Music As A Form of Art and Therapy with The Band CAMINO
Our The Band CAMINO interview was originally in our June 2022 print issue.
Four students at the University of Memphis got together and formed a band back in 2015. Now, years later, they have released three EPs and an eponymous debut album that came out in 2021. They are fresh off a tour with Dan+Shay and are now headlining their tour, playing sold-out show after sold-out show. It has been an incredible journey for The Band CAMINO in becoming one of indie rock’s biggest names.
The Band CAMINO now consists of Jeffery Jordan on vocals and guitar; Spencer Stewart also on vocals and guitar; and Garrison Burgess on drums and bass. The group gets placed in the indie rock and electropop genre, but they have a very unique sound separating themselves from other artists.
The band draws a lot of its inspiration from multiple genres and artists, similar to how people consume music in today’s world. In one playlist you can have EDM, alternative rock, rap, country and so on all within 20 minutes of each other; and The Band CAMINO draws from that kind of variety. It becomes a melting pot of the trio’s interests, but there are certain types of artists the group is inspired by, like Coldplay, The Killers and The 1975. Or, “band bands” as they describe them.
“I think it’s interesting because no matter what influences the song or what sound comes out, somehow all three of us can like hear it and be like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s a Band CAMINO song,’ ” the band said. “It doesn’t necessarily matter where we got the idea from; it’s either a CAMINO song or it’s not. Like it’s very apparent and that’s kind of what makes our sound very eclectic. It’s because there’s something in there we can’t really explain. It’s not really a super-defined thing. It’s more like, ‘That sounds like us.’ I don’t know why it does?”
The band went on to say that that’s exactly what art is. Art is about expressing something one resonates with, whether it’s all one genre or not. Songwriting comes from wanting to feel understood and other people to also feel understood, the band said. People are drawn to music for this, as an escape from a feeling or into this shared feeling. It’s judgment-free and a space where any and all emotions can be expressed.
That feeling and love for music are universal, and why The Band CAMINO was perfect to join the Dan+Shay tour and win over an arena full of country fans. The tour was the first in two years the band had played, and to make it more challenging they were revisiting the early days of what it was like to be the support act. They described it as an amazing experience to play such big arena shows, and a huge opportunity to make new fans.
“It was really good for us to try to win over a roof that large of people. Most of them have never heard of us, so it was a good muscle to stretch,” the band said.” It was fun, we got to do almost 40 dates… But I don’t know after doing that and trying to intentionally win over every single person in the room, and now stepping into a room of people that we’ve like already won them over. They’re at our show, they know all the songs. It’s like, holy sh*t, this is just so fun.”
The Band CAMINO headline tour has been a high-energy show, with both the band and fans giving it their absolute all every single night. Standouts from the tour have been the group’s collab with the Swedish duo NOTD “Never A Good Time,” as well as new tracks like “I Think I Like You,” “Roses,” “Song About You” and the song the group says was the hardest to write — “Know It All.”
The songs “Know It All” and “Song About You” show songwriting from two opposite sides of the spectrum. Where on “Know It All” the band had the structure of the song but couldn’t find the right rhyme in the chorus, which sometime later finally became the line ending with “chemical.” The band said that the entire process of the song — from its inception to finally figuring everything out — took about eight months.
On the other hand, speaking of “Song About You,” The Band CAMINO said that “that one pretty much wrote itself.” All in all, it took only about two hours to finish the track, according to the band.
“So, you know, to really put it in perspective, [the songwriting process] is very broad,” the band said.
The group also worked with Sam Hollander on the track “Roses,” which ended up being a perfect pairing. The band described Sam as someone who wants to get to know you at the root of your core, and really understand your heart and what you’re trying to say. For a group that writes songs from such a personal and emotional place, from romantic relationships to familial trauma, it’s important to properly convey the message and feelings behind a song. Jordan talked to us about writing a song very personal to him called “Sorry Mom”:
“The song for me is very straightforward. My mom and I’s relationship has been interesting as the band’s grown. She’s like conservative Christian and she cares for me so much, but her like world view is very different than mine. So it’s just been something we’ve had to navigate and figure out over the years,” he said. “And I kinda figured out what I believe for myself. I think for any mother, especially if you’re [a] conservative Christian, the music industry is a very terrifying place for your child to go. So I think at the end of the day, it was important for my mom to hear this. And I think at the end of the day, like we had a good conversation afterward. Tears were shed, all those things. It was good.”
Playing songs like this night after night is therapeutic. It may be a little cliche when bands say that, but The Band CAMINO swears by this
. It’s what art and music are all about. Going up on stage and playing a sad song, fully immersing yourself in the experience and going to that place. Being sad and upset, letting out all your emotions. This is what concerts are all about, and what The Band CAMINO hopes their fans feel as they listen to their songs.
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