Whether he’s risking his life for stunt-filled music videos, sharing tour vlogs, or releasing songs from the heart, bodie keeps it real. He is open about bodie the person and bodie the artist, and his relatability is only one of the reasons fans are obsessed. His 2024 single “whisper and the wind” made it to the Top 10 on the Billboard Airplay and Mediabase Audience charts and currently has over 22M global streams. In addition to these listeners around the world, very distinguished figures in the music scene also relate to bodie’s music. Notable icons such as Paul Stanley, Elle King, and Nancy Wilson awarded bodie and his team with the grand prize at the prestigious International Songwriting Competition for “whisper and the wind,” with the song beating out over 14K entries. Most recently, bodie dropped NO SKIPS, which features “whisper and the wind.” On the whole, the album expands upon the themes and messages of the track, exploring what it means to find your own truth and purpose in the world. We caught up with bodie just as he wrapped his fall tour to talk about the album, touching on the songs, their meaning, and one very death-defying music video…
Hi, bodie! Congratulations on your new album NO SKIPS. For the most part, I see the album as being on the optimistic side. Each track has a message and a purpose, with lyrics that can inspire anyone to do their best. Do you also see it as optimistic? What are your overall impressions of the album?
The album is fairly individual in sequence, as I wrote most of these songs before realizing they would live on an album together. With that said, there is a common theme of honest truth-seeking and relatability that I’d imagine most listeners, if not all, can connect with in some way. The songs all represent seasons of one’s faith journey in coming to God.
Are there any songs on there that started out differently, whether lyrically or musically, than the final versions we hear on the album?
Definitely. Most songs go through a bit of a journey before landing in the home stretch. “GOOD OLD DAYS” was a completely different song and sat in a folder before eventually being reworked and finalized into the form it’s in today!
The title track kind of gets into the importance of accepting each and every day you have, even if they’re bad. I like this concept as the album title, but were there any other contenders for the album title?
As soon as we realized the name of that song, there was no way we were going to name the album anything different. It’s humorously cocky, and a fun title for the whole project.
Your two most-streamed tracks from NO SKIPS on Spotify right now are “RIP” and “whisper and the wind.” I noticed that most of the track titles are capitalized, and two are lowercased—“whisper and the wind” being one of the two. Is there a reason behind this?
My more tender-hearted and most emotional songs tend to be lowercase.
The closing track “heaven knows i tried” seems to touch on religion and the way it has saved your life. Do you come from a religious background or is this something that you have more so explored in adulthood?
Religion did not save my life. The testimony of Jesus and what He did on the cross is what saved my life. The song talks about how no matter where I looked for fulfillment or pleasure, I found myself left empty, alone and unsatisfied… But when I looked to Jesus for my purpose and fulfillment, I found my life full of peace, purpose, and vision.
Currently, what is your favorite track on the album?
I don’t know if I have a favorite, to be honest. “RIP,” “LIAR LIAR,” and “RIGHT PLACE” bang live, but singing “whisper and the wind” and “heaven knows i tried” always mean so much to me.
So, the music video for “SAY SO” is a bit extreme, as you find yourself in the middle of some interesting stunts. How did this concept for the video come together?
I grew up in L.A. heavily influenced by skate and surf culture. There was/is a show called Jackass that I LOVED (not sure why my parents were OK with this, lol). All these years later, with a song talking about letting go of control and trusting God’s plan for my life even when it seems scary or risky, I figured it would be fun to pay homage to a long-time influence of mine to help illustrate the song’s concept.
Out of everything you did in the video, which stunt was the most challenging for you? Which was the easiest? Personally, I felt for you in the car wash scene.
The piñata was so painful. The ropes cut into my legs, haha. Going down the hill in a trash can made me so sick and hurt so bad. Going down the 40 stairs on a tricycle was super fun.
For the past month, you have been out on your fall tour. What were some highlights for you?
First bus tour. Meeting hundreds if not thousands of people each night. Performing songs from my album live for the first time ever: so fun. Having bronchitis for half the tour: not fun.
What is the first thing you’re going to do when you get home?
I’m home now, and the first thing I did was hug and kiss my wife and kids. Haven’t stopped yet.
You can listen to NO SKIPS here.
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