Emotionally gritty alt-rock soloist Bully shares the Lucky For You album creation and coping with own inner “bully”

Bully // courtesy Sophia Matinazad

Passionately gritty alt-rock soloist Bully performs August 12 at Lawrence’ s Bottleneck. Having opened for The Pixies, The Breeders, and more, Alicia Bognanno packs her newest album Lucky For You with raw emotions and vulnerability. 

Bognanno has never been one for slow songs, channeling her jagged vocals and ambient electric guitar to create dynamic tracks. If she could personally define her music, it would be under the genre called “anything with teeth.” Bognanno’s voice gets in your face but not always out of rage. Some of the guttural lyrics are sung out of longing and frustration, and like teeth, Bognanno says she’s constantly putting her music into irregular shapes and forms. She occasionally takes a softer approach to some of her songs, switching up the tones or pedals to see how the music changes. 

“I like to listen to music that’s making me think,” says Bognnano. “It’s just cool for me to hear weird sounds that I’ve never really heard before. It’s exciting, refreshing, and kind of inspiring.”

Describing herself as an emotional person, Bognanno remedies her feelings through writing. Writing has always been an outlet for her, and once the song lyrics are drafted, Bognanno tests how the guitar, bass, or drums should complement them. In fact, “Hard to Love” began as a writing exercise, and Bognanno experimented with its creation until it came to life. Anytime she’s bored of an instrument, she picks up a different one, or starts somewhere else, like with a synth.

Bognanno says she lacks music theory knowledge, but not following any rules lets her music grow in a fascinating way. 

“The songs didn’t start from the same place, so naturally they’re going to be different and kind of evolve in their own way,” says Bognanno. “It’s really a song-to-song basis, but it usually starts with me picking up some piece of gear.”

Throughout Lucky For You, Bognanno reveals personal struggles throughout her life, such as the memories that haunt her past and others that come with a heavy heart. “All I Do” reflects on Bognanno’s sobriety journey and trying to live a different lifestyle in the same home. Shortly after her dog, Mezzi, passed away, Bognanno wrote “Days Move Slow” to cope with her grief. Whenever she faces adversity, Bognanno quickly puts her emotions to the pen and makes music to let it go.

“When I’m feeling things so intensely, the only cathartic way to deal with it aside from therapy, is writing,” says Bognanno. “I don’t have to dig too deep to get emotional or vulnerable because I feel like that’s what I’ve done the majority of the time.”

The most exciting part of Bognanno’s music career is viewing the audience’s reactions to her songs. The energy transfers between the artist and fans, connecting everyone inside the concert. When the music resonates between the crowd, all of a sudden they aren’t strangers anymore. 

“When that happens, it kind of feels like a mutual support system. It’s like everybody’s a little less alone together,” says Bognanno. 

Even though haters are inevitable, sometimes our biggest bullies are ourselves, hence the inspiration for Bognanno’s stage name. In one of Bognanno’s first songs titled “Bully,” she expresses the inner critic tormenting her without the ability to catch a break. Throughout her music today, she still incorporates the inner bully theme, but overcoming it will never be a linear path. In this flipped scenario, sometimes we have to treat ourselves the way we treat others.

“When I am venting with my friends and vice versa who are putting themselves down, we always say, ‘you would never talk to somebody that way, why are you just talking to yourself with this awful voice?’” says Bognanno. “It’s a constant journey, a work in progress.” 

Bully concert tickets are $25 and doors open at 7 p.m. To listen to Bognanno’s music, stream the Lucky For You album on Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp.