All images courtesy of US/THEM Group


By Dylan Peggin
recordspinner97@gmail.com

Cameron Spies is a man of many talents. He is a part of the synth-pop act Night Heron and has worked with the likes of The Shivas and Blackwater Holylight.

His latest endeavor is Whimz, a collaboration with BWHL founder Sunny Faris. With an EP titled PM226 on the way later this month and its two resulting singles (“AM2” and “PM2”), it shows promise that this is going to be a stellar statement of down-tempo instrumentation and ethereal vocal melodies.

Spies recently set aside a few moments of his time to discuss his lates projects with Sunny Farris, Whimz, his influences, and more.

Dylan:
How did you and Sunny come together to form the Whimz project?

Cameron:
We had worked together in 2016 when I recorded the first Blackwater Holylight record. It had been several years since being in the studio together, and Sunny floated the idea to just grab a couple of studio days to collaborate on something sexy and doomy, and I was immediately in. This was when everything was still pretty much locked down, so BWHL wasn’t touring a lot, and we had the time for it. 

Dylan:
The musical ideas that form the basis of the EP were they fresh, or were there any leftovers from Night Heron?

Cameron:
Everything for this project came from fresh ideas. We went into the sessions with no preconception other than one chord change, and the melody Sunny had on her phone that became the first verse of “PM1.” Everything we came up with after that was more or less spontaneously arrived at in the studio. After the first session, we found ourselves with an 11+ minute song that ended up getting split into “PM1” and “PM2.”

At that point, we realized we had to make another side of the record, so we scheduled another session, and I came up with some chords and a synth line that ended up becoming the basis of AM2. Most of the vocal melodies came from playing the chords and having a sunny stream-of-consciousness hand-holding an SM57. We even tried to re-record some of the lines later with a nicer mic and realized the 57 was better on her voice, which I never would’ve tried otherwise. 

Dylan:
Are you guys the first to coin the term “sludge pop,” or are there other artists in the genre that stand out?

Cameron:
I don’t know. [Laughs]. But I had joked around with my friends in the band Reptaliens about starting a sludge pop band a few years before we actually made music as Whimz. Is it not already a thing? 

Dylan:
Given that your sound incorporates lush melodies with atmospheric instrumentals, what is the overall tone you aim to portray with your work?

Cameron:
Spooky/Sexy/Boom Boom. [Laughs].

Dylan:
Is there a particular element from the style you have established with Night Heron that you brought explicitly to the table for Whimz?

Cameron:
The moods we were going for with Whimz are distinctly more sinister than anything Night Heron has ever done, but I do feel like some of the groove and arrangement sensibilities still feel pretty cohesive. I always try to be conscious to leave space and make every sound count, and I think Sunny and I achieved that in a really special way on this record, even though it is definitely more wall-of-sound in a lot of places.

What I love most about collaboration is that it always elicits a different result than if any individual parties were left to their own devices. Even if I intentionally wanted part of this to sound like Night Heron, which wasn’t really my goal at any point, it still would veer into its own territory by virtue of the two of us working together. I’ve said it before, but I think Sunny has one of our generation’s most brilliant musical minds, and the way we hashed out ideas was so incredibly inspiring; I just can’t say enough good things about working with her. 

All images courtesy of US/THEM Group

Dylan:
When it comes to making music, who are your respective influences, and where do you draw inspiration from?

Cameron:
I’m a big fan of a lot of genres of music. ’60s orchestral pop like Henry Mancini or Exotica has influenced a lot of my work, I grew up listening to reggae and hip-hop, so I’m sure that’s influenced me. I work as a producer, so I get exposed to many really cool musical ideas from my clients. Groups like Spoon Benders, the Shivas, Aan, Seance Crasher, and the Saxophones have all influenced me a lot in how to approach making music. It’s really inspiring to be in the studio for a few weeks with different artists because I always come out of the experience with new tools or things to try on my next project.

I despise engineers who think they know everything already and can’t learn from their clients. I’ve gotten to work with several different types of artists. Still, for whatever reason, many of my clients have ended up being on the heavier side of music: Blackwater Holylight, Spoon Benders, Forty Feet Tall, and Charley No Face. I don’t even listen to much Doom or Metal, but it’s so much fun to record heavy guitars and make shit sound huge, so I’m sure that has influenced my taste in a lot of ways. 

Dylan:
Since you are based out of Portland, is it safe to say that the music scene is alive and well? What genres would you say dominate that particular city from what you’re able to observe?

Cameron:
I’ve seen a lot of changes in the scene since I moved back here in 2009, and it feels like it’s stronger than ever. Spoon Benders are killing it. Forty Feet Tall too. There’s so much creativity and energy here, and the industry pretty roundly ignores Portland artists, but also fuck the industry, amiright?

Dylan:
Is this EP a one-off, or does Whimz have the potential to evolve further with more releases down the line?

Cameron:
Wouldn’t you like to know!? [Laughs].

Dylan Peggin (@Record_Spinner) is a contributor for www.vwmusicrocks.com and may be reached at recordspinner97@gmail.com

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