bodie on life after The Voice and his take on worship music: “If you want just another Christian radio guy, I’m not that”

Rising alt pop artist bodie captured the hearts of millions as the runner-up on season 22 of The Voice, and has since been making waves following the release of his debut EP, HAPPY TO BE HERE, and his debut album, NO SKIPS. In this interview, he reflects on what he learned about himself on The Voice, and why bringing worship music – but not as you might know it – to the mainstream is everything for him.

Bodie grew up in Los Angeles, surrounded by a world of creativity and music, shaped by his talented parents and a rich tapestry of artistic influences. From an early age, he discovered a love for the arts, drawn most of all to the stage, where he found his true voice as a performer. On The Voice, Bodie captivated millions with his soulful vocals and magnetic presence, effortlessly blending a wide range of musical styles, from rock to hip-hop.

Bodie’s songs are honest and heartfelt, exploring love, loss, and the complexities of the human experience. At the core of his story are his faith and his life as a devoted family man, values that shine through both his music and his public persona.

Who is the very first artist you can remember having an impact on you?

I grew up in L.A. My dad was a touring bass player, so I was raised on that rock and grunge vibe. I fell in love with Nirvana and the Pixies, then moved on to Green Day and Offspring, and later got into some of the classics like The Who. So yeah, it was all rock. Rock and grunge definitely had a massive influence on me.

If you were a kid who could somehow look ahead, do you think you'd be surprised that your older self has gone on to make a career out of music?

Younger me? I don’t think I’d be surprised. Teenage me? I think I’d be really proud and excited, just because it’s tough to make it happen. So I’m very grateful. I reckon I’d be pleasantly surprised.

Are you into any music that might surprise people?

My broad answer would be that I really enjoy jazz and instrumental stuff. I don’t listen to loads of it, but I studied music at uni and I love arranging and all that. But there’s this one specific version of Pure Imagination – the song from the Willy Wonka film – and it’s this piano version that literally makes me cry. I’ll put it on about once a month, just because it’s that good.

You were a runner-up on The Voice. What did you learn about yourself and the industry from your time on the show?

First of all, I had the most amazing experience on that show. I didn’t really know what to expect going in. Prepping for my first televised audition, I told them off camera, ‘I just hope I make one chair. Do you think I’ll turn one chair?’ And then I ended up getting all four turns. I was just so shocked and so honoured to even be on the show.

Along the way, I don’t know if it was the first time I realised it or if I just re-identified it, but I found I had a gift for reinventing songs. That really helped catapult me to where I am now. Not that I’m only reinventing songs, but it reminded me I’ve got a uniqueness in what I like to do and create. 

That was showcased on the show, and it was a really good reminder afterwards that I can write new music, be my full, unique self, and that’s been really empowering for me.

Your audition song was The Fray's You Found Me. How did you come to pick this?

The way the show works, obviously, you can’t just do any song you want. It has to be a clearable song. So it was on a list of options, and it was one of the songs I requested, and that’s the one they assigned me. So I did choose it, but also didn’t, if you know what I mean.

When I found out I was singing it, I was like, Cool, I’ve never sung this before. It’s an awesome track. How am I going to make it my own?’ I spent some time on it, and the band was super cool. For most of my performances, I actually sent them backing tracks to play live, and they were really lenient and supportive. So I ended up making that song, and basically every other one I did on the show, completely my own. It was a lot of fun.

You looked at home on the stage. What was your performance experience before your time on the voice?

I’ve been performing, doing mini tours and all that for probably the last 10-15 years, maybe more. Even before that, I grew up in the church, so I was always singing there. The stage has just been a part of me for as long as I can remember. 

I really started hitting the Bodie project around 2016-2017, and that’s when I began pushing it properly. Playing clubs, bars, and all sorts of venues. So it’s been part of my whole life, but I’ve been taking it seriously since about 2016.

Why did you decide to drop your surname for your artist name?

What’s funny is I always went by Bodie Wade, which is my first and middle name, and then I just chopped it down to Bodie for a bit of a rebrand.

You performed Brandon Lake's Gratitude on The Voice Live Finale, and many expressed surprise that they let you perform it. Did you have any sense of there being any resistance to the song choice, or was it considered unusual for the voice to feature a worship song?

I will say, the further you get in the show, the more say you have. Not total freedom, but more input. By the end, especially if you’ve got a good relationship with production, you can be like, ‘Hey, I really want to sing this song,’ and they’ll go, ‘All right, let’s see if we can make it happen.’

By the time you reach the live shows, it moves fast. You’d get off stage, find out if you made it through, and then go straight into a night rehearsal for the next week. It was non-stop. I remember two weeks before the finale, I heard the live version of Gratitude that had just come out, and I thought, ‘Wow, this is an incredible song. I’d love to perform this on the show.’ I emailed the executive producer on the music side and said I wanted to do it for the finale. He pushed back, which was fair. 

I understand television is often reluctant to include religion, especially Christianity, and I wanted to respect that point of view. But I told him I wanted to do this song, and that they’d had gospel artists perform gospel songs – so I think it’s fair for me to sing this. Two days later, he texted back saying, ‘We got it cleared, you’re good to go. So I had to push a little, but I got the song, and I’m really glad I did.

Would you recommend going on a show like this to other emerging artists?

I always say this to anyone thinking about going on the show: The Voice is not your big break. It can be an amazing experience, or it can be a terrible one. I’d hope it’s amazing, it was for me, but it’s not your big break. What it is is a magnifying glass on what you’re already doing.

So whether you’re planning a music career after, or just looking to build your platform, you need to be on point while you’re on the show, because that’s when all the eyes are on you. I knew that as soon as I left, there’d be a drop-off. People would start following the next season’s contestants. My goal was to hold onto and build real relationships with as many fans as possible – the ones who connected with my story and my music.

Coming off the show, that first week was actually a bit traumatising, not to be dramatic. I’d just spent eight weeks away from home, and I’ve got a wife and kids, so coming back after all that time was overwhelming. Add to that I’d just sung on the finale of a TV show I never even thought I’d get onto, it was a lot of emotion all at once.

On the career side, I came home to a lot of buzz and had to figure out who I wanted to be post-Voice. How do I build and keep those relationships with fans, while also stepping away from being “the Voice guy”? It was a lot to process, but I’m really pleasantly surprised with where I’ve ended up.

Your EP, HAPPY TO BE HERE, features whisper and the wind, which tied for No. 1 Most Added at AC radio in its debut week. What inspired this song?

I could talk about this all day, but I’ll try to keep it short. I wanted to write a song about God in a way that’s digestible for all kinds of people. I’ll put it like this: I think many people have moments with God that feel groundbreaking. 

Growing up in the church, I’ve seen some incredible things: people healed, deaf ears opened, and cancer healed. Real mountaintop experiences. But I think when we’ve seen God move in a certain way, and then he doesn’t move or “perform” like that again, it’s easy to get frustrated, to question if he’s really there, or even if he exists at all.

So I wanted to write a song that says, “Hey, just as much as God is in the wind, in the big moments that shake and change things, he’s just as present – maybe more so – in the whisper, in the silence, in the relationship you build with him in the quiet place”. In short, that’s what the song’s about. I wanted it to be as honest as possible, while still celebrating the fact that God looks many different ways and moves in many different ways.

When it comes to your faith, how important is that to reflect that side of yourself through your music?

It’s everything. Before The Voice, I’d lead worship at my church on weekends, but during the week, I still lived my life that way. My songs were aimed at all kinds of people, and I kept the lyrics clean, talking about things that honoured God and my wife. But I didn’t really set out to express my beliefs in my music, because I felt the only way to make music for everyone was to keep it like that.

Now, where I’m at, it’s really important to me. I’ve reached new heights, and I’ve been able to connect with more people of different beliefs than ever before by making music about who I am and what I truly believe. At this point, it means everything to me to be able to do that.

Do you think there’s a certain way people expect ‘worship songs’ to sound? How do you seek to challenge that with your music and with your hip hop, pop and rock influences and sound?

Totally, yeah. The biggest honour of coming out as a Christian artist on a Christian label is that, weeks before signing, I told them, “Look, if you want just another Christian radio guy, I’m not that. I’m not going to sound like that. Is that okay?” I said I’m happy to partner if they’re down to let me collaborate with others who are trying to innovate this space and create new sounds, and they said yes.

Now, seeing one of my songs climbing the charts is pretty nuts, because that wasn’t really the goal. The goal was just to create music true to who I am and be unique. So yeah, it’s an honour, and it’s really exciting to see the needle moving. Christian music is growing faster than any other genre right now, and it’s really cool to be part of that.

Your song, KNOW from the EP, is one that means a lot to you in particular. Why is this?

That song is special for a few reasons. On a practical level, it’s the only song on the EP that was written before I signed with my record label. I wrote it in my home studio with my close friend Aaron Ferrer. We were both going through similar seasons of really not knowing what our purpose was and desperately wanting clarity, so we didn’t waste time or chase things we shouldn’t.

It was a song born out of desperation, written at home and produced entirely by me. It sat in a folder of demos that I never thought would be released – just a heart-cry song. So when my label heard it and wanted me to release it, I was surprised, excited, and honoured. Out of the six songs on the EP, it holds a very unique place in my heart.

What equipment do you have inside your home studio to produce your own music?

My JBL 305P MKII powered studio monitors are sick. I’d never used JBLs before, and I’ve got some bigger speakers that’ve been buzzing and giving me trouble lately. I’ve had them forever, so I was really excited to try the JBLs. I’m stoked. They’re compact, tight, and the sound is super clean, which has made mixing really easy.

I use an AKG P220 mic. It’s great – super clean. What’s funny is I’ve actually been using it more recently. I’m producing a project for a university right now, an acoustic project, and we recorded all the acoustic guitar tracks with that mic. It sounded amazing; I was honestly shocked at how good it was, just miking an acoustic guitar. I’ve been using K240 MKII headphones for five years, so I was super excited to get the new ones. I love the new colours too – different from my old pair – but man, they’re my favourite for tracking. Comfortable, great sound – I just love them.

You’re also a worship leader at Oceans Church in California. Away from this and music, what else do you like to do?

I’m actually an adjunct professor at a university, and that’s kind of my passion project. I tell them all the time, “I want to be here until I retire.” I teach a few classes, and I’m also in charge of all the worship, since it’s a Christian university.

And this is probably a disappointing answer, and I’m a bit disappointed that I’m even saying it, but I’ve really been enjoying Fortnite and Pokémon games lately. I play with my son and a couple of friends – maybe once a week, I’ll sneak away for a couple of hours to play. That’s my non-creative thing that I like to do. My son and I also still do Pokémon Go walks every week.

bodie's debut album, NO SKIPS is out now.