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The Quarter After's  eponymous debut album can be downloaded from apolloaudio.com
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 Playing with The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Rob Campanella can be found at his keyboards behind guitarists Ricky Maymi and Frankie Teardrop, very occasionally his luscious mane of hair bathed in bright lights , but more often than not sitting in the shadows and yet it just wouldn’t be the same without him. This is very representative of Rob’s attitude to music as his true genius comes to life behind the scenes and in a studio. When he is not touring Europe, being ‘the responsible/ sensible BJM ’, Mr Campanella, LA based music producer extraordinaire, has the lucky task of working with some of the best bands around. And if that wasn’t enough, he also plays the guitar with The Quarter After, his own band with sibling Dominic [vocals, guitar] and band mates, drummer Nelson Bragg and Victor Penalosa on bass.
It’s 9 am in LA, and as Rob prefers to do it in the morning [being interviewed!] it’s my duty to gently wake him up with as many questions as permitted before his first cup of coffee. Fortunately for me, this man is passionate, knowledgeable and talented [still talking music here!] and very eloquent...
Florence: You’ve been enjoying a long working relationship with The BJM, as a member and helping put the last few records together but how did it all start?
 Rob: I knew Anton from playing in bands around Los Angeles and I was a fan of his band. We were all part of the LA scene. The Quarter After was pretty new, we’d only been around for less than a year, and Anton and I were hanging out one night [in early 2001] and it was right before the South by Southwest festival of that year and he didn’t have much of a band at that point, except for Frankie and he asked me to help him put a band together to try and go to SxSW and he said “you can play keyboards”.
I was pretty good friends with Jeff Davies and I said “I bet I can get Jeff to come back” and I asked Dave Koenig who was the bass player with The QA at the time and it went from there with Frankie, Jeff and Anton on guitars, Dave on bass, myself on organ and another guy on drums, [who had previously played with Anton], and we did just one show in LA to test it out and it went really well. But then the drummer who had committed to go to SxSW bailed out at the last minute and so we never did do it.
However shows started to get booked, including one at The Garage and we ended up getting Hunter Crowley back on drums [he’d played the previous year with The BJM] for that one show but he had such fun playing with that particular line-up that he decided to stay on, and we did a bunch of shows and we booked a tour that summer that included playing The Rock'N'Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. It was a fun, legendary tour and after that Anton started to bring his things into my studio, some of his gear and his microphones...and before we knew it we’d started recording ‘Bravery, Repetition And Noise’. That came out and we did more tours...It’s been a roller coaster, I’ve left the band several times since and come back as The BJM is just like the mob! As Al Pacino would say, "Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in!"
It’s been an interesting ride.
 Florence: What about your time in the studio with Anton?
Do you get involved producing the records?
Rob: Anton used my studio and I’ve been in the studio with him working on the records but it’s all him really.
There is nothing I could say about a BJM record that would happen if Anton didn’t want it to happen.
We have a good working relationship but like every BJM album preceding, sometimes it’s just Anton and Anton alone.
He just wants to get things done and he doesn’t want to wait around for people. He’s also pretty particular about the way things should be done.
It’s the same story with any Brian Jonestown records, he lists the band members at the time but with ‘Their Satanic Majesties’ Second Request’ for instance, all the guys listed played the shows at the time but that record is pretty much Anton playing everything!
It’s always an interesting combination where some songs are just Anton and other songs members of the band playing different parts so it really depends on the tracks, the time it was recorded or how...there are no rules when it come to recording.
Florence: Having toured quite extensively this year, what have been the highlights for you?
Rob: It depends. Some shows are just better than others and some towns are also better.
On the first European tour, the highlight of the whole tour was Grenoble [France]. For some reason everything clicked, the band clicked and the crowd was amazing and it was a beautiful town. Oxford [England] was a particularly great show and there are the times in between when you have a day off and you end up in Carcassonne [France] or Lake Garda [Italy] where you can chill out. Those are the highlights, when you are with a great bunch of guys and having fun.
Florence: Let’s talk about your own band The Quarter After.
You play the guitar, your brother Dominic sings .....
Your eponymous titled debut album was released in 2005 in The States, and you’re almost ready for a second Lp...
Rob: We formed the band in the summer of 2000.
We’re working on our second record right now and we’ve already got the basic tracks for about eighteen songs.
We now have the job of wading through them and flushing them out, and figuring out exactly what the record is going to sound like...so we still have a pretty big job ahead of us and I’m hoping to get it done so that the record can come out in the spring or summer. That would really work out well for us, in terms of getting the new songs out there and also getting to tour. Our goal is to get to Europe and at least play England and France.
Florence: The Quarter After signed to an English label this year but you haven’t had the time to explore this side of the market yet.
Rob: The album got released this year by Cargo Records Uk.
For this type of music, it’s actually a better market, for whatever reason. Even for The BJM, the interest is better in Europe than in The States.
Florence: That’s very true but do you know why?
Rob: I think that it’s because Europeans are more into music they think of as art and people are very passionate about Rock’n Roll still. while in The United States it’s more pop orientated and very ‘fly by night’.
One band one year, and a next band the next year. There definitely are hard core fans in The States but it seems like the European press is more dedicated to organic Rock’n roll bands.
And once you’ve got a fan you usually have a fan for life as they seem more devoted and more enthusiastic too!
I’ve never seen such an enthusiastic crowd as I did with The BJM, especially in France and England.
Obviously with The QA, we’re in a different league, we’re small potatoes but it’s all part of this kind of ‘revolution’ that is happening with a lot of bands influenced by The Brian Jonestown, like The Warlocks, The Black Angels, Dead Meadow, The Lovetones and The Morning After Girls, The High Dials, Asteroid No 4...all these amazing bands. Also The Tyde, Beechwood Sparks...there is a whole slew of psychedelic based bands finally getting their due. From England you’ve got The Lea Shores and The Eighteenth Day Of May.
There is a kind of movement where everybody has the same record collection, anything from The Beatles to Spacemen 3 to The Stone Roses. There is a through line and it’s wonderful.
The type of people that like that type of records are slowly but surely, and mainly through the internet discovering these bands.
None of these bands are fly by night bands, this is music for all time.
Those guys are in it for the long haul, they’re artists.
I’ve actually worked with a lot of these bands in my studio and I know what their motivations are. None of these are kids trying to be Rock stars, trying to be famous, they’re playing music from their heart, and I think that’s what’s gonna cause the ‘revolution’, artists making great music. There’s never been a better time for music, you just have to dig a little deeper.
Florence: Interestingly none of the bands you’ve mentioned, including The BJM get any help from the media, yet you’ve just sold out The Elysee Montmartre in Paris and The London Astoria!
Some fans don’t need to be told by the media which record to buy and which gig to go to.
Rob: That’s because it’s real and due to people liking the music not because of any hype. For example, looking at The BJM selling out the Astoria, there wasn’t a single word, before or after written about it in the NME. It just proves how much the NME is bought and paid for. It’s not really about anybody writing about music but who’s sharing advertising money and who’s scratching who’s back, that’s what it’s all about.
Florence: Who’ve also managed to strive without the backing of a record company and that’s probably a unique case in the music industry, right now.
Rob: The BJM is probably the only band in music, that’s able to do what it does, such as touring Europe, with absolutely no financial backing from anybody else. The band is completely self sufficient and raises money and pays for its own tours and therefore makes all the profits as well. There is nobody to pay back, we do it all ourselves. There are record labels we licence the music to, but The BJM doesn’t have a label, it’s its own label and that’s very very rare.
Therefore we don’t have anyone paying the NME to write a bunch of articles about us!
But with or without media backing I think that The BJM will be looked at as one of the classic bands of all time, history is going to be very good to this group.
Florence: It’s going to age very very well and should be up there with The Stones.
Rob: Because the tunes hold up, because the songs are great songs.
So many bands have been influenced by The BJM. It’s almost like The Velvet Underground of its day. The Velvet Underground only sold a thousand copies of its first record and yet every person who bought that record formed a band!
Nick Drake didn’t sell any records when he was alive and now almost everybody I know who’s a fan of real music, loves and cherishes their Nick Drake record. This band has been around for fifteen years and thankfully it’s still alive and well, Anton is still doing it and that’s a real testament to him. It doesn’t matter how big the band will ever get, Anton will always be doing it, he’s never stopped, he’s never given up, he’s never packed it in saying “this sucks” and then reformed the band because there was some new fan interest, he never went away.
There are a lot of journalists who talk to the band, for instance I remember Nick Kent in England who thought that the band had broken up and had just reformed because of ‘Dig!’. He really thought that this was a new formation. It never stopped because Anton really believes in what he’s doing.
Florence: I’ve said that many times but the current line-up feels like a really tight-knit group of people. On stage there is the right amount of chemistry and talent for great performances and off stage there is a lot of respect and love among the guys. I’ve witnessed some genuine friendships and just the right dose of bitching. I think that The BJM is in a really good place right now and I hope that it stays that way for many years to come.
Rob: You know that just from hanging around all of us.
Musically this is probably the best line-up he’s ever had and even Joel said that he’s enjoying playing in the band more than ever mainly because of the people in it and the music is being played better than it ever has been.
Florence: This has been a pretty stable line-up, actually.
Rob: Everybody talks about the line-up changes but really there has been less than ten people since the year 2000.
Florence: To get back to The Quarter After, that’s a very different set-up being a quartet and of course you must enjoy a close bond with your brother Dominic...
Rob: I like the simplicity of two guitars, a bass and drums.
We’ve also done a lot of stuff live in the studio. Our first record was basically just four people in a room. It doesn’t have a lot of overdubs on it, it wasn’t constructed in the studio, it’s just a snapshot of a band playing, but it really captures a kind of energy. Eight songs out of ten were recorded live.
It’s kind of intangible, you can’t really talk about why it sounds good or why you really like it. Most people don’t realise that they’re listening to a live band playing. Playing off each other, looking at each other, I think that there is something to be said for that. The Beatles did that on ‘The White Album’ with ‘Yer Blues’, they wanted the smallest room in Abbey Road Studios. With a lot of people I work with, I try to capture that live energy. That’s the true definition of a band. Also it prevents you from adding a million things to it. It’s all about the song but of course if you don’t have a good one then you shouldn’t even bother!
Florence: Will your second album be a continuation of the first one or have you moved in a different direction?
Rob: I think both!
It’s definitely gonna sound like a Quarter After record but there is more of a ‘country’ and acoustic influence on some of the songs and there isn’t going to be as many cosmic psychedelic jams as there was on the first one. The songs are tighter and shorter but it doesn’t mean that we’re giving up the ‘trippy’ psychedelic jamming because that’s probably my favourite aspect of the band. That’s definitely my influence on it.
This record will be different because the circumstances were different. I wasn’t around so much for the initial creation of the songs because I was so busy. I think that it’s going to be a great record and the hardest part is to choose which songs to leave off.
Florence: Is Dominic doing most of the writing?
Rob: Yes he is the ‘chief’ songwriter and especially on this next record.
I think that he is a very soft spoken, unspoken writer who one of these days will be recognised as an excellent songwriter.
This guy has got melodies coming out of his soul and I really respect him and I’d like to think that we come from a long tradition of brother bands like The Kinks or The Everly Brothers, The Black Crowes or AC/DC...there is something that brothers have that is hard to explain.
Florence: You’re also very busy as a producer, working, notably with bands like The Tyde and Dead Meadow, tell us more...
Rob: I am very lucky that I’ve been busy with such great bands.
Every time I work, I work with people and music that I like and I feel very blessed. I’ve done some work on the new Lovetones’ record this year and that was wonderful, I’ve done some of the new Morning After Girls, and an amazing record with Meow Meow that’s not out yet ...
I continue to be entertained by the people I work with. Some of my favourite bands are the people I work with in my studio!
I mixed a live album by Mark Gardener [Ride] a few years ago and so got to work with another one of my heroes.
Florence: It’s not a bad life!
But that said is there a record you worked on that, with insight, you wish you’d done differently?
Rob: It’s weird because when you work on an album, this closely to the music you’re never satisfied, you’re always pulling your hair out.
I remember recording the first Tyde Lp, and I was frustrated with several things and I really wanted to make it even better, I felt the same way when we were recording BJM’s ‘Bravery, Repetition And Noise’.
But like with everything else, time distances you from it and when you go back and listen to these recordings you kind of forget all those details and you start listening to it as a fan and you think to yourself “yeah! this sounds great. It’s fine and I wouldn’t change it for the world!”.
You need to take things for what they are and if you look at the first Velvet Underground record or The Kinks...some of these classic records are not very well recorded, they’re very much lo-fi for their time and yet I wouldn’t change them for the world. I wouldn’t want to make them shinier, better sounding. They are what they are.
Florence: Is there a record in your collection that you wish you had produced?
Rob: Yeah! Several.
‘The Notorious Byrd Brothers’ by The Byrds is just wonderful.
‘Beggar’s Banquet’ from The Rolling Stones springs to mind. The first Spiritualized record, ‘Lazer Guided Melodies’ is one of my favourite records because of the way it was produced and sounds. The first couple of Black Sabbath’s...’If I could Only Remember My Name’, the first solo album by David Crosby is one of the most beautifully recorded albums I’ve ever heard...
Florence: I knew that you would turn out to be greedy!
As the man in the know, can you recommend a few bands for people to check out?
Rob: A wonderful band to check out is The Stereo Workers’ Union from Cleveland that I did work with, they have a record that hasn’t come out yet, Meow Meow from LA are an amazing group and The Winter Flowers, I’ve also worked with...
Florence: Ok you’re just showing off now Mr ‘I get to work with some of the best bands around ’ producer and I’m gonna have to stop you here but not before your message to the world.
Rob: Listen to the next Quarter After record or any of the bands that I produce. Listen to everything that I work on, that’s my message to the world. Real music is alive and well and the revolution is happening.
The internet being a wonderful thing, I’ve never been in contact with so many people that think the same way, that are on the same page musically. Our type of music is still not the most popular but today, compare to let’s say ten years ago, there is a real consciousness about what we’re doing.
Words: Florence ACHERY
www.thequarterafter.com
www.myspace.com/thequarterafter |
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