We recently introduced you to Cameron Davidson and his music, and spoke about how he is essentially a one man band, playing all instruments in his recordings, and performs using a loop station and an acoustic guitar. We had a chat with Cameron.
EP: What’s the Cameron Davidson Story? How would you describe your music?
CD: I have always referred to It as emotive Alt-Pop. I love music that is melodic, driven, rocky, sad, hopeful, intelligent, beautiful, honest, or heartfelt. Have something to say…and do it loudly!Â
EP: You’ve been the frontman of a band before but now you’re a solo artist – what are the pros and cons of each?
CD: Pros of being in a band is that you have your ‘Gang’, someone to give you encouragement and in some cases confidence in what you are doing. It is also someone to share the good times with, as well as build stories with. Cons are it can be far more difficult to transmit what you mean, both in a communication and a music sense. The fact is that as everyone is different, so to are their likes and dislikes, and playing styles. If you have a clear view of what something should be like, it can on occasion be watered down.
EP: Who are your musical inspirations and why? Personal inspirations?
CD: Musical inspirations are hugely numerous, but I grew up listening to alternative rock bands, and later evolved into more of the British Rock sound, but through everything, I always loved the pop sensibilities of a great song, and a great melody. Personal inspirations, I love a good story, or a good idea.. Nothing inspires me more than hearing someone else create something wonderful.
EP: What’s your take on the current state of the music industry?
CD: It is a challenge. I think the ability to get your music into the world has become a lot easier, and it is also easier to record something for a lot less money now. I think the viewpoint of doing things completely on your own is great, and gives you maximum control over your art, but the fact remains that venues close, people don’t tend to watch artists they don’t already know, and the music media tend to discover artists that have already somehow got an audience. It sometimes feels like throwing a message in a bottle into a sea made up purely of messages in bottles trying to get your music across to people, but I love making and writing music, I love it when anyone listens to it, and I am sure everyone that creates music does as well, so I think that has to be enough sometimes.
EP: If you knew what you know now when you first started out, would you do anything differently, and if so what and why?
CD: I don’t know. I have always written all the music, and I never used to have the confidence to not have a band, but a lot of band members have left, or moved away, or it has not been working out, so I would have possibly done a band under my name earlier.
EP: Given you play everything in the studio yourself, and use a loop station on stage – how important is it for you to have complete creative control over your work?
CD: I have probably touched on it, but when I write a song, I tend to have a clear idea of how it sounds, and how all the parts fit together. I used to play in an orchestra, and I have worked and done session work in recording studios, so I learned quite early on to see the big picture. As such, I can always hear in my head how everything should fit together. That isn’t the easiest thing to try and get across when there is more than just you.
EP: Where can we see you perform next?
CD: I am currently looking to play more places, but so far, possibly Witcombe Festival in the summer. The rest are TBA. I should have a live backing band by then as well…
EP: What question do you wish someone would ask you in an interview, but nobody ever does?
CD: Ha! It is probably every guitarists fantasy to have the ‘Total Guitar Magazine’ interview question of “Tell me about your guitars, and which one you used to get that sound….” Â
Check out Cameron online on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, and Soundcloud.
