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26 February 2024

Every Monday I will be bringing you an interview with an independent band, duo or music artist. This week, I caught up with Scott from Stoke-on-Trent band Camens to find out more…

Who is in the band, how did you meet, where are you from and how did you come up with the name?
We’re all from Stoke…

Speaking personally, I got into music in high school… kind of around that age where you’re figuring out where you fit in. I’d always sung, and my mum and dad always loved music. Good stuff, Beatles, Kinks, Animals.. that was Dad. Mum loved Zeppelin and Pink Floyd. Many more, that’s a solid start I think for any songwriter.

I always enjoyed playing with words and ideas. For a while I’d write poems or songs with melody’s but no music. Then around high school, 14/15, I cottoned on to friends who played and thought I’d learn to turn the poems into songs. Then that was me really, been writing ever since. Still get the same buzz now as I did then when I think I’ve got something. That’s the drug.

Corbs I think started to play in high school too. I know Luke and Josh have been playing about as long as they’ve been walking and talking. It’s bled into them.

We’ve got Luke on drums, Josh on Rhythm, Corbs on Lead guitar and I play bass and sing. Josh and Luke sing too.

The band initially grew around a solo project I started. Corbs saw some stuff I’d ‘released’ online, liked it. We had a jam and it grew from there. Corbs knew Josh… and we found Luke on an online music page looking for a band. We gigged the solo stuff for a while. Then, as we started to write together, the sound evolved to be more us than me. So we rebranded as Camens.

Naming a band is impossible, there’s a good reason for every name you can think of to not go with it. We settled on Camens, as in the little crocodile, but spelt wrong, so you can find us on google. I heard it on an Attenborough doc, why not?

Who were your musical influences when you were growing up and who are your influences now?
That’s an endless list. Everchanging too. I think we all have like a cross section of things we all lock on. So probably better to pick them out. There’s all the greats that don’t really need naming, Beatles, Bowie, Paul Simon, etc… then in terms of the actual sound, we’re certainly children of the early 2000s wave of guitar bands. Arctic’s, Strokes, Killers, KOL, White Stripes. I think we all love melody but with some edge to it. And good song writing, good ideas… Real world building, life affirming stuff.

How would you describe your sound?
It starts with the song, I think often a lot of stuff is a sound.. but not a song. So It has to work once you strip the ‘sound’ away to just a vocal and guitar/piano. As for the sound we end up on, there’s always a 2000’s indie ref in there somewhere. We aim for the Strokes a lot, but that’s easier said than done. Especially without Julian’s voice. So we probably end up somewhere between there and a British equivalent, of where there are many. Cribs, Catfish, Arctic’s etc. We used to get The Wombats a bit because of the three parts and BV’s.

What is your latest release called and what was the influence behind it?
It’s called Cynical. It’s the first single off our new album WORK/LIFE/BALANCE, out May 3rd! It’s a break up song. It’s that stage of a relationship where you’re just bored of each other.. and it goes quiet when you’re together, just drifting on sofas and at dinner tables. When the magic’s worn off and you’re questioning where it’s going… Delving down dead ends and black holes, asking internal questions that really should be asked out loud.

Sound wise, it’s a fresh take on modern contemporaries such as The Vaccines and Circa Waves, blended with a current edge on The Cardigans.

What’s your local music scene like?
Good! There’s a lot of good artists in Stoke. It’s quite frustrating for bands in Stoke because it’s quite small in comparison to Liverpool and Manchester, London etc. I think there’s just more opportunities to play week in and week out in bigger cities. Whereas Stoke kind of has three venues you catch touring acts at. Then it’s pubs and clubs. Less opportunities but plenty of talent. There is so much! All The Young, are great; Shader are doing really good stuff; Adam French, local lad, Lissy Taylor too, Darla Jade is doing amazing things at the moment. So yeah, the talent is here, we just find ourselves going further afield than Stoke to push it really, which is a shame. There are a lot of good promoters as well. I think the whole scene is working hard to grow.

What do you have planned for the next 12 months?
Tons, our first album WORK/LIFE/BALANCE is out May 3rd. Pre Order now 😉 Four singles to come before then. We have our release tour in May too heading to Birmingham, London, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Liverpool and of course Stoke. We’ve some great festivals already lined up… Your City, Jurassic Fields in Dorset, The Weekend Fest in Derby, more to announce soon too! So yea, we’re gonna be busy boys!

Is there anyone you’d love to collaborate with?
Most of them are dead. Joking, naa tons, Jack White, unreal. Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend, crazy songwriter. His producer Ariel Rechtshaid, he did all the Haim stuff too, very cool. Another endless list.

Any funny stories surrounding your live performances?
How long have you got? Haha yea again tons… One of note, quite early on we played in Birmingham. The band before us on the bill consisted of 3 men and their 3 acoustic guitars. We counted 13 strings in total between them. They brought with them, a pop up tent and a toy electric campfire. They then set this up in the space in front of the stage. Sat around it, facing each other. Then they played 3 Oasis covers… followed by an original, entitled ‘Who’s Got The Ket?’.

The song was this line, on repeat, over and over… and over… they had to be forcibly removed from the venue as the ket song reached its…. 14th? 15th? minute of repetition.

I had a little cry in the van that night.

What is the one thing that you want readers to know about you?
There’s two ways to play the music industry. You’re either what you are regardless of what’s ‘in’, or you’re doing everything you can to pretend to be whatever the industry thinks it wants. Even if that’s not you.

I think authenticity is really important, it always has been for us. I heard someone say in an interview once when I was younger, write what you know, because if it’s real for you, it will be real for other people too. We’ve always tried our best to be an honest rock and roll band. If you give us a listen, that’s what you’ll get.

You can find out more about Camens via Apple Music, Bandcamp, Facebook, Instagram, Patreon, SoundCloud, Spotify, TikTok, X (Twitter)or YouTube.