‘The Eighth Note’ is 8 quick Questions with Wellington Musicians.
A chance for us to catch up with people & see what they’re up to, or introduce you to a new musician/band and their music.
Today’s guest is Cam from Blue River Baby Band.
Who are you? Tell us a bit about your music:
Blue River Baby are Ivy Padilla (Panda) lead vocals, Jason Hotton Drums, Matt Fitzpatrick Lead guitar, Dave Bamford bass, John Gualter Sax, Kali Barton Trombone, myself Cam Crawford on keys/BV’s and Raymond Lynch on sound. Blue River Baby are a fresh energetic powerhouse Kiwi Psychedelic Rock band, bringing a wondrous infusion of Soul, Funk, Blues and Roots. Each member is inspired by multi genres and era’s which together form a captivating sound. Ivy’s vocals and on-stage energy intertwine effortlessly with guitar, keys and horns held over fat bass grooves and epic drumming. Originally formed in 2016 the bands members are drawn from current and ex members of Whole Lotta Led, Southside of Bombay, My Golden Soul, Julie Lamb Band, Roger Fox, The Deville Brothers as well as Circa Improvisors. They also won a 3= placing at the 2017 national NZ Battle of the bands.
What have you been working on lately? Any new tracks or albums on the way?
So, we’ve been working on recording our Debut Album (BRBB) at the Surgery Studios with Dr Lee Prebble, during May we managed to lay down 8 tracks. Since then we’ve been re-listening to these under the microscope and identifying opportunities to make each song the best it can be. We’ll then initially release some singles November/ December this year followed by the full album
Where is the best place people can follow you & find your music?
Once our music is ready for release it will be out on all the major streaming channels Spotify, iTunes etc with DRM Distribution, but for now you can check us out at Facebook & ReverbNation.
What were the 3 most influential albums to you growing up?
So hard to narrow it down but here it goes:
The Doors – The Doors
Led Zeppelin – IV
Crowded house – Woodface
We all dig Bob Marley, Hendrix, Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Carpenters, Aretha Franklin
Dylan, Fleetwood, Shapeshifter, Fat Freddy’s, The Specials.
Which other Wellington musician (s) would you most like to work with?
There’s so much diverse and interesting talent in Wellington, I really like what The Nudge and Raw Collective are up to now, would be great to work with them or be on a bill one day with Fat Freddy’s, The Black Seeds, Louis Baker.
What’s your favourite Wellington venue to play in?
We’ve played a few now in Wellington, The Grand, San Fran, Valhalla, Angus Inn, Lovelands, Residence, St Peter’s Paekakariki and we’ll play Leroy’s in the next few days. Each of them has their own vibe. Favourites so far would be Lovelands and San Fran we’re also looking for a venue for our singles release’s and Album launch.
In your songwriting or composing (or the band’s songwriting) how do the compositions and songs take shape?
For me I’ll sit at the piano generally with lyrics or a theme in mind, then chart out what captures me, keeps me interested or connects musically and record it on my phone or whatever is handy. Then drop that into the bands FB Group and dropbox , as a band we collectively jam these out at Practice each adding our parts. Some songs come out pretty much fully formed and others are many months and revisits. In term of Lyrics I keep a journal and will scratch down ideas as they come to mind, sometimes I’ll hear a melody or hook as I’m doing this so will try to capture that before it goes, so my phone is often full of voice memos. Our songs are pretty much all inspired from real life experience and events. As a band we collectively have writing and compositional chops and are brutally honest If we don’t like something, which really helps to keep things moving in the right direction. Two weeks ago, Ivy Padilla came out with a great song “Blood I lost” initially as lyrics with a melody outline, this is now forming into a song that we think will be something special.
Where/when is your next gig?
We’re Playing Friday 24th August at Leroy’s Bar 2 Plimmers Steps Wellington, then it’s straight into the studio. After that we’ll have some local single release shows (venues to be confirmed) towards the end of the year. Then we’ve been invited to play the main stage NYE in Nelson in front of 10,000 odd which we’re excited about. Our names also in for a few festival gigs around the city February and March 2019.