Camp Revival

The Midwest is alive; it speaks and breathes. Jeff Walls -aka- Campfires has kept his ear to the ground and has created a sound that plays in time with its pulse. Campfires, thus far, is a solo home recording project for Jeff. The songs that are currently available were recorded over the past two years in Chicago and Michigan. The state of Michigan, both physical and current, provided much of the inspiration for Jeff’s recordings. Jeff described this inspiration well in his e-mail to me:

“I draw a lot of my inspiration from growing up in Michigan and the rust belt in a more general sense. There’s an interesting combination of natural beauty and a sort of faded prosperity in contrast with a pretty bleak and run-down current state of things, and a lot of the feeling behind the songs and lyrics draws from that. One gets a strong feeling growing up in a place like that that everything isn’t necessarily going to be ok, but you can still be at peace with that and find comfort and beauty in it, and I guess that’s the crux of the vibe that I hope the music has.”

From what I have gleaned from other reviews (Don’t Die Wondering, Rose Quartz Weekly Tapedeck) it sounds like a majority of the current songs were recorded in an abandoned trailer park, most likely in Michigan; very interesting. Jeff’s sound is large and intricate. It provides moments of pure beauty and then enriches them with the sick beats that he exercises from his drum kit. Jeff informed me that he has four tapes coming out in the near future, one self-released and three to be put out through various record labels. Keep a close watch on Jeff’s site and MySpace page to stay wise on when those releases will be made available.

“Pilot Dreams”

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“Daytime TV”

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“Stormy Late Fall”

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We arrive at Tomo Nakayama’s house to meet the portion of Grand Hallway that will be filming with us. We make our introductions in the living room where they have been practicing. We meet Alina To, who (usually) plays violin, the newly acquired Shenandoah Davis, who (usually) plays accordion, and Masamichi Omata, who has been elected to cover percussion; although it is unclear what his usual instrument is. We move to the lower balcony to see the top of the Space Needle resting above Queen Anne, the Ballard Bridge to the West, and the Olympics in the background.

The band switches instruments, finding their collective sound, as effortless and natural as the bee flying around Tomo’s concentrated face. As they rehearse, Tomo takes his place as bandleader and the music seems to just fall into place. Take after take, Grand Hallway is refining their music. I don’t want to say they have a “Seattle sound,” but their songs are filled with rich and overpowering tones, reminding me of the the luscious green that takes over the city.

Let’s think deeply upon the natural world… moss-laden trees, rotting deer corpses, white feathers floating in ponds, et al. This is what Sonya Cotton conjures up in her most recent album Red River. Like a field guide, she points out various flora and fauna, as she pleasingly croons along with her harmonious band. The track, “Hilltop Hymn,” is appropriately titled, as Cotton sings pagan-like praises to the earth around her. After listening to Red River on a continuous loop, I get the urge to run away into the woods and, like, write Mary Oliver-esque poetry about rabbits or some shit. Thank goodness I have a good head on my shoulders.

Red River

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Hunters

It seems to be all about the here and now. Twitter. Status Updates. Your Kindle uploading the morning newspaper before you wake up. What is fresh? Tomorrow’s veggies today. What is hot? Family Portrait. Just check out the video featuring their song “Mega Secrets” here. Family Portrait is immediately linked with visions of the beach nights, lights of buoys, and the decaying dream of boardwalk heavens. How is it that the sound of what is to come is also the sound of nostalgia? I’m not sure, but there is a trance I fall into every time “Mega Secrets” or “On The Floor” fill my speakers. I like it: all I need is my memories and the music of what is to come.

Be sure to check out both the video and mp3 of “Mega Secrets,” which will be coming out on a 7″ with Andrew Cedermark. Family Portrait also helped us out with the mp3 of “On The Floor.”

Mega Secrets

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On The Floor

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