After years working spent in band projects as a bassist, London-based musician Louie Cameron steps out on his own with a landmark debut EP, Do You Wanna Go Out?. The record pulls from a broad spectrum of sounds, including ’60s pop, 90s slacker-rock, 70s psychedelia and more recent lo-fi styles. There’s something strikingly cinematic about this EP, as it drifts from moments of high tension through to quieter reflections and atmospheric refrains. It comes as no surprise that film is a great source of inspiration for Cameron, which gives these songs an extra air of mystery, drama and magnetism. Another significant influence was time and space; that being the various cities and the several years over which this musician carefully crafted these five songs. Whether it’s the intoxicating setting of ‘Gigi’s Bar’ or the poetic ‘Do You Wanna Go Out?’ or the nostalgic romance in ‘Canina Canoona’, this EP continually surprises at every stage. With production from Pat Dam Smyth, Do You Wanna Go Out? is a confident introduction to Cameron‘s solo project. To get to know this artist and the EP better, we asked Louie Cameron about his influences, creative process, and the stories behind these evocative songs.
Welcome to Unrecorded! For those who aren’t already familiar with Louie Cameron, can you introduce yourself?
Sure, well, I’m Louie – I’ve spent years being a bass player and I’ve finally gotten around to stepping up with my own songs that have become an EP and live show that I’m very proud of and pleased with.
Congratulations on the recent release of your new EP! For those discovering you through Do You Wanna Go Out?, how would you describe this record in three words?
Loving, Kinda-Dark, Introverted
After years playing in bands, why did this EP feel like the right introduction for your solo project?
I’m very much a fan of long form and immersing myself into backlogs of people’s work. So doing singles felt a bit short yet prolonging the point of music for me. Plus, with an EP I think you can be freer to showcase more sides to you and your inspiration let alone taking it from an online thumbnail and building a whole world around it with music videos and vinyl to keep expanding it.
Your style is a concoction of late-60s New York pop melodies, spoken word and moody European atmospheres. How did you develop this unique sound?
I think it’s just from being around it for so long. These are all elements of all the music, books and films I’ve loved over the years but also came naturally to me when the songs started forming – as much as I think it’s a good thing to push yourself and be uncomfortable, I wanted the music to be me.
You not only draw inspiration from music, but also film, so how does that passion influence your songwriting?
It’s such a good feeling to have a song transport you somewhere, which is why soundtracks and song choices for movies are key. I wanted the same feeling with my songs – something shared with Pat Dam Smyth, who produced it – and how we imagined them whilst piecing them together.
If you had to pair a film with your EP, what would it be? And why?
Hmm – I think the obvious choices would be Wenders or Lynch since I’ve referenced this throughout the making of the EP. However, Dead Man by Jim Jarmusch would be very cool and does have quite a few cross-overs of setting that would make sense. Though I’d be taking Neil Young’s work away from it, so maybe that isn’t a great idea…
‘Gigi’s Bar’ struck us as the most cinematic listen, would you agree with this? And if not, which one is the most film-like to you?
Gigi’s Bar probably tells the clearest story and you can definitely picture the tale going down. For me, this is set in Dusseldorf, which is where I wrote it during one of my morning walks and would love to trace this back for the music video (but we’ll see if budget goes that far). Though the real ‘Gigi’s Bar’ has since closed…
For me, I can picture Do You Wanna Go Out? Closing out a late night drive and seeping into the credits…
Of course, we have to ask what the story is behind the title-track ‘Do You Wanna Go Out?’?
This one actually started as a poem as well, dedicated to Theresa Stern and was to be called Do You Wanna Go Out, Theresa Stern? But that’s a bit of a mouthful to fit into a song and so it slowly became more laid back and open yet moody of a failing love that came to mind over the repetitive chords. I can bore you with the full story on my Substack if you’d care to know more…
Another striking listen is ‘Canina Canoona’ with its jangling rhythm section and americana strings. Can you take us through the songwriting process for this one?
Another one that came bit by bit. I can remember ‘Canina Canoona’ – a nickname for my girlfriend who’s name begins with C, and I call her names beginning with C (never that one) and those two stuck whilst on a long car ride in Germany. The rest built itself as an ode to her being naturally herself and I had McCartney in mind when I wrote it on bass as one of his fun Wings-esque tunes.
Following the release of the EP, what will be next on the horizon for you?
More shows for sure! We played a very cool show to launch the EP at Third Man in London, so being able to have more people see the songs live is definitely a plan. We aren’t strict on keeping them exactly as they are on the record – So it’s always interesting for us, and hopefully our audience too.
New songs are also forming too, and bringing these to life is always going on in my head, so a mixture of everything it seems!
You can listen to title-track ‘Do You Wanna Go Out?’ in our Indie Rockers playlist.
Follow Louie Cameron:
UNRECORDED 