Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with Camden Paris Parsons
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
Keith: I remember when i was very young (probably around 5 years old) going into a friends house and seeing his brothers guitar/amp and thinking “this looks cool”. My older brother was very much into heavy metal and one of my first real musical memories is jumping on my bed with a tennis racket playing air guitar to ACDC.
Edmund: My uncle gave me a tape of songs, which contained The Police on one side and The Beatles on the other. One of the songs on the Beatles side was ‘Hey Bulldog’, I had a very old stereo and just listened to that song over and over and over.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
Keith: Personally, when i was 17 I went to Spike Island to see the Stone Roses in the summer of 1990 and immediately started saving for a guitar when i got home to Scotland. We were lucky because the early 1990s gave us Madchester, Shoegaze, Grunge and then Britpop all in the space of around 5 years. I’m not sure there’s been such an intensively creative and varied guitar music and art scene in such a short space of time since.
Edmund: I used to love playing with musical instruments in anyone’s houses my family went to. Piano’s especially.
Guitar – and later bass – didn’t really kick in until my teens…
What’s the story behind your current music project?
Keith: James and i played in an indie band called Sundowner when i first moved to Camden, London in the mid-late 1990’s and Edmund was in bands at the same time so we have all been friends ever since. It was James’ idea to go to Memphis & Muscle Shoals to experience those classic USA recording studios (Sun, Sam Phillips, Ardent, Muscle Shoals Sound and FAME) and Edmund and I kind of invited ourselves along. We all listen to a lot of 60s/70s Americana music (Big Star, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Gram Parsons, Stax Soul etc.) so it was really exciting for us to use the exact same recording studios as some of our own musical influences.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
It’s definitely our own UK take on Americana/Alt Country/Country Rock so i guess we’d just call it British Country Rock.
What is one thing you’ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
Keith: Collabaration and compromise. James always has a specific, focussed idea of how he wants his songs to sound but is also open to new ideas if it makes the songs better. I’ll write some songs and demo them then James will sometimes completely change the melody lines and lyrics and take them in a different direction. We had a guest vocalist from Memphis called Amy LaVere sing on 2 songs on our second album and she added something special that we couldn’t have done on our own.
Edmund: Dynamics. One of my old band’s lead singers used to take our songs and introduce light and shade, moments of build, of ebb and flow…and now I find it hard to listen to anything that doesn’t have that variety of texture.
What tools, instruments, or software are essential in your creative process?
Keith: James is a big Logic Pro guy. Edmund has done a huge amount of Djing over the years so he’s most comfortable in Ableton. I use a Taylor acoustic and mike it up to Garageband for my initial demos – just to see if there’s actually something there worth chasing.
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
Keith: I’ve been listening a lot to Dylan LeBlanc. His last album Coyote is a great piece of work and the title track is on high my playlist. James and Edmund have been to see Willie J Healey, Bartees Strange, Ryan Davis, Horsebath or Slow Motion Cowboys recently.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
Keith: I think growing up a bit and having a family has made me less fearful of being judged. I just write and record songs that i like and sound like something i’d listen to myself without worrying about influences.
Edmund: I used to find all my songs were about heartbreak in one way or another.
It took me a long time to wrench myself out of that mindset. These days I find I’m happier writing basslines and music that gives me a feeling of driving groove and then seeing where that leads me lyrically.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
With CPP we’d love to think people find the songs give them a connection to a band pulling together to produce something that gives the same vibe or feeling that the bands we love used to…but without ever feeling they’re listening to something they’ve heard before.
What’s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
Edmund: I think that people are much closer to their souls than they believe – and that no matter how far technology has taken us…an incredible piece of music can bring us right back to another time and place in a moment.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
As a band we’d love to do The Roundhouse in London or the End Of The Road Festival…or Green Man in the Brecon Beacons…just an incredible festival.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
Keith: Neil Young. I’ve been listening to him for as long as i can remember and I love his songwriting and performances. Incredible that he can still put on the shows he does now.
Edmund: The Pixies still hold an incredibly important place in my heart.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website,Spotify, IG, links)
We have 2 albums up on all the usual platforms – Spotify, Apple etc.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/564kmOe9Aloaw3rO1W94l3?si=hu9BiUIVTG-VZq5CfNh_iQ
and
https://www.instagram.com/Camdenparisparsons/
Looking toward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
Well, we’ve just started demos for a 3rd album but we’re not sure where that will ultimately be recorded. James is keen on a trip to Hansa Studios in Berlin this time around so maybe a mix of there and London.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
How varied…and yet tied together…our music is!
