The rules are simple...there's a hat, this hat is filled with many questions ranging from the personal to the off beat. We pass the hat, and artists gets a chance to answer the question they choose from said hat. Fun is had by all.
Most recently embarking on their headlining tour that completely sold out, The Band Camino have been taking the US by storm. Bringing us their signature fun pop/rock stylings (along with some sad pop bops as well), there’s nothing to hate about The Band Camino. We caught up with the lovely The Band Camino before their sold out show in Philly for the latest Chat in a Hat.
Without further ado, here's our Chat in the Hat with The Band Camino:
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Chat in a Hat: The Band Camino
Jeffrey Jordan (vocals/lead guitar), Spencer Stewart (vocals/guitar), Graham Rowell (bass), Garrison Burgess (drums)
Spencer to Jeff: What would your wild west outlaw gang name be?
The Gallon Jugs
Garrison: What is your zombie apocalypse plan?
So I got this guy in DC. He has a huge ranch out in Montana. He’s ready! When I first met him I thought he was kidding, but he’s not. He’s set up for anything. I would grab my boys and head to Zach’s.
Graham: What is your favorite road jam?
It depends on the mood. We haven’t been listening to much lately in the van. I was really into the smooth jazz we’ve been listening to.
Jeff: Smooth Sax Vibes! We kind of did a Springsteen thing for a bit, and then Kanye so we’re all over the place.
Jeff to Spencer: What’s your best party trick?
I have this thing where I can jump over my own leg. You have to not be afraid of eating shit.
(he proved that he can)
Spencer to Graham: If you could be a character in any action movie what would you be?
Being Spiderman would be pretty sick. When I think of action movies I think of superhero movies. Action movies that aren’t superhero movies are usually pretty dark, and I don’t want to kill anyone.
Garrison to Jeff: Would you rather change the past or be able to see into the future?
Change the past. If I could see into the future that takes all the fun out of life. The ‘what if’ is what dreams are built on.
Graham to the band: Outside of music do you have any hobbies?
Spencer: I like to watch basketball and play basketball
Garrison: I love water sports, like waterskiing and wake boarding. I’m kind of really good at them. We’ve been playing together for about a year now, so something you guys don’t know about me is I’m pretty good at water sports. Ever since I was 12 my mom wanted to teach me how to ski and wakeboard and be a badass on water.
Graham: I like video games, and movies. I like to read. I’m really into the NBA.
Jeff: I like outdoor stuff. I grew up pretty country with hunting and fishing, but I’m still really into being outside.
Jeff: What was the stupidest thing you did in your teens to look cool?
Jeff: Probably just the extent of the money I put into my truck in high school. I had a giant lifted truck. I had my own lawn care company and all the money I’d make would go back into this one truck. I wanted it to be the coolest, loudest, and tallest truck.
Garrison: Was it?
Jeff: It was pretty tall and loud.
Spencer: Have you’ve ever known Jeffery to do something half way?
Spencer: What is your recording and writing process like?
Jeff and I have written most of the songs for the band, and we’ve co-written a couple songs. Graham’s been on four or five of them. That process can take any kind of shape. We just try to find any kind of inspiration and take it where I leads us. That’s really what it is is finding that path. I’ve compared it to a rollercoaster, if you get in that mindset it’s going to take you somewhere. It’s not you trying to take it anywhere. If you’re trying too hard it’s not going to work, but if you’re not working hard enough you’re going to fall off track. It’s finding a good track to be on wether that starts with a lyric, a riff, any kind of melody. That’s where we start with our songs. As far as the recording process goes we’ve did everything self produced and recorded, up until “Fool Of Myself”. Since then we’ve found a producer we really like working with named Jordan Schmidt, he’s helped us come up with a lot of great ideas. We’ll get a studio, borrow instruments and go in a week at a time and lay it all down.
Garrison: Give your bandmates a review like you would on Yelp
Jeffrey Jordan - 4.5 out of 5: Jeff is great because he makes everything fun. He’s good at making bad situations rounded out and makes them more enjoyable. Jeff makes things more enjoyable.
Graham - 5 out of 5: Graham is my cuddle buddy on the bus. We’re also the rhythm section, so it’s great to be playing with a tight bass player every night.
Spencer Stewart - 4.37 out of 5: The one that breaks my heart. He somehow makes me laugh at everything he says. He could be serious or not. When I look at him he just makes me laugh.
Graham: What was your first impression of your band mates?
I’ll go in-order of how I met them…
I met Spencer when I was in 7th Grade, and he was in 9th Grade. I was like ‘this dude is cool’. He sang in choir and was really good. He was the king of high school. Girls liked him and they never like me. My mom trusted him a lot and told me I couldn’t go to parties unless Spencer went.
Garrison I met when we were looking for a drummer. I had his number for awhile from a mutual friend. I thought he was really cool, I still do.
I met Jeff when I was contracted to play bass on his country record. Our first encounter was in a Walmart parking lot. He gave me a check for $150 to play bass on his EP. We would rehearse together at our friends house. I always thought Jeff was a very hard worker, I was always very impressed by that.
So now someone has to say mine.
Garrison: Our first impression was a coffee meeting. But really it was on the internet, I was following him for awhile and always thought he was cool and funny. When we finally met up he was so open and willing to talk.
Jeff: What’s the coolest venue you’ve ever played?
Jeff: We went on tour with Ben Rector in the Fall and the one that stands out to me is this one here in Philly. We’ve played the small one upstairs, The Foundry, and the greenroom is the top of The Fillmore downstairs. So you’re looking down at this giant room and we said ‘one day we’re going to play there’. We didn’t think 6 months from then we’d actually be on that stage.
Graham: I’m going to say a really underrated one, that was not the best show but a cool venue. Pabst Theatre in Milwaukee. It’s very historic and had a crystal chandelier, the whole basement was like a catacomb. Otherwise I’d say The Ryman.
Spencer: For me it’s hard to say because I really need to hear the room to decide what my favorite venue was, maybe I’m just looking at it the wrong way. As someone who plays, I’d say Saturn in Birmingham.
