TV Squad Interview: Bo Bice's Sugarmoney bandmates

American Idol finalist Bo Bice has had a busy month. He just married his longtime girlfriend, Caroline Fisher, and the American Idol Tour opened Tuesday, July 12. The tour features Bo, Idol winner Carrie Underwood and the rest of this season's finalists. TV Squad sat down for a chat recently with Bo's Sugarmoney bandmates, John Cooper and Shane Sexton, to talk about what Bo was like before he became an Idol, how the ride to stardom has been for him, and what's up next for Bo Bice as a solo artist and their band.

TVSQUAD: Whose idea was it for Bo to audition for American Idol? Seriously - did you guys think he was crazy? Or did it seem like a good idea at the time?

JOHN: We used to sit and watch the Clay and Reuben season, and we'd see some of those people and we were like, "Whoa, how did some of these people get this far?" And Bo said if they ever raised the age limit, he'd go and try it. We never in a million years thought they'd do that, it's a young people's kind of show. Then Bo and me read the same day that they raised the age limit and he called and said, "Man, I'm gonna go do it". And I knew from the start that he was gonna go to Hollywood, that he'd be in the finals. Bo, he's all humble. They'd do a show and we'd talk and he'd be like, "I don't know how I did", even though he rocked.

SHANE: I knew that vocally he'd do really well. I wasn't sure at first if they'd take him based on his appearance and his style. I thought, they may not think he's right for the part. I knew that if they accepted him, if they allowed him to get to the point where the public had a say, he'd soar right to the top. I know what he's capable of, reaching out and holding people. I knew he'd do well. Up 'til he did "Driftaway" - the first one where public got to vote -  I think his total air time was 29 seconds. He wasn't like some of the people, acting out to get camera time. He was there to work.

TVSQUAD: Let's talk about your relationship with Bo, how you guys met.

SHANE: Bo was born in Alabama, his parents divorced and Bo moved to Atlanta. They relocated to Europe when Bo was 6 or 7, then later on Bo moved back to the States when he was 16. He was at the DMV getting his driver license. Christian (the oringial bass player from Purge) was there also. Bo approached him because Christian was the only other guy there with long hair, and they talked about music, and Bo gave him his phone number. We formed Purge not long after that. We were 16 years old, playing in bars, that was hell for the parents. Bo had moved in with his grandparents in Huntsville. His grandparents have always been supportive of his music and him playing. My mom had a problem with it, she didn't want me playing in bars.

JOHN: It was Shane and Bo and a guy named Jim and a guy named Christian. They lost their manager and their bass player (Christian). I came and auditioned, and joined Purge in October 1994, first show was in 1997. Sean joined at the first show, and from then on he was part of us. We were Purge - we still played as Purge up until last year. The five of us are unstoppable.

TVSQUAD: Will Purge ever officially reunite?

JOHN: No comment.(laughs)

SHANE: John was referred to Purge from people we knew at the time, he auditioned. John came in, he had these glasses on, a nice shirt and tie, he'd just gotten off work. He was 20 years old. I thought he was kind of a geek and didn't want to hire him (laughs).  But the other guys thought he would work. Bo liked him. And I found out I was wrong in judging by the way he looked; he's wild on stage, he's an awesome bass player.

TVSQUAD: How was Bo as a frontman at 16, compared to now?

SHANE: His voice is a lot stronger now. He never was out of key, but he can belt better now than he used to. His style is not much different, but what you see on Idol is maybe a tenth of what he really does on stage. He is just a wild man on stage, you can't take your eyes off him. In Huntsville they'd have a big festival over 3 days, over 200,000 people. We were playing this show in front of about 4,000 people, Bo climbed up the lighting rig, about 35 feet up in the air (laughs). The crew and the guys working the stage were having a fit. He loves stage dives, he loves crazy stuff. Boxes and things to put on stage, whatever we could find to be his props to climb all over.

TVSQUAD: When Purge was playing in bars, did people realize you were just a bunch of kids?

SHANE: They just liked the music. Anyone who's seen Purge play will have a strong reaction to it. If you've seen us play you would remember it. There was a strong emotion there. We had a unique, diverse style, very funky. Most people returned to see us, had a strong following. We'd average several hundred people a show.

TVSQUAD: Can you talk a bit about Bo and how he’s changed over the years that you’ve known him, both artistically as a musician, and as a friend and a person? He seems, so far, to have handled the pressures of his sudden fame with remarkable grace. Would the Bo of, say, 10 years ago, handled fame as well?

JOHN: We've been playing and been friends together for more than 12 years, the friendship's not gonna change. The Bo you see on TV, that's the real deal, that's who he is.

SHANE: As far as him changing musically - his writing style has matured a lot, the way that he approaches shows and the way he goes about preparing for a performance, he's matured a lot. A lot of it is about choosing what style is best for you. A lot of musicians never really master that. They talk a lot about that on Idol, too. Knowing what you look good doing, what you sound good doing. Bo has become a master at knowing his style. He knows how to portray the emotion - with music you're writing an emotion, you're translating it. He's become really good at translating that emotion into song. But I think back then (at 16) he would have handled it just as well, very similar. He hasn't changed much as a person.

TVSQUAD: Bo has talked about finding religion in recent years. Did his faith help him handle the pressure of all this better, or was he just always like that, that grace under pressure?

SHANE: The changes I've seen in Bo since he started going to church, are really just more in his outlook, the problems he faces in life, relationships, finances, other obstacles. What I've seen change in him was his attitude towards that. He has a great optimistic look on life. To be honest, he had a dinky little job in a guitar shop, but he was happy to have it. He lost that job because of Idol. He asked for time off because of the auditions - just wanted time off with no pay, they said no. They said he had to choose, and they fired him. Bo has paid his dues, he does not take anything for granted. He's grateful for every single person who likes his music. He's a little overwhelmed that so many people love him so much. He can be kind of a dork, tells stupid little jokes, he doesn't care, he's comfortable with who he is.

TVSQUAD: Is music his real love?

SHANE: Absolutely, that's his passion. A person who's got music in their soul, in their heart, they have to do it. In a way it can be a curse, because there's not anything else you can do and be satisfied. You can't give it up, you can't replace it, nothing else will really matter in the same way. I've actually gotten frustrated before and thought about giving it up, I once went three weeks. The only thing that's more important is my kids.

TVSQUAD: You guys came out to Los Angeles for the show the week Constantine was voted off. How was it seeing Bo perform on Idol? Did you get to hang out with the other finalists?

SHANE: I've seen Bo perform a lot on stage, but always with him, it was cool to see him from the front. The songs he picked were mostly stuff he'd done with us before.

JOHN: We went to Constantine's farewell party. Everyone was real nice - Anthony was real nice, Scott was cool. Carrie was real quiet. Nice, but kept to herself, kinda quiet.

SHANE: They're all great talented people. The one I liked the most just hanging out with was Scott. He just seemed so real. After that night he'd gotten a bad review from the judges. He looked at me and said, "Man, I didn't do good".  He really seemed to me he wants really bad to be really good. Anthony also, just a nice, goofy guy, really nice. Vonzell has a great spirit, and a great family - we got to hang out with them, they were just a great group of folks. Carrie was really quiet; maybe she's shy or something, but she keeps to herself. Constantine can come across full of himself and arrogant (on the show) but we got along real well. He and Bo got along fine, they were not rivals. They're very different.

TVSQUAD: So, no truth to the rumors that Bo was glad to have the other "rocker guy" booted off?

JOHN: There's really no comparison between Bo and Constantine. If you listen to Sugarmoney and you listen to Constantine's band, it's two totally different styles. The "rocker guy" thing is just a label, more based on how they look than anything. If two of your main influences are James Taylor and Jim Croce, like Bo, well, you're not really a "rocker" guy, are you? (laughs).

TVSQUAD: What was your favorite performance by Bo during the Idol season?

SHANE: "Whipping Post" (the song Bo did 'a cappella').

JOHN: That song's real close to my heart and the reason why is, he told me he was gonna do an a capella song - that's the song he always warmed up with and did sound check with. I knew that's what he was gonna sing. It floored me, it blew me away. You know what, bud - he's in his comfort zone when he does things like that.

SHANE: No one had ever heard him do that song before except waitresses and bartenders. It was amazing to hear him sing it on the show, to hear him do it perfectly. Gave me goosebumps.

TVSQUAD: Any thoughts about his performance on the final?

JOHN: He's not in his comfort zone when he does songs like he was given (for the final). Those songs, in my opinion, were absolutely atrocious song choices for him. I can promise you, Bo would not have chosen any songs like that. He'd been sick, he'd had food poisoning. You can't call somebody a rocker all season, and then give them two songs like that to sing.  Our website, our forum, that's all it's been about is those song choices. Simon made a comment about that's the first time he saw his nerves all season. If I'd been given song choices like that to sing, I'd have been nervous to. The food poisoning was a big factor, he didn't get a chance to practice like he wanted to, and the songs were - well, let's just say I personally didn't think they were good for him.

TVSQUAD: Let's change tracks now and talk a little about Sugarmoney.

SHANE: First it was Blue Suede Nickel, then we changed to SugarMoney. The initial thought was that we'd just continue on as Purge. But then we thought, no, if it's not these five guys, it's just not Purge. BSN was a short time, we played several shows. That didn't last long. Then Bo moved from Huntsville to Muscle Shoals. It's a big music town. Bo created Bo Bice and Sugar Money with me and John. He had other people he'd play with off and on, but then it became the three of us. The CD (that's for sale through their website) is Bo playing with studio musicians,  but me and John wrote the bass and drum lines. John's the "Metallica" guy - he brings the edge, I bring the funk, Bo brings the heart and soul.

TVSQUAD: You guys had hoped to play with the tour band for American Idol. What happened with that?

JOHN: They decided not to let any of the finalists bandmates try out. I don't know why. But me and Shane, we're not just sitting idle, we've got things going on, we've both got families and good day jobs. We've been playing and been friends with Bo for more than 12 years, the friendship's not gonna change.

TVSQUAD: Will you be able to play with Bo when he does his solo tour, after his Idol tour commitment is done?

SHANE: We hope so, that's the plan right now.

TVSQUAD: On the Sugarmoney website, Bo talks about wanting to maintain his artistic integrity and not sell out. Do you think he'll be able to do that with his record deal?

SHANE: Work on the (solo) CD is limited before the tour. A lot of that will take place after. I don't know how quick it will go. Bo will want to maintain his artistic vision. He wants full artistic freedom, that's very rare, you don't get that usually. I'm sure they'll land somewhere in between. He'll fight to keep his ability to choose what goes and what stays and his right to put on there what he wants and write it how he wants. The misleading thing to the public about the music industry is - let's use country music for an example - you hear a song by say Garth Brooks, and fans relate to the words of the song, and they think they relate to the artist. But usually the artist doesn't even write the song. Versus a Led Zeppelin song, if you relate to that emotionally it really came from those guys. Bo's like that. He writes his own songs, the emotion in there is all him. Bo has a ton of original songs he's written that nobody's heard.

TVSQUAD: Any final thoughts?

SHANE: Just this: If the guy comes within 200 miles of where you live, catch him. He's really that good.

Correction: The song Bo Bice sang a capella was Badlands' "In a Dream", not "Whipping Post". TV Squad regrets the error, and kindly thanks our commenter for bringing it to our attention.