Recently, Punk Globe got the chance to speak with Jonny Campos. In this interview we speak with Jonny Campos about his new project – Weeks Island and the recently released “Droste” EP, his inspirations and his approaches to songwriting, Lost Bayou Ramblers. Hope you’d enjoy!

Punk Globe: In one of your recent interviews, you mentioned that originally, Weeks Island was going to be influenced by krautrock Tell us about the changes in style of Weeks Island and “Droste” ?

Jonny: I guess it just came from experimenting. The approach I worked out with the steel just happened to be more successful than the experiments I tried with the Motorik beat and bass guitar, though I haven’t dropped the idea quite yet.

Punk Globe: There are lots of elements involved on this record. Tell us how it came about ?

Jonny: Thanks so much. The recording was largely improvisational. I’d get a good loop going, Kirkland (Middleton, of Lost Bayou) would record it. Then we’d layer on a track or two. The sequencing of the EP is chronological as well. I’d base the next song on what I’d learned on the previous song.

Punk Globe: After Lost Bayou Ramblers went on hiatus – was it hard for you to start something new ?

Jonny: The whole thing was an experiment that I had no idea where it was going. It was more about exploring an idea than solving a riddle or solving a problem. I figured it’s better to have material in the chamber and let time tell me what to do with it.

Punk Globe: It seems that you’ve always been attracted to unusual and atmospheric sounds – when did you start exploring these abstract sounds?

Jonny: In the documentary “Touch The Sound,” Fred Frith uses a violin bow on a Les Paul laying on a table. I swiveled the chair I was sitting in and looked at my pedal steel. Yep that’s a table guitar alright. My best friend and bandmate, Peter DeHart, had a cello bow and let me borrow it. I’m not quite as nimble as a proper cellist but the overtones I can squeeze out can be heard all over the EP.

Punk Globe: It’s interesting to hear the sound on the song, was it hard combining both of them on “Droste” ?

Jonny: Not really, because I think “Droste” is just a snapshot of how I was improvising on the pedal steel in January of 2018. When it comes to improvisation, I feel like it’s a lot like the long jump in track & field. I just kind of take a leap and see if I can land the idea. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. Even in the last track “Cyprien Bay,” I didn’t really stick the landing when it comes to a perfect loop. It’s a little off. At first I was gonna scrap it and start over, but after listening to it a couple times it felt like it’s off kilter timing added uneasiness to the whole piece.

Punk Globe: You decided to call each song after the names of different geographical locations. Tell us the story behind this?

Jonny: Most definitely. I highly recommend putting on the EP and going for a nature walk. Ambient music can be so cinematic to me and brings me into the moment. Honestly the hardest part about the project was trying to figure out how to name instrumental songs and not sound pretentious. Louis (Michot of Lost Bayou and Nouveau Electric) had the idea of naming each song after areas in South Louisiana that have been wiped off the map due to coastal erosion and rising sea levels.

 

Punk Globe: IAre there any other inspirations on “Droste” ?

Jonny: Not quite. Other than the fact that they were all improvised in two recording sessions, which I tried to stick to the keys of G and C.

Punk Globe: Tell us about when you first discovered music ?

Jonny: Hmmm, I know when I was a toddler my Uncle Lui would play the acoustic guitar and my older sister and I would stand on the fireplace as “back up singers.” The name of the group: Huey, Dewey and Lui. I don’t really remember it or if I was Huey or Dewey. Other than that the first time I remember playing an instrument is when I was in 4th or 5th grade and my stepbrother taught me how to play the intro to Motley Crue’s “Home Sweet Home” on the keyboard. I can still play it and I don’t play keyboard.

Punk Globe: Who are your inspirations for this recording ?

Jonny: For this particular project, albums like Fripp & Eno’s “No Pussyfooting,” Chuck Johnson’s “Balsams,” Saariselka’s “The Ground Our Sky,” Cluster’s “Sowiesoso” and Eno’s “Apollo: Atmospheres And Soundtracks” were all records that blew my mind and pointed to me to what’s possible.

Punk Globe: Tell us about how you write music?

Jonny: I start with a drone or loop and try and figure out interesting harmonies on top or below that can ebb and flow to create a foundation then try to add little ear candy moments. What I love about ambient music is that it’s so open that it gives the listener the ability to form whatever scene in their heads or enhance the world they’re looking at around them.

Punk Globe: When you come up with just that right flow that you like and want, tell us about the rest of the process?

Jonny: I guess I just try to follow my ears. If I like it, I keep it and build. If I don’t, I let it go.

Punk Globe: “Droste” was your first album on Weeks Island. When will we see the full-length album and is there anything else you’re working on presently ?

Jonny: To be completely honest, I have no idea when the next record will come out. I’m definitely going to have to schedule something with Kirkland because I don’t know when the next gig will be either. Lately, I’ve been recording friends that post acoustic songs on their social media. I limit myself to 3 overdubs and add pedal steel, bass, or vocals. I’ve been flirting with the idea of putting out a lofi pedal steel themed record of all of these tunes.

Punk Globe: Could you make a short playlist of your all-time- most inspiring-song?

Jonny:

• Brian Eno “An Ending (Ascent)”
• Michael Rother “Flammende Herzen”
• Cluster “Soweisoso”
• Harmonia & Eno “Welcome”
• Neu! “Hallogallo”
• Can “Millionenspiel”
• Glenn Branca “Lesson No. 1 for Electric Guitar”
• Follakzoid “Trees”
• Earthiness “Flower Travelin’ Man”
• Popol Vuh “Song Of The Earth”
• Neil Young “Organ Solo (from the Dead Man Soundtrack)”