Campfires: A Stormy Late Fall

“The idea of sitting around and making these songs, piecing them together on my own, started when I was 16 I think, in my parents basement during the winter.” says Jeff Walls, the man behind Campfires. His one man project tries to do something slightly different. It’s warmer. There’s something loving in each of his tracks, rather than the coldness of his more dubby counterparts. It’s, quite aptly, music to get cosy to. “Winter is pretty brutal in Michigan, where I’m from, so I was just trapped in the house for months and set up two boomboxes and would record on one then record another part and the first part played back on the other and then back and forth until I had a song“. Listen carefully and you can hear the layers slotting together. “From then it was just a matter of gradually getting more and more serious about it and putting money into it until I had mics and equipment and a drum kit of my own so I didn’t have to record drum parts on the fly. I’m 24 now so it’s been about 8 years of off and on recording, sometimes more off than on. I learned some things by accident about layering guitars, but I remember one of them was just an entire side of me and my friend trying to cover ‘Say It Ain’t So’ over and over again.” And, like many of these artists, they aren’t pushing themselves on their listeners. Like Ryan Gosling’s Dead Man’s Bones, it’s something created by the audience as much as the band. “just every once in awhile when we were drunk I’d make people listen to it or play it for close friends. Eventually a few people, who I owe a lot too, encouraged me to finish up the loose ends and get it out there. Then finally this summer I put them online.” Despite commentators shouting Hipster-wave! Chillwave! Get a life wave! at these ‘bedroom’ artists, Jeff remains positive. He, like Ernest Greene and co, understands that making music in your bedroom can help us to form new models of releasing music. Friends can release each others’ records, put on each others’ shows and distribute it around the world better than ever before. “All that stuff makes me excited for the direction music in general is headed, because it shows that what really powers the whole thing is people who just really love music and love playing it and listening to it and sharing it and everything, and not some weird backwards moneymaking apparatus that tells people what they have to like. As long as people are willing to support the music they like, financially and otherwise, than everything will be fine” he says.

But wait. Isn’t this story still kind of backwards? Surely he should be playing songs live, partying with friends and enjoying himself. Is Jeff just going to be another stay at home bod? Will Campfires ever make it on the road? Live music is exciting, isn’t it going to be a bore just recreating a [home] studio sound? “I’ve played live a decent number of times before just playing guitar and stuff in other bands, although I’ve never really toured in the coast to coast sense. I had a few shows last summer where it was just me doing John Fahey type guitar stuff (really poorly) and I was pretty nervous for that but it’s a lot easier when there’s more of a racket and energy. I guess it’s more just a matter of finding some people. I feel ready to hit the ground running with it but of course other people might not be as committed or ready to hop in a van for awhile because it didn’t originate as their project. I’m pretty optimistic that it’ll work out though. I’m hoping to get people together to practice and play locally this winter and then try to hit the road in the spring or summer. I’d like to try to do something similar mainly in feel rather than in actual end product. I think it’s always good to make live shows loud and intense and fun so that’d be a goal, but I’m hoping to have a lot of guitar stuff going on so that it is immersive in that way too. As few effects and stuff like that as possible”

Campfires 7" 'Stormy Late Fall' is available to buy now from Mexican Summer.

Download a ruff' cut by clicking on you should really go and buy it you cheap bastard

Originally posted by The Other Disco.