Power Pose
Interview conducted on June 29, 2022
By Dan Locke
United by their friendship and shared sense of purpose, Jacqueline Bodley (guitar/vocals) and Kelly Rudman (drums) formed Power Pose in 2017. After overcoming several personal obstacles and the pandemic further delaying their creative process, they are finally here to introduce themselves. Through gritty guitar riffs and bold, emotionally evocative lyricism, Power Pose redefine womanhood and reclaim their agency and femininity as they blaze their own trail.
With a nod to Joan Jett’s anthemic rock-n-roll style, “Honey” kicks off with a pounding drum beat that hammers through the song’s core. The track’s thumping rhythm, winding bass groove and infectious guitar riffs get your body moving. Sultry vocals give the tune a flirtatious, playful energy as the duo remains carefree, confident and unabashedly themselves.
Setting the tone in the opening verse, Bodley sings, “Saw it on TV / Did I waste my time / Cause it feels like I / Spent all my life / Taking what was offered me.” The track sees the duo unwilling to settle, to get nothing less than what they deserve, and encourages listeners to do the same.
What is your upbringing?
Jackie: I grew up in suburban Maryland near Annapolis. I was lucky to be close to both Baltimore and Washington DC, which gave me access to a great music scene growing up. I spent my teens seeing a lot of concerts and local shows.
Kelly: I’m from rural Maine, so I spent a lot of time outside in the woods. My parents ran a boarding home for older women with physical and cognitive disabilities. There was always lots of activity and people around, and our house was a major hub for the neighborhood kids.
How did you discover music?
Jackie: I always loved pop music as a little kid and imagined being a singer. But I remember wanting to learn guitar after my parents got cable and I started watching MTV.
Kelly: My parents were always playing music in the house -especially at night when my Dad was making dinner. He played guitar when I was a kid, and he was constantly narrating his movements about the house in song, as if we were living in a musical -the man has a real gift for improv.
How did you start to write music?
Jackie: I got a cheap 4 track tape recorder in 11th grade and started writing songs in my bedroom.
Kelly: My cousin and I would write songs and perform them for our parents in the living room. I remember pretending the vacuum cleaner was a microphone for one particular “show.” When Garage Band first came into the picture, I would spend hours in my bedroom composing these horrible electronic tracks on my laptop.
Jackie-How did you get your first guitar, and do you still have it?
I got my first guitar in 7th grade at a local music shop where I grew up in Maryland. It was a pale yellow fender stratocaster. I covered it in sparkly heart stickers and bedazzled it with a glue gun. It is a very fun guitar to play and yes, I still have it!
What is your guitar of choice now? Year, make and model?
I play a shell pink Fender Thinline Telecaster that was rereleased in the early 2000s. It’s a hollow body guitar, and the light weight is great for me.
Kelly- Why did you decide to start playing drums?
My brother’s friend was the drummer in the neighborhood band, and I was completely mesmerized by his drum kit, so when we got to select our instruments in 4th grade, I chose to take up snare drum in the concert band. Eventually, after playing snare and percussion in the school band for a few years, I convinced my mom to help me buy a drum kit, and began to teach myself the songs from Green Day’s album, ‘Dookie.’
What was your first performance like?
Kelly: First time I played the kit in front of an audience was for the school concert band -I usually played snare or percussion, but I got this opportunity and I was absolutely thrilled…and terrified. I had horrible performance anxiety, and when cortisol was coursing through me, I had this crazy out of body experience. Then, as I was playing I remember feeling this overwhelming sense of empowerment and responsibility from being able to shift the vibe of the entire room, which was pretty transformative.
Jackie: I didn’t join a band that was actively playing shows until I moved to New York right after college. I remember being pretty nervous when I first got on stage, but I had a blast partying with everyone afterwards and knew
How did you get your bands name?
Jackie: Honestly, with every other band I’ve been in, it’s always been such a struggle deciding on a name. With Power Pose, Kelly just happened to blurt it out in conversation for one reason or another, and we both loved it as a band name. Done and done!
Describe your music.
We play energetic, danceable indie rock with a bit of a 90s influence.
What makes a good songwriter?
Jackie: I think that a good song is still enjoyable to listen to even when it’s stripped down to its most basic instrumentation. For us, that’s guitar, drums and vocals. If the song doesn’t have a good melody or hook, no amount of polish or studio effects are going to fix it.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
The first song we wrote is called “Bonfire” and it’s on our new album. We jammed on it at our very first band practice. Before we recorded it, we were much more excited about the newer songs we had written. But after going into the studio and polishing it up with additional percussion, bass and backing vocals, we felt like the song really evolved into one of our favorites.
What is the process of writing your music?
We start the writing process jamming with guitar and drums in our rehearsal space, and experiment with vocals until we land on a melody we like. Then we work out the arrangement together. The guitar and drums really play off each other, and the process is extremely collaborative. Jackie will often get ideas for lyrics based on the feeling or vibe of the instrumentation. After recording the basics, we’ll go in on our laptops and layer in bass, additional percussive elements and backing vocals so we have a rough draft before we go into the recording studio and bring it all together.
The first time you played as a band was at the Union Pool on July 17, 2018. You opened for Crazy Pills and Little Hustle. Tell me how the show was. And what was the crowd like?
So actually, our first show was at Wonders of Nature on June 25th with Sara Renberg and Julep Maisey. It was a low key, small venue and a lot of our friends came to support. It was the perfect intimate setting for our first show, and we really liked the other bands on the bill. We didn’t even have our social media channels set up at that point, so that’s probably why you didn’t see it in our feed!
The show with Crazy Pills and Little Hustle was our second show and definitely a memorable one! It was a much bigger stage and a pretty big crowd which felt great for us. The other bands on the bill were friends and also incredibly talented musicians. It’s always great to play a show with friends, especially when you absolutely love the music they are making. On a sidenote, Crazy Pills has actually changed their name to Leathered and just released an awesome new album.
Tell me about doing the video for “Honey”?
Jackie: We took a very DIY approach to this and made the video entirely on our own. We set up backdrops in our rehearsal space and in my apartment, bought a light machine, and dug some fun costumes and wigs out of our closets. We knocked back a few drinks and just danced around and had fun.
How were the director, editor and shooter of the video. How did you start getting into video?
Jackie: In true DIY spirit, I shot the entire thing on my iphone and edited it on my laptop. I loved being able to really saturate the color and bring in some fun effects. I was very interested in animation and video in college, so it was cool to get into that world again.
Looking back I see you were working with Ex Hex video “Tough Enough”, how did that happen?
Jackie: Our friend Amanda from Leathered played guitar in the band Thundercunt with Betsy and Laura from Ex Hex. She asked me if I’d like to be an extra in Ex Hex’s video shoot, so of course I said yes! I love Ex Hex and I’ve been a huge fan of Mary Timony’s music over the years, so I was really excited to be a part of the shoot.
Tell me about your upcoming LP “I’m Looking”?
It’s a really energetic, full throttle record. It’s got a gritty 90s vibe at its core, fused with a fair share of melodic pop. Thematically, we were very influenced by the #MeToo movement, which was dominating the culture at the time we wrote the songs. So the lyrics have a feminist perspective which we hope our audience finds relatable.
Out of the seven tracks, which is your favorite track on your album?
That is a tough one! Although we did choose “Honey” as our single because we love that one a lot. We also love playing the title track “I’m Looking” because it kicks some ass and is just a fun song to play.
How was it working with Jeff Berner and Alex DeTurk?
They were absolutely amazing! Jeff is an incredible engineer and helped guide us along the recording process every step of the way. He’s kind, patient, has a great sense of humor and an incredible ear. We had to work with Alex remotely to master the album because Covid had just taken over, but he really nailed it and we were so happy with the result.
You have been working with Jeff for the last two years. How did you meet
We also met Jeff through our friend Amanda from Leathered. A lot of our friends in the Brooklyn scene have recorded with him and everyone sings his praises because he is amazing!
If “Video Killed the Radio Star” do you think that the Covid-19 virus has killed live music? Do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
I think it’s been very tough on performers and music fans over the last few years. But I know we are determined to bring back the music scene in full force, and we have a lot more options than we did a couple years ago. I think vaccinations really helped bring the scene back and I can only imagine things can get better from here.
Anything you would like to say in closing.
We’re so excited this record is finally being released and we’re able to start playing shows again since our community is beginning to heal as the pandemic tapers off. We’ve always been a feminist band, and we both saw the writing on the wall since we started making music together which has inspired us to create songs about dismantling the patriarchy. Now since Roe v Wade was just overturned, we’re feeling more political than ever -this is a definitive call to action to demand liberty. We need to make our voices heard by using our music to empower women and marginalized communities
Instagram | Facebook | Bandcamp | SoundCloud | YouTube
