My first encounter with Andre Camilleri dates back to the summer of 2000. I had previously heard of him through the local indie grapevine: a musician who had earned quite a healthy reputation busking away in Valletta by day, fronting his own band, Red Necks On Parade, by night. Being forever interested in anything that makes waves away from the mainstream, I made a point of being at the CD launch of Red Necks on Parade’s self-titled, self-released debut, highlighted with a live performance by the band that I had later described as a “wicked country twang” in my review.
Relocating to Australia in 2006, Camilleri wasted no time in finding his feet in the country music scene down under. After forming his own band, The Strange Things, and a solo stint, he now fronts a new band, The Broken Hearts – four musicians with a significant track record in their own right with whom he has now established his place on the Melbourne Country circuit. Given the accolades that they have been receiving from the critics, it looks like Andre and his band are also gaining ground on a national level, and if the songs on their debut album One Fine Day, released in Australia by Ramblin’ Records with distribution by Sound Vault Records, are anything to go by, that should be any time now!
Helping myself to the free MP3 downloads on the band’s MySpace website, I couldn’t help but notice the intensity of Camilleri’s vocal delivery, reminiscent of the original Country timbre and punctuated by a variety of inherent and acquired elements. Behind Andre’s lead, the band – Chris Birnie on bass, James Stewart on lead guitar, Brendan Mitchell on pedal steel and Maurie Del Citto on drums – skim effortlessly through relatively ingenuous compositions, the focus of which is firmly fixed on the familiar attributes that evoke Country music’s perennial emotive connection. Of the four tracks available online, it is Cut All the Weed – gloriously flowing in melody and lyrically deep – that stands out above the rest. Don’t Bury Me in Morrisville and I Got A Little Drunk adhere (perhaps a bit too closely) to a vintage blueprint, although this does give them a certain verve. Cold Heart Woman Blues, as the title openly suggests, treads into Blues terrain, a move emphasised with some nifty harmonica that lends it a pre-electric Dylan-esque edge.
Essentially, Andre Camilleri’s music has never really stuck to any given rule. His songs go where the feeling takes him, and that can stretch from a traditional style to the edges of alt.country. It is in itself a characteristic that gives his music a genuine touch, reeling you in on the strength of permeating guitar melodies and alleviating vocal undulation, until it’s too late to ignore it. He won’t be with his Broken Hearts down at Poxx Bar, but Michael and Thomas will provide adequate back-up, having been in Andre’s old band, Red Necks On Parade. Beangrowers and Shostakovich’s Nightmare will also be performing on the night. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/theandrecamilleriband or www.andrecamilleri.com
Q. Family ties aside, what had brought you to Malta all those years ago?
I was (in Germany) pretty much down and out (again). My band split and my girlfriend broke up on the same day. Frankly I had no reason left to stay in Germany, so I thought I’d go to Malta and lay low for a while.
Q. Your bio states that you write tunes to “keep the devil in his hole”. How often has that “devil” held you back?
All the time! It’s writing songs and playing gigs that keeps me sane and grounded. Some guys do yoga, others chase women or drive fast cars, but I go to a better place when I play songs.
Q. Your list of influences is endless. What first attracted you to Country music?
My Maltese dad did a lot of groundwork because I was raised on Elvis and Johnny Cash. However initially, I used to be into American Punk bands like Fugazi, Minutemen, Minor Threat, Black Flag, Sonic Youth, etc. One time in the late 80’s REM played in my home town (Bielefeld/Germany). This was before they hit the big time. Their support band was Uncle Tupelo (Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy’s former band). They played five beautiful acoustic songs and then grabbed their electric guitars and blasted everyone away. I was hooked on Country from that day. Sometime later I saw the late and great Townes Van Zandt perform and there really was no way back from then on.
Q. With Country not being exactly chart-
orientated, you must have ulterior aims in your musical career. What are your ambitions?
Sometimes I wish I was an accountant, or maybe a lawyer or architect. I would make some serious money, ha, ha. I guess it wasn’t meant to be. No seriously, I try not to worry about money too much. I have a day job now that pays the bills and I can play the music I want to play. My ambition is to write the best music I can, and judging on how I am getting on in Melbourne, I think I’’m doing all right. Otherwise I would not have gotten some seriously gifted musicians to join my band The Broken Hearts and we would not be getting the kind of gigs we get. We will be playing two shows at the prestigious Melbourne Arts Festival this year and since I don’t know people in high places over there, we must be getting these opportunities strictly on merit!
Q. Critics have praised your music for not being a fake pastiche of the Nashville sound. Is it difficult to retain this genuine streak in your songs or does it comes naturally to you?
Yeah, that’s a real compliment. That Nashville sound gives me the creeps! In Australia, the country music capital is Tamworth and we try and stay well clear of that place. I think country music is just like any other genre. There is some good and a lot of bad stuff around. For me it’s nothing more than a bag of themes and iconography that I can draw from to express myself artistically. Some people get it, most people don’t and I don’t really care either way.
Q. Your album has been officially released in Australia. Are there any plans to penetrate other markets?
Yeah, the album is distributed in Australia by Sound Vault Records. We are currently organising a tour around Victoria, which is like a test drive for us because we are hoping to go to New Zealand early next year and hopefully the States and Europe after that.
Q. What’s your take on the alt. country genre that has now been relabelled Americana?
Like I mentioned earlier, the founders of the alt.country genre, Uncle Tupelo and Jay Farrar in particular, had a major influence on me. Although on the surface my music may appear more traditional, I believe there is a strong link to the alt.country music of people like Steve Earle, Gillian Welch, Son Volt, Ryan Adams, etc. There is also a lot of stuff around that is labelled Country and it is clearly not. Wilco is one good example. Those kind of bands don’t really interest me that much.
Q. Given the opportunity to choose any Country artist, who would you most like to work with?
Jay Farrar is my hero. I am also listening to the latest Jerry Lee Lewis album and man, that guy is 79 or something and he rocks like dynamite. I love that duet with Keith Richards, I think it’s called Look at that Fool. What a great country song. However, I get influenced by other people’s music very easily and find it can be distracting, which is why I am a bit of a hermit when it comes to writing songs. To be honest, the band I play with now is just about as good as it gets, plus they’re not some big shot names, so I don’t have to deal with big egos.
Q. What is the best Country song ever recorded, in your opinion?
That’s a tough one. It would be a close race between one of the following: Hank Williams - Lost Highway, Gram Parsons - Hot Burrito #1 or Townes van Zandt - Waiting around to die. Mind you, I could mention 20 other songs.
Q. You’ve been described as one of Australia’s up-coming top live acts. What can we expect from your gig in Malta?
I am teaming up with some old mates here. Thomas Cuschieri on lead guitar and Michael Galea on drums. It’ll be a fairly quiet acoustic-type affair. We won’t have much time to rehearse, I am on holiday remember, so we just gotta see how it goes. Nonetheless, I am incredibly excited to be performing here again and sharing the stage with my old friends, Beangrowers. Mind you, they really are not into country, so I do appreciate the opportunity a lot!