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Interview with Camera Obscura
Interviewed By: Greg Morabito
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Camera Obscura’s third album “Let’s Get Out of This Country” captures the band hitting a new stride. The record blends folk rock, girl group and 80’s indie into a sound that might make nods to the past, but always feels utterly contemporary. I caught up with bass player Gavin Dunbar to talk about the new album, plans for the future, and what the tenth year of being in Camera Obscura is all about. |
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Was there anything in particular that you were listening to when you were recording the new album?
Tracy was listening to a lot of Cocteau Twins at the time. I think all of the members of the band are basically just big music fans. We all listen to a lot of different music, a lot of old stuff and we’re always looking out for something new too. I think that when we went in to make the record, we knew that we wanted to have a sound that was authentically quite classic, but at the same time we really wanted to make sure that it sounded absolutely contemporary as well, and not end up with a record that just sounded like we were copying retro sounds.
You went to Sweden to record “Let’s Get Out Of This Country”. What was that like?
It was a great experience. Previously we had only ever recorded in Glasgow, and also because of work commitments we tended to have to record over weekends, and it would take us a long time to get a full record together. This time, being away from Glasgow kept us all really focused, we weren’t going back home after the session, and we were kind of plucked from our everyday lives, so we weren’t getting sidetracked with all the usual things we would normally be doing at home. Our heads were totally focused on making the record. On top of that there was a bit of extra pressure because we knew we only had two weeks all in to get everything we needed recorded. So it was a bit of a heads down and plough through it all experience.
I understand that many of the members of the band were able to quit their jobs recently. Congratulations! Has this change affected the daily life of the band in any way?
Since last spring we’ve been in tour mode really, so we’ve not really been home too much, we get back for a couple of weeks and then we’re off again. It’s been pretty exciting times for us. I think that we’re seeing quite a difference this time with the live shows, we’re tending to play bigger venues and there are bigger crowds turning out to see us, it’s nice.
I’ve heard a lot of artists say that songs that sound simple and melodic are often the hardest to write. What is the band’s approach to songwriting?
For this record Tracyanne wrote all the songs on the album. She tends to come in with a basic song, and we listen, then have a think about our parts and the general arrangement of it. Sometimes songs can come together pretty quickly, and sometimes they can go through quite a few changes before they settle into the version that’s on the record. There is a version of Tears for Affairs from early on that’s a full on Motown style stormer.
Do you have any intentions of releasing any of the sessions you recorded with John Peel?
We don’t have any plans to put them out at the moment, but it is something that we would like to be able to do at some point. Doing the sessions and live shows from Peel Acres was very important to us, it was a real honor to be asked to record and play for John Peel and I think that some of those tracks from the sessions and from the Burns night show we did for him are pretty good.
You’ve always struck me as a band that devotes a lot of time and energy towards their fans. In your youth, was the ever a band that you were obsessive about?
I guess we all have bands that we’ll always hold dear to us. For me it’s New Order and Joy Division. I always loved the way that they kept themselves outsiders in the music industry and managed to stay independent. They wouldn’t play the industry game, and I think that kept them a little bit special.
As you have continued to grow, have you found that your communication with your fans has changed at all?
I think we’re very lucky because we seem to have built up a strong fan base that has been very supportive of us. I think it is easier now for people to get in touch with the bands they like through web site sand myspace. We do try and reply to all the emails and messages that people send to us, because we feel it’s important that if people take the time to get in touch with us we should make the effort to respond to them.
What are your favorite songs to play live?
It can depend on the venue, but for the most part, I love playing the faster songs like Lloyd and If Looks Could Kill. There is something special about seeing the audience’s reaction to those songs and that just fires us up when we’re playing. I think that the band can really feed of the atmosphere seeing the audience responding to out music and that helps us put even more in.
I was lucky enough to pick up the new record on vinyl and love how nicely it breaks up over two sides. Did you record the new record with the vinyl format in mind?
We’re still fans of vinyl, and we’ve always put out vinyl versions of the records. We do have a think about how best to arrange the tracks so that they work over two sides. We try and make sure the records are good quality heavy vinyl too, so people are getting the best quality vinyl.
What are your plans for the next few months?
We’re in North America until mid February and then we’re off to do some shows in Australia and New Zealand until the middle of March. After that we get to go home for a couple of weeks and then we’re off again around the UK and Europe. I think that after that we’re basically getting some time off to start work on the next record, but we might do some festivals over the summer.
Your music is now available on so many formats that people can listen to it anytime, anywhere. How do you hope people listen to your music?
It’s nice to think of people sitting at home and listening to it on record, but it’s good that people can listen on mp3 players wherever they are or have the cd or a tape on in their cars. We don’t mind how people listen to us, we’re just happy that folks do.
“Let’s Get Out Of This Country” and the “If Looks Could Kill” E.P are available wherever records are sold. Thanks again to Gavin for taking time out to chat. |
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