MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – If you’re a music collector around Marquette, you may have seen a red album with an anthropomorphic rotary phone spread around various local music shops.
This was Bogue. An energetic, Detroit-based danceable rock collective, who in its peak of the early 2000’s was made up of lead vocalist Dan Maister, drummer Matt Blake, and Marquette native and guitarist Mike Walker. Originally recorded as a demo in 2002, ‘How’d you Feel about Talkin’ to Me’ was their shot at making it big in Detroit.
“We treated our band like it was a job, we practiced 40 hours a week,” said Walker. “We went in hot. We went in, set up, and knocked it out.”
After recording the 14 song project over a two-day period with only about 40 minutes of tape, the band struggled to find a signing label. This led to separate projects apart from each other, with the eventual intent to find someone who would take them in — but within that time, tragedy struck.
“When you’re in a band where the soul focus is creating a party atmosphere, you kind of fall prey to some of the party elements,” said Walker.
In January of 2005, Maister took his own life at 34 years old after a struggle with opioids.
“At that point, it didn’t even occur to me that you could still consider putting the record out, it was just done, the conversation was over,” said Walker.
And just three years after, in 2008, Blake died of heart attack at only 43.
“He literally had a heart attack while playing his drums and died,” explained Walker. “So I’m the only guy left alive that was playing on that record. That depression was pretty all-consuming. I couldn’t listen to the record, it was too much.”
In the years following, Walker continued making music, along with finding sobriety. Now, over 20 years down the road, in mutual agreement from both Maister and Blake’s families, Mike returned to Jim Diamond, the records original engineer, to remaster the Bogue record and finally give it the attention it deserved.
The fresh record was then released digitally in June, and on vinyl in August of 2025.
“I still played in bands, but I didn’t give it the same energy,” said Walker. “I started to think, why is it sitting in my desk drawer? That’s not the only reason those tapes exist, to collect dust for my depression. Part of my process is learning to accept that I am proud of this, and I am, it’s a great record. Let’s let somebody else hear it.”
The long awaited tribute to the minds who created it can be found at Yooptone Music, The Emporium, and Jim’s Music, especially approaching the season of giving.
‘How’d you Feel about Talkin’ to Me’ can also be found on digital platforms like Spotify or Bandcamp.
