Camera Obscura interview
HUCK: You signed with 4AD earlier this year. Why did you part ways with Elefant Records?
Tracyanne Campbell: We were signed to Elefant Records but the contract ran out. We just wanted to review our options. When our contract was finished we had to decide if we wanted to stay with a small Spanish independent label. We used our own money to record My Maudlin Career because we wanted to get a UK label. It wasn’t that we were unhappy with Elefant but you can only go so far with that kind of outfit. The band was getting too big for that label.
Didn’t you release the first album yourself?
Technically. A guy that had a stab at running a record label put out Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi but he didn’t really do anything after that. He managed to find distribution in Spain and that’s how we got signed to Elefant records.
Has anything changed since you signed to 4AD?
Everyone has gone full time which is what everyone needed. That is the change we wanted. I think the band’s profile is gradually growing. The new record is selling more than previous records. On a day to day basis it’s not much different but it’s good to know that we are on a big indie label that have a lot of credibility and are very well organised.
Are you happier now as a band because I know that collectively you have been a bit disillusioned with certain aspects of your career?
The main thing we were ever unhappy about is that we were working really hard and selling records in some territories and doing big tours but still we had to do other jobs. We’ve probably got new complaints now but I don’t know that we should get into that!
You have recently played several sold out dates in America. Is there any difference between America and the UK?
Our profile is bigger in the States. We tend to play bigger shows and we get more press. It just seems a little bit easier than it can be here in the UK.
Does it bother you that the UK music press has not always been kind to the band?
No offence, but I don’t read music magazines thinking that anyone who writes about music knows what they’re talking about. We are not trying to prove ourselves to anyone but our fans. We already had them on side before these magazines started writing about us. If you are a journalist and you have a chance to write something on a page that lots of people will read, why would you waste that opportunity to simply writing a bunch of clichés or something that someone has already written? It’s just not very intelligent. Try harder! Do better!
Your last two albums were produced by Jari Haapalainen. Why did you choose to enlist a producer when you have self-produced before?
We needed to start making proper albums. Everyone knows that the records are different. The production is richer and the arrangements are better. We wanted to progress. We decided that we really needed to do ourselves justice. We got along with him so we just went for it. We had a great working relationship
Camera Obscura's latest single The Sweetest Thing is out now via 4AD.
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