Learning about Glowing House

We’re back here for day 3 in our continuing interview series with the acts performing at our video release show, which in case you didn’t hear is TOMORROW AT 6PM AT THE CROSSROADS THEATER ON 27TH AND WELTON.

Today we spoke with Glowing House, whose tunes are the absolute definition of grace and beauty. You can hear for yourself here.

What inspired you to make music, and at what point did you make the decision to start a band?

That’s always a tricky questions because I know it was many factors.  My parents were very determined to keep me involved in music.  If I quit one instrument, I had to pick another.  So I played piano as a kid, then saxophone, and finally I picked up the guitar when I was 15.  That’s when I really started making music.  I was pretty shy due to a stutter I’ve had since I was 8, but it’s very rare to stutter while singing, so it was a fantastic way to present my thoughts and feelings to people without worrying about stuttering.  I feel like the band formed itself really.  I met Jess on the first day of songwriting class during my last year at UCD and after a while of playing as a duo, we asked Patrick Kline if he would want to drum for us and things have been great ever since.

What’s your creative process like? Do you write on your own and then show the other person for feedback, or is it collaborative from the very beginning of a song’s life?

It’s really become a team effort.  At first, we were playing songs that Jess and I had written before we met, which are the songs on our first album.  Since then, everyone has been contributing a lot the best they can.  Jess and I write the lyrics and music and then we present it to Patrick, who invariably comes up with a really cool rhythm; it’s just fine-tuning harmonies and arrangement from there.  The ideas that Jess and I present to each other are always at various levels of development.  I might play a chorus for her that I like, she might have a simple phrase that she knows can be a song, or one of us might even present a complete song to the other for critique.  I should mention, however, one of my favorite guitar parts that will be on the next album – the finger-picking sections of Any Part of Her - was actually written by Patrick, so there’s no telling at this point the extent at which each of us will contribute to future songs.

A few days ago your Twitter mentioned that you’re recording a new record in a church. Where are you recording, and can you tell us anything else about the upcoming album (like when we can expect to hear some songs…..)?

We are recording the new album at Morrison Community Church, which is a small, white chapel built in 1885 tucked in the heart of Morrison.  It’s an amazing place to record.  We actually did our first album there as well, but this time around the production duties are in the hands of Jamie Mefford, the engineer/producer behind Gregory Alan Isakov’s albums and Dan Craig’s new EP, which are just two of his great works he’s done in town.  Unfortunately, there won’t be any music from that record for a while.  We just started tracking the first guitar and vocal takes so it’s a long road ahead.  We have plans for an EP during the wait, but those details still need to be hashed out.

You just made a music video with CAM Records. Which song did you use? What was it like making a music video?

We used our song Taming Lions, which is becoming one of our favorites to perform.  Making a music video was a lot of fun.  It was hard to get everyone in the same place, so our video is basically the material from one afternoon of shooting, but we’re really happy with the outcome.  There’s definitely things we will do differently next time around, but it was a really interesting experience to see how a video is done.  I never realized how many times you have to play the song for all the different angles to be shot!  We were definitely tired at the end, but I can’t wait to do it again sometime.

Do you play cover tunes? If so, what are some of your favorite songs to play?

There are a couple cover tunes we enjoy.  Gillian Welch’s Look at Miss Ohio is one that we indulge in occasionally, but the real crowd-pleaser is Oo-da-lally from the animated Disney version of Robin Hood.  People love hearing that song and we worked out some great harmonies, so I think it sounds great too.

What’s the worst gig you’ve ever played? What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?

A band in town asked us to open for their CD release show.  It was at a great venue in town and CD release shows are always beneficial, so we were optimistic for sure.  Our set went fine, it was the way the headlining band acted the rest of the night that made it so horrible.  Their music was awful and it just became a room full of sloppy drunks.  Ever heard a band call for their own encore three times? We have.  Our favorite gig was pretty recent actually.  We opened for The Centennial (members of the former band Meese) at the Hi-Dive and other than the fact that our keyboard stand got stolen and our truck got towed while we were loading up equipment, it was a great night of music.

If you could pick any venue in the world to play, what would it be and why?

I can’t speak for the others, but my answer is a pretty normal for Coloradans I imagine: Red Rocks.  It’s a natural amphitheater and I don’t know if a venue can get much cooler than that.

Any exciting gigs (either in or outside of Colorado) coming up?

Of course we have the music video showcase this Thursday at Crossroads Theater, but other than that we’re really excited about January 13th at the Meadowlark with our good friends Dave Preston, Dore Taylor, and Erick Rudolph and the Township.  Also, we will be opening for Churchill’s CD release in February (details coming soon).  They heard our set at the Hi-Dive and wanted us play with them.  I got to know their lead singer as he drove me to the impound.  Good times…

My Body Sings Electric

Hey everyone. It’s day two of our interview series with the bands performing at the music video premiere THIS THURSDAY AT 6pm at the Crossroads Theater. Enjoy reading an interview with one of the sweetest rock bands around, My Body Sings Electric. And if you dig their music, you can get your face personally rocked off on Thursday. Yes, rocked clean off. Thursday at the Crossroads Theater.

What inspired you to make music, and at what point did you make the decision to start a band?

We are all in love with music. Whether it is playing music, listening to music, and just being around musicians. Music has always been a huge part of all our lives, so we are constantly inspired to make music of our own. I don’t think there ever was a “decision” to start a band. Music has always been such a natural part of our lives there was no way we weren’t going to play music. We all just met each other over the course of many years of doing this. We have our individual tastes, but we share a passion for a lot of the same bands, which has helped us pinpoint a sound of our own.

What’s your creative process like? Do you all write songs together, or is it more collaborative?

The ideas come from a lot of different places, but an “idea” can’t become a “song” until we work it out together in our practice room. Our song writing process has always been very diverse, but it the collaborative effort that turns an idea into good song.

Many times, someone in the band will construct the shell of a song and email it to the rest of the band. We then take the it up at practice and reconstruct the original idea into something entirely different. The rest of our songs come from hours of scratching things out in the practice room.  It’s starts with the beginning of a good idea. Once we have a solid idea in hand, we build on it and mold it into something useable. Sometimes Brandon, our vocalist, will write something with lyrics, sometimes he writes lyrics after the instruments are done.

On that note, you guys are almost done tracking a record. How is it going, and when can we expect to hear some tracks? When is the full album going to be released?

We are recording at Interlace Audio in Portland, Oregon with Stephan Hawkes and Kris Crummet. It has been the best recording process we have ever experienced. We actually blocked out a solid two and a half weeks to stay in the studio and make a good album.

We came into the studio with ten songs ready to track, thinking we would narrow down what actually makes the cd to about 5 or 6 songs, but after getting into these songs, there was a unanimous decision to keep everything on the album. The first single “Step Into the Light” will be released online on December 6th, and everything else will be released when we set a release date. There is no release date yet, but we are sure it will be very early 2011.

You just made a music video with CAM Records. Which song did you use? What was it like making a music video?

We made the video for our single “Step Into the Light.”  We had a really good team working with us. We brainstormed a list of ideas and narrowed it down to a really good concept. We are all excited to see the finished product.

What’s the worst gig you’ve ever played? What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?

The worst gig we have ever played was at The Atlas Theatre in Cheyenne Wyoming. We played with 4-6 metal bands. Not good metal bands… “I live in Wyoming” metal bands. At one point, the kid who promoted the show was literally counting over $1500 of ticket money in front of us. We drove from Denver to play this show and he paid us TWENTY bucks. Needless to say we haven’t worked with that promoter again.

It’s hard to pick the “best” show we have ever played because we have been lucky enough to play many, many amazing shows. One of the better ones we have played recently was our Halloween show at the Marquis Theater. It was just so FUN. Ever band dressed up, played well, and had an awesome time.

If you could pick any venue in the world to play, what would it be and why?

Easy question. Cliche answer.  Red Rocks. Red Rocks should be any bands ultimate goal. The place is just awesome, and if anyone disagrees he or she hasn’t seen a show at Red Rocks.

Any exciting gigs (either in or outside of Colorado) coming up?

Right now our main focus is finishing the album. We have a few shows in the works for December/January, but for now the only scheduled show is the video release December 16th. There is speculation for a spring tour on the way to SXSW. To stay up to date with show news or the random useless information from our daily lives just head to our Facebook page or Myspace page.

Meet Leslie Brown: The first in a crazy week of interviews

It’s finals week at UC Denver, which means that everything seems to be put on hold while a collective body of people race to the finish line. However, we at CAM Records aren’t going to let exams get in the way of showcasing great music from Denver.

In fact, we’re capping off the year with our best event yet. This Thursday Dec 16, we’re going to be hosting a music video premier party at the Crossroads Theater at 27th and Welton. Those of you who have been following along with this blog will know that we partnered with the school’s Digital Design class to make eight music videos for local Denver artists. It’s going to be an awesome events where we’ll these excellent videos will be shown for the first time EVER. Yeah, you’ll get to say you saw em first. Before anybody. Seriously. If that’s not enough, there’s also going to be live performances from Glowing House, My Body Sings Electric, and Leslie Brown.

We’ been posting periodic interviews to get everyone excited, but we’re REALLY going to take it to the next level this week. Starting right now, there’s going to be a new interview EVERYDAY with the artists who are performing live. That means you HAVE to check back tomorrow to read about My Body Sings Electric.

But for now, please enjoy a conversation with the incredible, undeniable, the original Leslie Brown.

 

What inspired you to make music, and at what point did you make the decision to peruse it full time? 

I was born to do this.

I’ve been playing classical piano since I was five and I don’t remember life being any other way.  My inspiration is that music is myoutlet and often times my sole source of sanity.  No matter where I am in life, I can always sit down at a piano and all of a sudden, nothing else matters.  There are no questions about who I am because when I’m there, I know.   The same applies when I’m on stage.

It has been more of an evolution than a decision.  All the moments, choices, and epiphanies in my life have amounted to the present.   Inthis process, I’ve discovered that actions are the most important thing – action must accompany every decision.  A huge one for me was deciding to record an EP, and making the call to book my recording session.  Another was booking my release show.   The individual actions start carving a path after a while.

What’s your creative process like?  Your songs seem to be very personal- do you find most of your material coming from real life? 

100% of my material comes from real life.  It’s transparent –  mostly about love/lost love/being drunk over all of the above.  I’m hard-headed, stubborn, selfish, egotistical, and a lot of other things that clash with the concept of romance.  I’m glad it serves a purpose in my songwriting.

You just released an EP”Disarmed and Dangerous” for free online. Where/when did you record it, and who did you recruit to play on it with you?

I started in April 2010 and was finished with mastering in September 2010.  Given what I know now, I would have the whole thing done inunder a month.  I recorded at John Macy’s studio, Macy Sound Studios. Mark Emmons on drums, Drew Morell on bass, Gabriel Mervine on trumpet. For one song, I brought in Josiah Johnson, Genevieve Binder, and Polly Joy Miller for background vocals.  Other songs, I did the 3-5 part vocal harmonies myself.  It was mastered by Andrew Vastola at Rocky Mountain Recorders.  I am thrilled with the outcome.

You also just made a music video with CAM Records. Which song did you use?  What was it like making a music video?

I used the first song off the EP, “Gone.”  It’s a simple Motown-meets-jazz style ditty about the aftershock of a breakup and the lack of ability to recover, even after an extensive amount of time.  Making the music video was awesome!  It revolved around a concept presented by the lyrics, “I haven’t stopped drinking since you left me with the blues.”  We kept it simple with two shoots – one was a scene with a grand piano, dim lighting, wine bottles and Christmas lights. I got to live out my dream of lounging on the piano while singing.  The other scene was a ‘home’ scene.  I’m a total ham and got really into it.  The crew was fantastic and I’m excited to see how it turns out.
You have an amazing range of styles at your disposal. What’s your favorite style of music to play?

Classical.  It gets me high.  And my own material because I’m so emotionally involved in it.
What’s the worst gig you’ve ever played? What’s the best gig you’ve ever  played?

WORST: At a duo gig, the bassist played horribly and blamed it on accidentally sitting on and squashing his own genitals earlier in the day.  We played at a coffee shop for like 5 people who just awkwardlystared at us for 2 hours.

BEST: playing at a jazz festival in Enkhuisen, Holland.  We played in a military watchtower built in the 1500s that had been turned into a jazz club – it would NEVER pass safety codes in the States.  We got 3 standing ovations and there were girls my age dancing on tables while we were         playing – Europeans have a much greater appreciation for early jazz than Americans!

If you could pick any venue in the world to play, what would it be and why? 

The Crossroads Theater on January 8, 2011 because I hear that’s what’s hot.

Any exciting gigs (either in or outside of Colorado) coming up? 

Yes!  January 8, 2011 at the Crossroads Theater in Denver, 7:00p, $5. It’s my EP release concert and party and it’s going to be uhMAAAAzing! I’m bringing in my original band from the recording sessions + 4 backup singers.  I am blessed to have some of the most talented musicians I know up on the stage with me.  There will be a catered reception following the concert.

See….the Crossroad Theater is just where it’s at right now. You (yes YOU!) can see Leslie this Thursday as well at the Crossroads for a taste of what she’s going to thrown down on January 8th. MUCH more to come soon!

 

 

Talkin’ to The Hollyfelds

Hey everyone. Today we talked to Keith from local stars The Hollyfelds. If you want to learn more about the band or check out their tunes, head over to their website HERE.

-What inspired you to make music, and at what point did you make the decision to start a band?

When Eryn and I met and started dating we knew we wanted to play music together. After we got married we decided it was time to start looking for others who would want to start a band. By Spring of 2006 all five of us had formed The Hollyfelds and started practicing, releasing a 4 song EP and starting to play shows that summer. Since everyone already had previous musical experience, it was a pretty natural thing. As far as what inspires people to make music, I can only speak for myself, but I enjoy it because it’s really fun!

-What’s your creative process like? Do you all write songs together, or is it more collaborative?

In the past we have always had some collaboration, but typically Eryn or Kate would come to the band with a song which is fairly close to being finished. This usually includes the chord progression, vocal melody and lyrics, as well as ideas for other parts. Then we will put the “finishing touches” on what they have brought to the rest of us. However, we are starting to write for another full length which we hope to start recording sometime in 2011. We are definitely trying to collaborate more with this release, just to see what happens and where it takes us. We are very much looking forward to it!

-Do you guys play cover tunes? If so, what are some of your favorite songs to play?

While we love our originals, we do play some cover songs. For Halloween this year we all dressed up like characters from different Quentin Tarantino movies. Since his movies have so much awesome music, we learned an entire set of covers from his soundtracks. Stuff like “Woo Hoo” by the 5,6,7,8’s, “Bang Bang” by Nancy Sinatra, “Girl You’ll Be a Woman Soon” by Neil Diamond, and “Son of a Preacher Man” by Dusty Springfield. Other artists we have been known to cover include: Neko Case, Maria McKee, Dolly Parton, Over the Rhine, Rilo Kiley, and Patsy Cline.

-You just made a music video with CAM Records. Which song did you use? What was it like making a music video?

It’s an awesome experience to make a music video, and we are super grateful to CAM Records for working with us. They are still editing it, so we have not seen any of it yet, but we are very excited to see what it looks like. The video was made for the song “Ain’t It Something,” which is off our “Black Heart Blue” EP. The shooting process is definitely different than any other aspect of being in a band because you have to act, which none of us have a ton of experience with. While we were shooting the “live” scenes for the video we were in an empty bar, and we had to pretend that we were playing for a packed house, and we also had to pretend to not notice the people pointing the camera at you. There was a point where I was like “oh no, I hit a wrong note,” which of course doesn’t matter because I wasn’t actually playing. In the words of Jon Lovitz, the Master Thespian from SNL: “ACTING!”  It’s also funny because we shot at this bar in the afternoon, but we had a concert there that evening. So we spent the afternoon pretending to play for a packed house, and then a few hours later, in that same location, we were actually doing that.

-You released “Lo Bueno, Lo Malo, Lo Feo” on 7’ vinyl and digital download. Releasing vinyl seems to be a growing trend for new bands- what led to the decision to do a vinyl and not a CD or digital only release

I don’t think it was a huge decision, I think we just thought it would be cool to have a vinyl release. For people who just want the music, they can get MP3s, which we can offer for cheaper than a CD since there is no physical product involved. But lots of people like the artwork that comes with music. Vinyl offers a larger canvas for the art to exist on, and gives people who want the physical artwork something that seems better than a tiny booklet that comes with a CD. For those people who like to look at artwork, we have a nice looking physical product available as well.

-What’s the worst gig you’ve ever played? What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?

Some of my favorite shows have been opening for bigger national touring acts. Some of these include: Southern Culture on the Skids at The Gothic, Reckless Kelly at The Bluebird, and the Be Good Tanyas at Cervantes, I think all three of these shows were close to being sold out.  We have also had some awesome moments at The Hi-Dive, The Meadowlark and The Skylark, where the audience was just really into what we were doing. We have also been lucky enough to tour around a bit and we have had some really fun nights in Seattle, San Francisco, Kansas City, and Santa Fe, NM, among others.

As far as worst show, I guess our worst show was this outdoor show on the Eastern Plains. It was summer and we were supposed to play in the afternoon. We got there and it looked like there might be some thunderstorms rolling in, but the event coordinators were like “Don’t worry about it, it’s not going to rain.”  So we set up outside in a field with no sort of covering above us. (See where this is going?) The whole time we were setting up the sky was getting darker and more ominous. Nearby there was a picnic area which was covered by a corrugated metal roof. The event coordinators agreed that the weather might be an issue, and we should move our equipment under there to set up and play. We got our equipment under the covering and had just barely started to set it up when a torrential downpour started. Since we were under the only available shelter in the area, tons of the people attending the event crammed under there with us as well. The rain fell so fast that even though our equipment was sheltered from above, the ground basically turned into a small river, and the wind was so strong that it was blowing water under the shelter, soaking our equipment. We managed to get our equipment into cases and up on top of picnic tables and wrapped in tarps to protect it, and we thought we were OK to wait out the storm. That’s when the hail started. And the lightning. Some of the lightning hit close enough that you could feel the shock in your feet on the ground, and the thunder made the ground shake. At this point we decided that it was probably dangerous to stay where we were, so I ran through the rain back to where the car was parked and drove it over to where we could most easily load our equipment. We haphazardly threw it all in the back of our Ford hatchback and I slammed the hatchback closed. Well, one of our amps was not quite in far enough and it hit the back window, shattering it. It was of course still pouring, so we took a tarp and kind of covered the back window and got out of there. Surprisingly, all our equipment was OK, but replacing the rear window glass was a bummer.

-If you could pick any venue in the world to play, what would it be and why?

KEITH: Hmmmm. I don’t really know. Red Rocks? Madison Square Garden? CBGB’s when it was still around? Any place in Europe? Or Japan? An outdoor show on Colorado’s Eastern Plains during a thunderstorm?

-What are your plans for the future? Any exciting gigs (either in or outside of Colorado) coming up?

KEITH: We are super excited to be working on new material and hope to record another full length release in 2011. We’ll also have a bunch of cool shows in 2011 as well. Thanks for the chance to be part of this!

Thank you, Keith, for a great interview. Stay tuned in the next few weeks for interview with all the other acts who made a music video with us this semester.

On that note, we will be officially premiering these videos at a special event at the Crossroads Theater on December 16. More info to come!

An interview with John Common

Hey there! Here’s part 2 of our interview series. This time we chatted with John Common of John Common and the Blinding Flashes of Light, who had some pretty excellent things to say. You can hear his music HERE

-What first inspired you to make music?

Hmmm… I come from a really creative family.  My mother is a musician.  My father is a singer.  My oldest brother Scott is a musician, songwriter and a fantastic storyteller and writer.  My older brother Bruce is a visual artist.  None of them are “professional” artists or musicians, so if they were here right now, they’d be saying very humble things … but the truth is, I grew up in a very expressive, creative family.

Music and writing both came to me early… I started playing music when my mother insisted that I take piano lessons at an early age.  I was good at it, even though I didn’t particularly enjoy playing other people’s music… fitting into that box.  I came to writing because I’ve just always loved language and writing.  Even as a little kid, I used to peck out stories and ideas on my mother’s old manual typewriter.  One of my favorite books to read growing up (and still, to this day) was the dictionary.  No kidding.  Then I saw my brother Scott playing acoustic guitar and singing songs that he loved – mostly Neil Young songs.  When he joined the Navy and went off to boot camp and his tour of duty, I essentially broke into his room and stole his Neil Young guitar/tab/lyric books (Decade, if I recall) and his Epiphone acoustic guitar.  I taught myself to play by learning the songs my older brothers loved, on his guitar.

My brothers’ record collection (and to some extent, my father’s too) left a pretty big imprint on me: Neil Young, The Beatles, The Cars, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kiss, James Taylor, Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Genesis, Jackson Browne, The Doors.  Then when I started listening to my own music, I listened to a lot of Velvet Underground, more and more Dylan, more Beatles, really early REM, Jason and the Scorchers, The Replacements, LOTS of Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Daniel Lanois, Steve Earle… and then into 50s and 60s jazz… and on and on.  The thread running through all of it was the song.  I’m still endlessly fascinated by songs.

It didn’t take long before it dawned on me that I could write, perform and sing my own songs… so I did.

-What’s the creative process like? I imagine that you write all of the songs, but how much input do The Blinding Flashes of Light have in the final arrangements?

That’s a really big question!  Yes, I’m the songwriter in JC&BFoL.  But the band has quite a lot to do with the final arrangements, tones and their own parts of course.  I play with an incredibly talented group of people.  I usually bring in a new song and get us started in a certain direction… things like tempo and groove and general vibe… but then the band’s creative dynamic kicks in and we make decisions like arrangements and orchestration and interlocking parts as a group.

-You just made a music video with CAM Records. Which song did you use? What was it like making a music video?

It’s a video for a song named ‘The Man Who Could’ from our new record, Beautiful Empty.  I haven’t seen the video yet! This one’s going to be animation.  We specifically didn’t want it to be a typical performance-based, “band in the video” video.   But we’ve made videos with filmmakers a lot over the last year.  It’s fun.  Film is such a collaborative art form.

-In addition to your own songs, I know that you do covers (I caught your version of Tom Wait’s ‘Clap Hands’ at the UMS this summer that absolutely gave me chills). What are some of your favorite cover songs?

It’s a big challenge to reinterpret a song that you’ve loved a long time.  I’m not very interested in just going through the motions of a cover.  I feel like we have to bring something unique to the song, otherwise, why bother?  We just started doing a version of “Luck Be A Lady Tonight” — known as a Sinatra song but written by Frank Loesser.

-What’s the worst gig you’ve ever played? What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?

Best gig would be a tie between Red Rocks this summer with JC&BFoL and this small acoustic gig I played in Italy years ago where the audience unexpectedly (to me) knew the lyrics to my songs.

The WEIRDEST GIG was down in Colorado Springs a long time ago with a band I used to be in named Rainville. Two strippers (I found out later — we didn’t know them) randomly showed up.  Now this is in Colorado Springs, land of Focus on the Family.  They stripped utterly buck naked right in front of the band and the rest of the crowd.  It happened to be the first gig of our new drummer.  After they stripped naked, I turned to him between songs and calmly said, “This happens all the time man.  Get used to it.”  That was a bald faced lie of course.  I keep waiting for it to happen again.  It’s like seeing a unicorn in your bathroom one morning.  You just can’t bank on that being a regular thing.

-If you could pick any venue in the world to play, what would it be and why?

A theater tour through Western Europe would be nice.

-What ever happened to the kazoo orchestra? Any plans on reviving it in the future?

Ahh… the PKO. (People’s Kazoo Orchestra).  Some things simply can’t be explained, Harrison.  The PKO is a capricious and serendipitous being.  The stars must align.  Barometric pressure must be correct.  And the air quality must be exquisite.  But mark my words: it will happen.  And when it does, history will be made.

-Any exciting gigs (either in or outside of Colorado) coming up?

We’re going back in the studio soon… so we’re staying close to home for a few months.  We have a bunch of extremely cool things cooking right now for early 2011 though.  Stay tuned.

An interview you won’t Regret reading…….

Hey everyone! I’d like to present the first in a series of interviews with artists who are producing music videos with the help of CAM Records. Today we talked to the dudes from Regret Night, a super-fun band whose music is sure to get your party started. You can see for yourself HERE.

What inspired you to make music, and at what point did you make the decision to start a band?

- We would have to say other bands inspired us to make music.  We have been playing music for a while and we’ve always had a passion for it.  At one point we had all taken a break from music and couldn’t take being away from it for a long time so we decided to come back together and form Regret Night.

What’s your creative process like? Do you all write songs together, or is it more collaborative?

- Nick S and Matt S play and write a lot together.  Most of the time they come up with a melody or phrase and we just go from there.  Drums are added in and then piano and guitar.  It can get frustrating at times but what we come up with in the end is great.

You just made a music video with CAM Records. Which song did you use? What was it like making a music video?

- We shot a video for a single off our new Living The Night Life EP called “Hailey Hey.”  Making the video was amazing.  We had a lot of fun doing it and we were very much involved in the creative process.  The group shooting the video was very accommodating and really determined to give us a great video.  We can’t wait to see the final product and the gag reel.

What’s the worst gig you’ve ever played? What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?

- Well we did play a show with a band called Broadway Calls.  The band was great but unfortunately we weren’t well liked by the audience.  There were about 300 people at the venue and as soon as we hit the stage only 3 people stayed to watch us.  So needless to say that was a pretty bad feeling.  Best gig we ever played?  There are a lot of them.  Lets see The Maine, Breathe Carolina, Tickle Me Pink, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, The Ataris, Big Gig 2010, First Bank Event Center, etc.  There have been too many we can’t name em all.

Do you guys play cover tunes? If so, what are some of your favorite songs to play?

- Yes we do!  We have done so many covers it’s not even funny.  We like to implement covers into our set so the audience that may not know our music, can relate to us in some way through a cover.  We can’t decided a favorite but we have done covers from Soulja Boy, Flo Rida, Limp Bizkit, Eve 6, Goo Goo Dolls, Savage, Katy Perry, etc.

If you could pick any venue in the world to play, what would it be and why?

- We’ve never been asked that one before.  Dennis loves John Elway so his vote is Invesco Field.  I don’t think we really have one.  Any venue that can hold 30,000 fans and has a backstage with a hot tub, green m&m’s, and bottles of Cristal!  lol

What are your plans for the future? Any exciting gigs (either in or outside of Colorado) coming up?

- We have a few things set up for this coming year.  We plan on re-releasing our EP in a deluxe version featuring an unreleased songs and the music video attached.  We plan to go back into the studio to record another EP.  We plan on setting up a Spring/Summer tour and we are actively looking for any management/label a the moment.  Only gigs we have planned are November 19 @ Club 156 in Boulder and November 27th @ Summit Music Hall in Denver.

Well there you have it- hope to see you at the Summit Music Hal on the 27th (great new venue in Denver).

Stay tuned for more interviews with John Common, The Hollyfelds, and more in the coming weeks.

USB Wristbands- It’s like a CD, but you wear it…..

A few weeks ago, students at the Auraria Campus noticed that campus was a bit more crowded then usual. No one is ever really surprised at how full it is on the first week of class, because everyone needs to show up on the first day. But week 4? That’s right around the time campus usually starts to settle into its routine and you start to see fewer bodies, either because people have already dropped out or because they’ve just overslept/decided that class just wasn’t a top priority that day.

But the increased crowed due to Fall Fest, a week in which every student organization, small business, bank, and vendor seems to be hocking and/or promoting their stuff to the masses of people just trying to get to class on time. And while most of these tables are handing out flyers that most certainly go into the next available garbage, there was one table that seemed to be fighting the good fight and giving out something more then free pizza in exchange for your soul (aka a new credit card application). If you’re reading this on the new CAM Blog, then it should be no surprise to you that this table I speak of was the CAM RECORDS TABLE, which contained the coolest, most cutting edge music distribution device since Apple invented ITunes: USB Wristbands.

The idea is pretty simple: it’s a 1 GB flash drive at the end of a piece of thick plastic that can be worn on the wrist.  Our wristband is loaded with From These Words, the last full CAM Records release, as well as a bunch of other content created with the help of CAM. The best part about it is that if someone buys the wristband for $10, they can bring it back to us every semester and we’ll load it up will all of our newest stuff. It’s just like file-sharing, except you get the music from real people, not interweb programs. And  it’s totally legal.  So if you’re a freshmen and you spend $10, you’ll be entitled to at least 4 years of fresh music from the campus record label. Plus, it works as a regular flash drive for everything else you might need a flash drive for.

While we certainly didn’t invent this idea and aren’t the only ones using it ,we’re definitely one of the first record labels of any size to utilize it as a primary means of getting our music out there. Since everyone knows that CDs are sooo 1995, and digital downloads are impossible to hold in your hands, the USB drives are a pretty sweet way to pass around music. I’ve already downloaded the CAM music and videos to my computer and loaded it back up with a bunch of other music I wanted to show a friend. Even if blank CDs are pretty cheap, this certainly beats carrying around a lame little disk.

Stay tuned for the updates on all the acts we’re currently working with and news about upcoming CAM events.



We Play Music

CAM Records is made up of music business students who want to get some experience being part of a small record label. While it might come as a shock to some, music students tend to play music with each other, both for fun and in many cases with the hopes of making a living of it one day. Our label’s main goal throughout the semester is to discover and sign local acts; however, one of the few rules is that the act cannot contain any members who are also enrolled in the record label. We’re obviously trying to avoid a conflict of interest and avoid the possibility that someone might end up working on something involving….their band. This is where the blog comes in, to get the word out about a few great projects with members of CAM Records.

First up is Tacheles, a gypsy jazz group composed of a couple of UC Denver alums, as well as our website manager Colin Clark on the banjo.  Their music is a heady mix of many different styles and eras. You can expect to hear everything from Latin grooves to Django Reinhardt hot club music to straight-ahead jazz. This group performs at many different kinds of events around the area, and their absolute professionalism allows them to fit it at any kind of venue. You can give it a listen here.

In addition to shredding the banjo, Colin also writes a blog of his own that details the best in current folk, Americana, and bluegrass. Imagine it like this blog, except about 100 times better.

The next mention is the solo project of CAM’s CD Project Manager Michael Glader, who just released a CD called “What’s Left of My Hands”. In addition to being incredibly well produced, it might also be some of the best DIY packaging to ever be created. His songs contain hints of modern indie rockers like Grizzly Bear and M. Ward and electic-guitar wielding singers like Jeff Buckley Lou Reed alike. You can catch Michael playing live at the Meadowlark on Wed Nov. 10 (Full disclosure: Yours truly will be performing solo that night. I’ll also be playing bass in Michael’s newly formed live band.) You can hear cuts from “Whats Left of My Hands” here.

Stay tuned for info on all of CAM Record’s acts, or as we like to think of them: the best bands in Denver……

CAM’s First Blog

Hi everyone- Welcome to the brand-new CAM Records blog, which we will use to update the interwebs on all the new and exciting things we plan on getting into in the next few months. I think that a blog offers an exciting opportunity for a small, student-run record label because it’s such an easy way to get the word out about new projects and even get some feedback from you, the reader. This is an exciting time for the music industry because everything is changing so fast, and it’s an exciting time for Denver’s music scene because it seems to be growing by the day. I think that this site will let us document all the bands that we work/hope to work with-  think of it as a diary for CAM Records, but without any embarrassing personal details. It’s my hope that this blog will be a good summary of not only the work that CAM Records does, but also what’s going on in Denver. As anyone whose gone a local show in the last year can tell you, it seems like everyone in town is in a band. On any given night, chances are that someone I know is playing a gig somewhere, but it’s completely impossible to hear and see everything. I know I’m not alone in feeling a bit overwhelmed, so this is going to be a way to filter it all in an easy-to-read, easy-to-follow website. If you’re a local band and you would like us to mention you, please email me at hjguitar@gmail.com so we can help you out. Stay tuned for posts about USB wristbands, Fall Fest, and lots and lots of music. In the meantime, check this out: Wonder Age Teaser from Air Dubai on Vimeo.  Air Dubai is one of many artists featured on our USB wristband release.