals): We have a lot of fun doing this. The idea is bringing the Bobbie Dazzle vision to life. That’s our job. The whole session musician thing is ‘turn up and set up and shut up’ but it quickly became more than that. We’ve all played together for a few years. We’ve all known each other for quite a while. And then Bobbie has come along and brought us together with this.
BD: You get to play full shows with your friends and that’s everyone’s dream. I don’t think any of us knew where this would go. It is obviously going somewhere now.
CD: It is. I originally signed on for three shows!
BD: He was like ‘I’ll help you out for three shows and then we’re done’. And now we’ve just supported Alice Cooper and Lita Ford! So I think ther band’s going to stick around for now.
Rushonrock: Are you surprised at how far you’ve come in such a relatively short space of time?
BD: Absolutely. I think there was a kind of hole in the market for feel-good music in rock. There is feel-good music in rock but it tends to be more 80s- inspired. When it comes to taking inspiration from the 70s there aren’t many artists doing that now. People are happy to hear that sound again. They want to hear it again.
Rushonrock: Let’s talk about Alice Cooper…
BD: Alice Cooper was one of my dad’s favourite artists. It’s like this full circle moment for me. I keep mentioning Wayne’s World and I was determined not to have that ‘we’re not worthy’ moment. I didn’t want to embarrass myself. But it’s a dream. Honestly, it’s a dream. Everyone that’s ever met him and has spoken to him is like, he’s so nice.
Rushonrock: And you’ve just played with Lita Ford and Vixen in London…
BD: When I think about the Runaways, they’re an inspiration. And, you know, I got to play with one of the Runaways. It’s incredible.
Rushonrock: So where can we catch Bobbie Dazzle next?
BD: We’ve got September shows with Luke Morley and then at the end of the year, we’re supporting Sweet around the UK as well. We’re also working on album number two.
Rushonrock: It only seems like yesterday that Fandabidozi dropped but you’re already deep into the follow-up?
BD: It’s a quick turnaround but on a personal level I’ve seen how fragile and short life can be so I just want to take every opportunity and do what I want with my life. I don’t intend to waste any time. I just want to keep creating music and get it out there because I enjoy doing it so much. That’s why it’s so important to me to do a second Bobbie Dazzle album so fast.
Rushonrock: But it’s not easy for new bands to build success…
BD: That’s true. You see in mainstream music that people are constantly releasing new material and things are forgotten so quickly. To be seen and heard now, you have to keep having something new to give to people. It can be exhausting. But I’m very lucky that I want to do it and I love doing it. I’m never going to do something which is expected of me. If I want to make music, I’ll make music. I want to keep making music. Plus bringing out albums every year is a very 70s thing. Look at Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. They were prolific in their early years and there’s nothing stopping Bobbie Dazzle doing the same.
Fandabidozi is out now via Rise Above Records. New single Spotlight was released earlier this month.
Bobbie Dazzle supports Thunder’s Luke Morley on select UK dates in September. Click here for tickets.
