‘New Album’ is where a band or artist answers some questions about their latest release. Up next is Cam from Blue River Baby Band, whose debut album Blue River Baby ALBUM came out in July. They began an NZ Tour in September, as the album debuted at #1 on the IMNZ charts & #8 on the NZ album charts, and will be back in Wellington at Jack Hackett’s on October 5th.
When/where was the new album recorded?
We recorded this over several days in May and October 2018 at the Surgery Studio in Newtown Wellington.
Who produced/engineered the album? How did the tracks come together in the studio, or at home?
We had Lee Prebble mix and engineer the album live in the studio. For us as a larger group recording live and together was the way to go, we’d been playing a bunch of live gigs and practicing and workshoping the songs so we felt it was the best way to bottle the energy.
How did the songwriting happen? Are there any overall themes within the songs/album?
In most cases the songs seeded from Jams or one of us would bring lyrics or a melody to the table. We’d then workshop them and record each the practice room as we go. Once happy we’d then head out and test them in our live set. Most of the songs reference the human condition, love found and lost, addiction etc.
Were you going for a different sound/approach on this album?
This is our debut album so our focus was to play together live and capture each song as best we could.
Was there any specific gear you used to capture that?
Lee has some pretty cool gear, objective ears and loads of pencils on hand. We turned up with most of our own instruments and baking so that once recorded we could easy replicate the sound on stage keeping it real.
Is there a particular single/track that you feel captures the essence of the album?
For me it would be between ‘Walk of Shame’ and ‘Blackyard Town’ the others in the band would tell you ‘Closer’ or ‘Blue River Baby’ I guess.
Is there a physical copy available? If not which digital platforms is it available on?
Yes for sure our CD’s are on sale at Gigs, and from our Bandcamp page. You can also pick up a copy from Slowboat Records or Rough Peel in Wellington, Real Groovy and Flying Out in Auckland. All CD’s are released by FireFlower Records in 100% re-used jewel CD cases, saved from the WCC Landfill tip shop, then reconditioned by FireFlower. You can also follow us up on Spotify, iTunes, Apple music, Soundcloud & YouTube.
Are you working on a video/videos for any of the songs? Are you doing any gigs or promotion for its release?
We’re currently on tour and are bringing our filmmaker/artist/musician friend Phill Simmonds along for the ride, he’s filming moments as we go and projecting live over the band in Nelson and Christchurch so we’ll see what develops. We’ve recently released videos for ‘Blue River Baby’ and our Parody tune ‘Vigilante Panda’.