My New Band Believe: “Studio recordings are great, but they’re slightly soupy”
The brains behind the band spoke all things debut album, music venues and how the album should be played (spoiler: loud).
Photo: Press
Cameron Picton of My New Band Believe embodies what his sound portrays. He is someone who creates for the sake of creating and finds like-minded people to help along that journey. The band’s self-titled debut album is a love letter to everyone who helped piece the sound together, rather than something Cameron wishes to impose a self-made identity upon. As an album, it is truly captivating, heartfelt and, at moments, just downright fun.
From kissing Townes Van Zant to singing the praises of Shovel Dance Collective, it was great to delve into the mind of Cameron Picton.
I attended a few of your WIP shows at The Windmill last year. Did any of the songs change dramatically from live performance to studio album?
I tried as much as possible to not play songs from the album because the shows were supposed to be about exploring my next thing. Also, the songs from the album were too difficult to replicate live from show to show. I used it as an opportunity to write a few much simpler songs, as we’d often only have one rehearsal. On the surface, songs like Lecture and Numerology seem simple but, structurally, they needed extra time before we could actually perform them. Songs like Actress and Heart of Darkness needed extra time and even multiple days to rehearse.
Which track was the hardest to get ‘right’?
The words for In the Blink of an Eye took a long time to have any idea about but I spent a lot of time making sure Love Story was right. That was the one I was particularly keen to get it sounding how it should sound.
Kiss, Marry, Kill: Townes Van Zandt, Jeff Buckley, Leonard Cohen?
That’s not possible — they’re all dead! Who would I marry? Probably old man Leonard Cohen. But that guy was doing a lot of amphetamines in the ‘70s, so that would’ve been annoying. Jeff, maybe, if you’re gonna have to kill someone — it could be him. But only right before he died anyway.
So, you’d kiss Townes?
Aw… I don’t really want to do that.
Maybe just a high five?
Yeah, or put a little screen between us.
Going back to the album, I’m curious whether the environment shaped the sound considering you recorded in so many places?
In many cases, the environment is the sound. [At] the end of Pearls, you’re physically taken from the studio to the street outside.
Was there any media you were consuming during the creation of the album that influenced your lyrics or production of the project?
I listened to lots of Judee Sill live albums and bootlegs. I found myself coming back to lots of live albums and non-studio recordings of those songs.
Do you find live recordings more authentic?
Not necessarily, I just found myself coming back to them. Studio recordings are great, but they’re slightly soupy, and I think there’s more potency to the live albums. I found them a bit more enchanting.
Love Story is an amazing song. Is My New Band Believe a love letter to anything?
Yeah, this album has just developed over a long period of time in a way that has been an exploration of lots of different things and going down different paths. Anything I enjoyed doing ended up going into the album, and I just started writing the songs to try out solo performing for the first time.
I had this idea to make a collaborative album with Caroline. It ended up being a blend of the two, as well as loads of other collaborators. The main thing for me was that I wasn’t making a solo or a band record; I was just making a record, and I didn’t want to impose any identity onto the record.
What are the best venues in London for music?
I like The Horse Hospital in Bloomsbury. It’s been around for about 30 or 40 years, and the previous owner died a few years ago, and it’s come into the stewardship of the younger people he employed. They’ve put a lot of money into it, and now it’s very live music-focused. It’s a really great room to play in. Cafe Otto is great too; [it] has a great space to experiment in, and it has great equipment. It’s just nice that The Horse Hospital is a ‘new’ venue to attract live music and hear new stuff.
Are there any emerging artists you want to shout out?
People should go and see Shovel Dance Collective. Go and see anything. It might be good, it might be terrible, but you’ll find out.
To close, is there any way you’d like people to listen to the album?
… Just really loud.
My New Band Believe is out now via Rough Trade Records.
You can also find this interview in print. Order Issue 2 of The Indie Scene Magazine here.
