We return with an interview with Connecticuts Primer Noise Rock Band SPACE CAMPFFO: Lighting Bolt, The Locust, and trombone
The summer excitement was winding down, the kids were heading back to school and it was on the last Wednesday of August that Moth and I decided to take the trip to AS220 to catch our favourite gay noise rock two-piece team from Connecticut- Space Camp. It was the second time my ears were blessed by the brash duo that month, knowing they had an album coming on the horizon...
I had some Q’s that needed A’s…
*editor note* The album titled “How Could I Not Be Your Girl?” has since been released independently on vinyl, Cd, and cassette, a pain in the ass thing to do, so if you want to show them some support and be an ally pick up “How Could I Not be Your Girl?” now through their Bandcamp!
June - Piano and trombone
Daisy - Drums and do vocals
What do YOU classify Space Camp as?
June - We often describe it as loud with a punk ethos
Daisy - Our friend Max has been playing with us and he told us that everything he plays he classifies as noise rock, and I was like okay I guess we can be kinda sorta that… Maybe but no it’s been about ten years and we haven’t found a genre yet.
June - You know, and that’s why we’re not doing so well
Is there a go-to Space Camp story you like to tell?
Daisy - Well the classic one is we played a show in like 2015 in Wilmington, North Carolina, and the guy who played before us used all of our stuff… Well no, so this guy did a noise set in the basement of this unventilated bar. So, he does some noise, he does some spoken word stuff and then he rips open his chest and lights off a bunch of fireworks and fills the room with smoke. Then he Silly Strings everyone in the crowd, and this was right before we were supposed to play. The basement been ruined, everyone had left, there’s smoke in the basement, there’s firecracker debris everywhere and we found out as we were about to play that this guy threw up all over our PA. So, like his vomit was all over our equipment and the bartender was like “You have to clean this all up” and he was like “You’d make me do that?”. So, we had to take a broom and had to sweep away all of his stuff so we could have a stage to perform on.
June - Big 2015 vibes there. Indie sleaze
What’s the connection to the Crunch House Bathroom?
Daisy - We’d been going to show at Crunch House since 2014-
June - 2016-ish
Daisy - We grew up going to shows there and it's gone through so many iterations. There was one time we played there; I think the last time we played there, 2017 or something where the lights were just flickering on and off the whole time like you were in a haunted house. It was one of those moments where you were like “What am I doing right now”.
What are some non-musical themes Space Camp pulls inspiration from?
Daisy - The new album has a lot of themes about conflict: inner personal conflict. I’ve personally always written songs about alienation and feeling like a stranger, alone.
June - More general things we pull from are movie aesthetics, and our favourite shows we have apart from music.
Is there some kind of ritual/routine that involves going to the Providence Place Mall while recording at Machines With Magnets?
June and Daisy - There definitely is!
Daisy - Well we found out recently that they closed the pink berry there which was a big part of it. So, we’d go, get on the escalator. There’d be a lot of jokes about the Anal Cunt guy falling off, and then usually as soon as the Chinese food place opened we’d go and get food there and then we’d go to Pink Berry. But now there’s no Pink Berry so we might be boycotting.
June - We still go and shop while we wait for Seth to wake up
Are there any final words you’d like to add?
Daisy - No, I think this is great, we’re fans of the newsletter. We’re fans of your ethos
Now that “How Could I Not be Your Girl?” has been for a couple months now and there’s been time given for it to marinate in my cranium. With the civic duty bestowed upon myself to give you my formal opinion on these bands that just so happened to be picked by the board of IAFUTS with yours truly sitting at the chair. So with that out of the way may I begin…
Firstly, not many bands can come to the cusp of that two digital mark. Secondly, not many of the bands that do, do it well. Releasing their first album back in 2016 and playing shows even before that, this band does nothing but evolve and grow. The song “YOU SWING YOUR AXE AT THE TREE” gives me an intense feeling of manufactured disturbance. With the path of destruction growing into the next song, it puts you into the street of an outdated post-American city as the 50’s style robot lays waste to the common folk that dare to come in the way of his chaos. There is something beyond sinister about these songs, “DEAD NAME ME ALL NIGHT” puts all the compiled odious face-twisting feelings into a second-place trophy that Space Camp hands off to you as you get pushed back down the hill you pulled yourself up from. “TOUCAN PLAY THE GAME” is the song that makes me love this album and this band so much. A five-minute free-form jazz song that is so out of place but doesn’t stand out negatively. This is so unusual and quirky it makes sense that this song exists in the realm of “How Could I Not Be Your Girl?”.
Bending the eccentric and freakish is something that Space Camp is consistently able to do without being annoying. They are unapologetically Space Camp, melting heads together- and that is beautiful.
I would like to take the time to thank my great team at IAFUTS. Besides my contributions, IAFUTS isn’t a one-brain project but is centered on heart feelings as well as two other brains. Firstly I’d like to thank my Mom who is always ready for whatever writing I have for her, doesn’t matter what time of day or night she is my editor and I am thankful for her because without her editorial work, a lot of this would be slop. Secondly, I would like to thank my girlfriend Moth, there is never a time when I am working on anything; IAFUTS or not, where I can’t turn and talk to them about an idea and get the answer I need from them. Grateful doesn’t begin to describe my appreciation for Moth and everything they have done for me and with me over the years. We just celebrated our second year together and that is something I am proud to say, there isn’t a more caring and genuine person who walks the green grass under the sun- I’m lucky enough to know that person. Lastly, I’d like to give a big thank you to my cheerleaders and the kindred souls who consistently show love to the fanzine, blog, or whatever new thing I have that week. It means a lot, every submission and every interaction. I feel satisfied with the current state of IAFUTS, so I thank all who have sat through the silence and fumbling as I’ve attempted to pick myself off my feet and dust off my pants.
I am always looking for engagement on any level, a constructive comment, a band suggestion, a question you want my answer to, whatever! Writing has been a source of so many good feelings for me recently so the more I can do it the better; I love answering odd questions and plan to start adding some to these blog posts at the end for a finishing piece.
To close us out with a question from @warlockofwarmincepie. English Muffins?
This is a strong one to start with, I am a breakfast carb enthusiast in my own head so I got excited when I read this response. For a good majority of my elementary school career, I can vividly remember eating buttered English muffins with Nutella and it is an amazing combo. Recently though, I haven't found myself loving English muffins as much as I once did. For context, I like my toast pretty toasted and in English, muffins are good for something, but it is not that. Every time I eat an English muffin and my preferred toast I find myself ready to spit up the pool of blood collecting in my mouth from this bar trap bread. But when they are toasted just right; still soft, with a little bit of butter or some jam they top most other breakfast items in my opinion. Something my parents do is put them in the freezer which skeeves me out. For whatever reason, I don’t like frozen bread.
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"It puts you into the street of an outdated post-American city as the 50’s style robot lays waste to the common folk that dare to come in the way of his chaos." Such a great visual.
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