Camp Howard is probably a band you have seen before. And there’s a reason for that.
When I first got into the music scene here in RVA Camp Howard frontman Nic Perea is a name that I heard constantly. It seemed like he and his band were playing every venue every night of the week, and they basically were.
The band, once called Nic Perea, has since transitioned into the more collaborative project Camp Howard and at the beginning of March, released their debut album.
“For a while three of us played under Nic Perea after I put an album out under my name, but we weren’t really a band yet,” Perea said. “Last summer Matt {Benson, guitarist} moved back to Richmond, and we started writing and playing new songs as a four-piece. I remember our first show as Camp Howard felt totally new, even though we were playing a lot of the same songs we had played before as the Nic Perea three-piece.”
Though the group has become Camp Howard, their work ethic remains the same. The band consistently plays one or two shows a week and has played almost every venue in town.
Camp Howard’s identifiable, signature sound comes from Perea’s sweet lazy vocals paired against a melodic, distorted guitar heavy on the chorus pedal.
This debut album released via Citrus City Records and Crystal Pistol Records contains the expected Mac DeMarco-inspired easy-going aesthetic that the Camp Howard boys have classically embraced, but it also has so much more to it than that.
Surprisingly enough there are very, dark grungey aspects to some songs such as the track “Veins” and the closing number “Wasteland” as well as a constant featuring of grandiose musical intervals used by the likes of Led Zeppelin.
So, as I said the album has a lot of different levels from the breezy, beachy Grenada to the almost Alice in Chains reminiscent song “Veins.” Yet somehow the group preserves their musical identity all the way through with the continuing of their quintessential hazy flow throughout the entire album.
It’s definitely a collection of songs meant to carry over from waking up to going to bed with the lazy morning. “You’ve Been Misled” to the 70s night club influenced “Llorando y fumando” which Perea sings in Spanish, are tracks that are worth a listen.
The songs were a collaborative effort between Perea and guitarist Wes Parker.
“Wes and I both write songs and bring them to rehearsals to arrange, but Wes still consistently writes and records music for his individual project,” Perea said. “At the moment, Camp Howard is my main songwriting vessel, while Wes’s is his own project, but it’s not strict by any means. I like the thought of writing an album for a solo project, and I like the thought of having more of Wes’s songs on the next Camp Howard album.”
What’s next for the Camp Howard boys? According to Perea, festivals, hopefully new material and a tour.
“We’re playing our first festivals this month in Blacksburg, Rock the Blocks and Progress Festival, but other than that we’re just going to keep writing new songs and playing shows, and hopefully getting out-of-town this summer,” Perea said.
Camp Howard’s next show in Richmond is at Gallery5 on April 15th.
You can listen to their self-titled debut here. It is also available on iTunes and Spotify.
