Camens

Camens – Interview

Interview with Pete Devine of Pete’s Rock News and Views (http://petesrocknewsandviews.com)

PD: What type of artist are you?

C: Camens, we are a 4-piece indie alt outfit from Stoke on Trent.

PD: Tell us the brief history of yourself.

C: We formed in late 2017 having been going under a different name for a couple of years. We’ve been gigging regular since across the midlands and north of England and we just released our 8th single called ‘Leave me in Pieces’.

PD: Who are your musical and non-musical influences?

C: Between us we have quite an eclectic mix of music we love. The stuff we all lock on that has influenced the sound most, probably bands like.. Weezer, The Wombats, Vampire Weekend.. anything with guitars and a few nice harmony’s normally.

Non-musical… Pop culture kind of bleeds into a lot of what we put out. We’re all big film fans so if you listen to the lyrics and watch our videos you’ll see a lot of film and pop culture references.

PD: What are your dreams and goals?

C: At the mo.. mid lockdown … just to get out gigging, jamming and recording again really. Beyond that the dreams are the same as everyone else id imagine. Just to get to the point where making music pays the bills, or at least some of the bills. The big thing in life is time, that’s what you can’t get back or earn more of.. so personally, to be able to spend as much time in life doing what you love is always the goal. I think anything above that whilst it would be wonderful is a bonus.

PD: Who writes your songs, what are they about?

C: The bones of the songs start with me as a rule, so I’ll take an idea to the room or send a demo out and then if the general feeling amongst us all is that there is something in it we develop it together quite organically. A lot of the songs start with Corbs (James Corbishley) , so he will find a riff when we are just free wheeling in the jam room.. then I’ll do a little phone rec of it and go away and mould something around.

We tend to write what we know. If it’s real for us it will be real for other people out there too. Being authentic and honest is very important we feel.

PD: How do you promote your band and shows?

C: Online is such a big part of things now. People will scroll past your picture or new video twenty or thirty times before they listen to your music. We try to be as inventive as possible with our content and our often DIY music vids. We also try to be as responsive as we can with our fans online. It really bugs me when you see bands post… people respond and support, and then the band just ignores them. Like, who the fuck do they think they are that they haven’t got two seconds to say thank you or reach out and make a fan or a friend. You can never have too many of either.

PD: What do you think about downloading music online?

C: The world will always change and progress, the internet isn’t going anywhere. So there’s no point wingding about it. Personally, I think the onus is on the streaming sites to pay artists better. Especially emerging acts… everything costs and its hard for new artists. Since everything went digital there is certainly little financial incentive for creating art. At least not as much as before anyway. Money doesn’t always equal great art.. but it’s harder without it and a lot of ideas go unexplored due to lack of resources and opportunity. That’s the biggest impact of the internet. The people with the money now have less of a margin to take a punt on what could be a great artist. I wonder how many are slipping through the net?

PD: What song do you wish you’d written and why?

C: ‘I’ll be there for you’ by The Rembrandts (Friends theme music) think of them royalties!
Money aside, god there’s so many. ‘All you need is Love’, why not.

PD: What are some of your pet peeves?

C: Facebook making you pay to reach your own fans.. crafty Zuckerberg. 5 min changeovers on stage at gigs. Venues telling you to be there for 5 o clock, then standing around for 2 hours waiting to soundcheck. Corona virus. James Cordons fake laugh. George Lucas altering the original Star Wars films with unnecessary CGI. Things coming out on streaming sites that I want to watch but don’t subscribe to. Could go on…

PD: What is your proudest moment in music?

C: Probably watching the records we’ve made together be received well and enjoyed. That’s the best bit about being in a band, creating and sharing. So every time we have someone get in touch who’s just discovered us telling us they like the stuff.. they are proud moments. We’ve had some cool milestones, big gigs and notable radio play too, Steve Lamacq, Clint Boon, Sherlocks, Futureheads etc… but they come on the back of people enjoying the music in the first place. It’s the most important part.

PD: So what are you working on at the moment?

C: Mid lockdown atm, so for now we’re focusing on writing and demoing in prep for when we can get back into a studio again. Hopefully soon. Lots of stuff coming together that we’re excited about recording. We’ve also been working on some lockdown covers. That’s been fun, we’re gonna be sharing them soon.

PD: What music have you available online and where can we buy it from?

C: We have 8 singles out now and more to come. You can get them on all the usual streaming sites and music platforms. Plus we have a couple of physical double A sides available through our merch store if anybody want to check them out – https://camens.bigcartel.com/