CAMERON SMITH: Geography

Cameron Smith

Geography

© 2007 Cameron Smith (634479585715)

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Piano based acoustic pop folk classical

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This is the stunning debut album from Canadian pianist, songwriter and singer Cameron Smith. London based Cameron delivers an all together different listening experience to the mainstream world of bands and artists that all sound the same and have no originality. These are real heartfelt songs with incredible melodies, lyrics and lots of feeling. Cameron plays the piano in a baroque-esq classical fashion and mixes this with a modern production, strings and acoustic instruments. It's thought provoking real music with organic frills and touching vocals. Truly exceptional. Cameron joins the world of proper talented artists like Josh Groban and Rufus Wainright who combine classical and traditional music with pop/rock to create an uplifting blend of euphoric acoustic pop.

Biography:

Cameron has been composing and improvising since the age of 11 and wrote his first song at the age of 14. After starting out playing the organ, he shifted to the piano and began writing music for theatre. At 17, he wrote music for a high school play which was eventually performed at the Edmonton Fringe Festival (North America’s largest theatre festival).
Cameron moved to the UK for university in 1995, and stayed. He started doing gigs in London in late 2001 and has performed at number of well-known venues in the capital, becoming a regular at The Big Note club in Islington, London.
In 2003, Cameron recorded a second album, A Quixotic Landscape at Le Divan Vert studios in Montreal and signed with Matchbox Recordings. Soulsong, from that album, was released on a compilation album entitled Elevation in April 2004. Cameron has also scored a number of short films, including one for a BAFTA Award winning director.
Geography is Cameron’s first commercially released solo album.

Interview:

What made you decide to start a career in music, tell us a bit about your musical history, where do you come from, etc.?

I started learning the organ and piano from an early age and loved performing when I was growing up. I considered pursuing a career in classical music but my other interests led me away to languages and literature. While I had composed my own stuff from my early teens, I didn’t really get into songwriting until my twenties – maybe it took a bit of living before I had something to write about!
While I have a huge passion for music, I wasn’t someone who went to gigs the whole time while growing up. I enjoyed doing my own thing and experimenting with a variety of musical styles. I had a lot of other interests also, which probably explains why I didn’t really give my music career a go until I was about 25. For me, it’s about the pure enjoyment of writing, recording and performing songs.

Who or what are your influences?

I grew up in Canada and spent much of my childhood in Scotland also and there are definite folk influences to my work – both musical and lyrical. I use a lot of minor to major chord switches which are definitely informed by traditional folk styles. The lyrics often include images snow, rough seas, mountains – it is these wild landscapes of Canada and Scotland that I draw inspiration from.


What modern artists do you like?

I like a great variety of modern artists. I don’t have a favourite but I certainly admire songwriters like Rufus Wainwright, David Gray, Nick Cave, Tori Amos and Beck, who so skillfully combine classical and folk influences into their very modern sound. Wainwright and Amos in particular use the piano to great effect, with all sorts of syncopation and fluidity. I definitely aspire write intelligent, original songs like they do.
If you could choose to record a song with any other artist / band alive or dead who would it be and why?
That’s a tough one. I would probably choose Graceland by Paul Simon since I think it’s one of the best albums I’ve ever listened to. It is such a complete work – wonderful, infectious melodies and rhythms and fantastic lyrics; it sounds like they were having so much fun recording it. It would be great to work with Peter Gabriel also, with his use of electronica and highly dynamic melodies. He’s not at all constrained by convention but at the same time his music is always very accessible.


What inspires you to write your music / lyrics?


I can’t pinpoint a particular event or feeling. I think anyone who pursues creative activities has a burning desire to communicate. What’s so great about music is that it is an almost purely emotional language, so you can add that something extra to words which would otherwise be missing. I love writing songs around an image in my mind. It is a cyclical process, with the music inspiring the words and the words inspiring the music until it builds out into a story.

Name your all time fave tracks by another artist?


I really don’t have favourite tracks but for sheer beauty, simplicity and wit, the song Hallelujah, by Leonard Cohen is hard to beat.


What sort of sound can we expect from your forthcoming album? Do you play all the instruments?


Geography is, at its heart, an acoustic album but with some funk and pop elements thrown in for good measure. You’ll hear a lot of piano and strings (particularly cello) along with some quirkier instruments which make an appearance from time to time. The drums are pretty sparse and low-key as it’s the piano and voice(s) that drive the songs. I’m also really into layering different harmonies so there can be a lot going on at one time but it can produce spine-tingling results. The mix of pop, jazz, classical and folk gives it an almost theatrical quality.
I play all piano and sing almost all of the vocals. I worked with Tanera Dawkins on the cello and Joules, the album’s producer, added a number of additional sounds including organ, balalaika drums and bass. He even played the flute on Soulsong!


What are your ambitions for your music? Where do you see yourself in 5 years?


All artists who are serious about their career put a huge amount of work into their music and, naturally, they want that work to be appreciated by the public and the critics. Obviously, I would love for Geography to be a success and to take me to the next rung of the ladder in terms of developing a fan base and getting my music to a wider audience – so world domination is the principal goal.
Seriously though, my main ambition is to keep improving my writing. I want to incorporate an ever-wider range of styles and influences into my music and I would like to write about different subjects that I haven’t yet touched upon. I would also like to collaborate more with other musicians and write for other artists – something I haven’t done enough of up to this point. That should be plenty to be getting on with in the next five years!


How would you describe your music and what genre to you think it fits into?

My music is piano based songwriting. It mixes pop, classical and folk influences (with a little bit of jazz thrown in). It ranges from low-key, raw acoustic songs to full-blown orchestral works. All of this makes it a bit difficult to categorise, but I guess it’s fundamentally acoustic pop with a mature twist (I refuse to call it ‘adult contemporary’ as that’s such a dull and meaningless label).


Where was your album recorded and who produced it?

The album was produced by Julian Chown (www.joulesproductions.co.uk) and was recorded mostly at his studios on the King’s Road in London. A couple of the tracks were also recorded at Le Divan Vert studios in Montreal, Canada.


Did you teach yourself to play piano or did you go to lessons?


I went to a lot of lessons! From age 5 to 19, I studied under three different teachers, two Canadians and one Czech. I did, however, teach myself to improvise and compose. It was my tendency to improvise more than practice which drove my teachers round the bend! I’m very grateful to all of them, though, particularly my Czech teacher, Hans Riesl, who really developed and encouraged my love of composing.

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