If you know anything about the popular DnB performer Bou, you’ll know the UK musician and composer is known for frenetic dance music that is a creative blend of electronic and IRL sounds. But, if you stopped reading this post to do a quick Google (go ahead, I’ll wait) you will learn the Algerian-born, Manchester resident with the full name Amine Bouguenna, is fond of unlikely collaborations. And of these, perhaps none is as unexpected as his latest partner on the Las Vegas stage, British Airways flight attendant Sophie Bunker.
On August 5th, the day before his gig at We All Scream in Vegas, Bou had boarded BA Flight 275 in London. He had barely settled into his premium class seat when he heard a ruckus. “All I could hear was a load of noise comin’ from the back from some drunken idiot” he told his followers on Instagram.
But for the action, it was his tour manager who had the premium view. From where he was sitting farther back, the manager had a clear shot to record passenger Emmet Moynihan, 31, from Cork, Ireland, thrashing around in the aisle, struggling against the much smaller flight attendant restraining him.
Sophie Bunker was insisting Moynihan, “Stay seated.” which she repeated then followed up with, “sit down, sit down, sit down.” her words were delivered fast and furious. Moynihan finally put his tush in the seat and Bunker brought the exchange to a conclusion with a few repetitions of “I will be restraining you, sir.”
The next time, Moynihan stood up, it was in the company of law enforcement officers who took him off the plane in handcuffs. He was charged with being drunk on an airplane. The flight finally departed for the US half past eight in the evening.
Of the drama, Bou’s manager praised the “air hostess”. “Big love to her,” he said, in a improvised message to British Airways. Despite the towering size difference between the two, Bunker was doing the most of anyone, he said, adding that she deserved a raise.
Upfront in his seat Bou, watched his manager’s video and was inspired by Bunker’s controlled but energized riff. Before the 11 hour flight was over, he’d turned it into a song with an electronic acid bassline punctuated by Bunker commanding her passenger to “sit down”. It pops like Space Dust and leaves the listener bopping with in time with the rhythm.
This incongruous creation might not come as a surprise to Dave Jenkins a reporter for DJMag, who interviewed the artist in 2023. Bou told Jenkins the unexpected inspires him. “Random combinations that make people say, ‘Why is he doing that with that guy?’ Stuff you might not think goes together,” he said, is “where you get originality.
The following night, before a packed house at We All Scream, in Las Vegas, Bou introduced the tune honoring Bunker’s steely tenacity, and introduced the woman to a crowd that whooped and roared with enthusiasm.
While there’s nothing unexpected about air travelers popping off at their fellow travelers or flight attendants, when an often overlooked worker gets the appreciation she deserves and a popular artist finds a way to turn it into art, that feels unexpected. And satisfying. Do you feel it, too?
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