I’m off for a 2 weeks vacation, but I managed to schedule this one for you guys. The Netherlands’ THE MORNING HOUR were so kind to offer me an exclusive premiere of their brand new lyric video for the track ” Guillotine Guilty”, coming from their brand new 2-song single release! They sat down with me talk more about all kinds of stuff and serve you a proper introduction to the band.
Check out their new pop rockin’ tune in the vein of DEAF HAVANA, THE DANGEROUS SUMMER and JIMMY EAT WORLD and read up the interview with the band’s vocalist/guitarist Camille Does below.
Hey, how’s it going guys? It’s your first interview as THE MORNING HOUR, right? :)
Hello there, it’s going great! I just got my drivers license and we’re all very excited about the single release. This is our first interview, yep!
Is it your first band or have you been involved in other music projects in the past?
Jeff (Bass) and myself played in a band called APEX HORIZON for about 4 or 5 years. It’s funny actually we used to have a bit of a beef at the end of that project and were not on speaking terms. After that I played bass and did backing vocals for a short time in a band called VALENCE.
How did you get the idea for this band?
I don’t know, I have always had to urge/drive to write songs and had a certain vision on how they should translate.
At one point all of my formations were failing and that got really frustrating. That’s when I met our guitarist Maruli which was really the start of the birth of our “sound” or whatever you want to call it. He came over to my house after hearing some demo’s and we immediately started working out songsketches as he really understood what I was trying to do, not to mention he is a MIDI programming machine and I’m very lazy. We wanted our music to be melodic and catchy but still have a bit of an edge to it.
Please talk about some of the major influences of THE MORNING HOUR.
For me the biggest influence would be nature. Sounds weird but I get more inspired by a sunrise on a big open field with some pretty tree’s than any person or song. We all have a strong affinity and grew up with punkrock music and many of it’s subgenres.
I don’t know, As far as bands go, JIMMY EAT WORLD, THE STARTING LINE, DON’T LOOK DOWN, BRAND NEW and we’re all really into The 1975 now.
Alright, so here you are, serving us a brand new lyric video for “Guillotine Guilty”. Tell me more about this b-side of the “Lectures” single.
Well with the choice of putting out just two songs instead of a full EP we we’re forced to pick 2 songs which we felt represented us well as a band. We thought it would be cool to have a heavier song as the B-side. Guillotine Guilty is a very morbid song I wrote whilst being fascinated by cereal-killer documentary’s. It’s totally fantasy based, this whole dramatic murder plot in my head. it’s a lot of fun to play and actually the first song we wrote for this project.
Is it a foretaste of a bigger release to be released in the coming months? Do you have demos of songs that didn’t make it onto the single or an EP?
Definitely! We have about 12 demo’s we’re currently working on. We will probably put out more music in 2014 I just don’t know in what form. It would be great to record a full length. We’d love to work with Robin again. Currently our priority is to move to our new studio, turn demo’s into songs, play shows and then just take it from there.
Ok, let’s go back to the single. How was the video shoot? :)
It was a lot of fun! Our good friends Wijnand Beijer and Phillip Abdur from ForTheWhin.com did it for us.
We shot it in 3 days. The band shots were the toughest because we had to carry all of our equipment uphill through the dunes in the heat. I also feel really fucking awkward when I have to playback and there are like people walking their dogs who come to stare for a while and then just leave.
Could you take us through your songwriting process and stories behind the songs? Do you try to bring a certain concept into your music?
Usually I will come up with sketch.
I will record myself on my phone singing and humming gibberish with my acoustic guitar just to lay it down. Maruli writes a lot of the instrumentals as well. Then we just try the concept live and see how it feels, build and add layers to them in our studio. We don’t really bring a certain concept, we just try to make it sincere and make sure ideas stay loyal to the concept of “a good song” as a whole. Well what that means to us anyway.
Have you had a chance to play a couple of gigs yet?
No shows yet! We’re itching to play, hopefully we will be able to realize that this year, still.
Considering your local and national scenes, is rock and punk rock in a healthy state right now?
To be honest, not really.
Everyone is playing in retro 60’s bands and growing scary handlebar mustaches. it’s really weird, ha.
We used to have really good fucking punkbands like I AGAINST I and UNDECLINABLE AMBUSCADE but it feels like it’s dying out sometimes.
There are however consistently good bands like Cooper who have been going strong for ages. And then there’s new promising bands like FEXET and ANTILLECTUAL.
Are there any smaller bands that you feel should get more attention?
FEXET, POP UP ANIMAL KIDS, SILVER LININGS.
How do you think, what are the current major changes in the music industry and how do they affect punk acts?
I think because of changes in the industry a lot of bands have to do more and more themselves and DIY that bitch.
And I like that, it’s like with us, I think it’s cool to make your own videos, artwork, create your own practice space, schedule your own releases, do your own promo etc.
Do you remember the days when you first got into punk rock? Where did your passion for music come from?
When I was about 14/15 and living on Aruba is where I first got into skateboarding and punkrock. It really came hand in hand.
I downloaded “Milo Goes to College – DESCENDENTS” through some music forum, that one really intrigued me. Just the speed and the rawness yet still remaining melodic. Shortly after I caught on to all the BLINK 182’s and NEW FOUND GLORY’s in the 00’s, and those are the bands that triggered me to make music and start bands. My passion comes from the joy of creating.
Who has inspired you most with your music and the way you look? ;)
Too many books, movies, people and events to name.
My mirror is the biggest inspiration as to the way I look.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time away from music?
I enjoy hanging out with my girlfriend and watching Cougar Town. I’m really into filming and video –editing, I’m currently working on a Documentary called “Poetry is an Island” it’s about Nobel Laureate Derek Walcott. I’m flying over to Trinidad in September for the premiere of that.
Alright guys. Let’s sum up your upcoming plans. what are you currently up to?
We have to leave our current studio so we are moving into a new space a few blocks away at the end of this month. Our first priority is to hit the stage as soon as possible.
Cool. Anything else you’d like to add before we sign off?
Thanks so much for premiering our lyric video and helping us out with that awesome promolist! We hope people will enjoy the video and song. Be nice to each other.
Thanks a lot for your time. Good luck guys!
Cheers!
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