Bogan Via Recovers From Getting Robbed and Releases New Song

Earlier this year Bogan Via got to live every musicians dream when they got to shoot a video for their song “Kanye” overseas in Dubai, one of the coolest cities on the planet. They’ve relocated to Los Angeles, they get to tour far more often than the average band, and they have the support of Phoenix-based label President Gator. They aren’t exactly the Rolling Stones, but they aren’t doing too bad either.

But just about a month ago Bret Bender and Madeleine Miller faced every musician's worst nightmare when all of their instruments, as well as their laptops containing the master recordings of their upcoming debut full-length album, were stolen in the streets of San Francisco. But with the help of their friend and fan bases the band persevered. Bender's sister started a Gofundme account and people donated money, offered laptops, and extended a heartwarming amount of support.

“It was super awesome to like have people helping us out that way. Now, three to four weeks later, we are ready to play shows again,” says Bender. "You know, I wish that when a new song came out or our CD that people were as moved to be active as they were when we were robbed. It feels amazing, and if they did not step up we would be in a much more precarious position."

Hell, without fan support, the band might have ended.
“It certainly makes you think, kind of like being a musician is kind of stupid in a logical sense anyways, I’m 30 years old, and you wonder, when you keep getting knocked down to the curb you just have to reevaluate your life," Bender says. "The thought came into my head that maybe I should just be a normal working schlub or something."

Three years of waiting to work with the producer of their choice only to have the album stolen away before it could be released was a huge blow to the duo. But rather than give up they decided to re-record the songs in more raw format and release the entire album as demos.

The CDs are in production for BOGANVIALAND, and according to Miller and Bender, the top priority even before a CD release party is going to be making sure their friends and fans who donated to their Gofundme get their copies first along with a small care package to show the band's appreciation.

But before even the funders get their crack at the album, the synth pop duo is releasing the first single off of their upcoming L.P. “Kissing Boys” featuring Portland, Oregon-based rapper Myke Bogan.

“We are super excited about the song. It's a collaboration that we did with a rapper who contacted us and asked if we were interested in collaborating. We had been waiting to get into the studio to re-record all of our demos, and we thought it would be a nice space for someone to add something on top. [Bogan] just added his rap over top and it sounded amazing, and hopefully there will be so more future collaborations with him,” Miller says.