“It’s like having a puzzle that only you know how it all fits together and then when you complete that puzzle, it feels really fucking good. It feels really fucking great.”
To quote one of our most favorite SNL skits of all time: “And we’re baaaack!” But first, didja catch the first part of our interview with Eldridge Rodriguez’s Cameron Keiber on all things Nurser (Keiber’s debut solo album, out NOW on Midriff Records)? Well, what are you waiting for?!?! It’s okay, we’ll wait. Just head here. All caught up? FAN-tastic! In Round 2 we delve into Keiber’s take on songwriting and the current Boston Music Scene, try to pick the “definitive” Cameron Keiber song out of his entire discography, see what’s next and then some:
Having already established that Keiber is a prolific songwriter in Pt.1 (You read it, right? We don’t want you to get lost is all!) was reason enough to inquire whether there was a preference of a live stage over studio recording and, having previously performed solo, the pro’s/con’s if you will of a band setting to a solo one:
“I don’t know that I prefer one or the other. I enjoy them both immensely. I enjoy playing in the band because, you know, it’s nice to look over and see my brother and my friends. Dennis (Grabowski, Drums) and I have been playing together going on 30 years. We started playing together in college. It’s nice to know that he’s back there behind me, and I trust all the bandmates. You know, Bridget’s (Nault, Keys/Accordion in ER) new, and fit in right away. There’s a nice feeling about that and I could do stuff that I can’t do solo.”
“But I also like just having an acoustic guitar and screaming. And yelling. I mean, there’s something very fun about that. And being able to experiment live and not having to worry about whether someone’s gonna follow you or not. Not that my band couldn’t follow me, they would. It’s just I don’t know that I prefer one or the other. I think that they’re all expected of you. So you gotta do it.”
From The Beatings to Eldridge Rodriguez to Nurser, Keiber has built an impressive body of work that’s dipped into many a genre over the years so we were wondering if it was possible to not only pick a favorite but also to pinpoint if there’s any one song that Cameron would consider the “Definitive Cameron Keiber Song” up to now:
“I try not to repeat myself so I don’t know if there’s a definitive sound or song. ‘All The Things You’ve Been Missing’ by The Beatings, I still do in a live set, it’s one my favorite songs. I think that ‘All The Things You’ve Been Missing’ at the time was as good as my songwriting was gonna get at that time. With that band. For one reason or another, you know, without pulling members into areas that they weren’t comfortable with. But I don’t have a favorite, I just don’t have a favorite. I don’t even really listen to them afterwards. After the mastering’s done, we’ve checked the mastering, and I very rarely go back and listen to stuff. And that could be just because I’ve moved on and started recording the next thing.”
“Like right now, the follow-up to Nurser is my favorite stuff because it feels fresh and it feels new and you’re getting ideas and it’s all the fun of songwriting. Which is the best part about it. I think of songwriting two ways: It’s like having a puzzle that only you know how it all fits together and then when you complete that puzzle, it feels really fucking good. it feels really fucking great. And there’s a little bit of magic to it, too, because you just built it out of fucking nothing. So that’s how I kind of view it all. It’s like this puzzle-y magic show. That’s the kick I get out of it, the sense of accomplishment that I don’t get doing anything else. What was the question?”
Having been a fixture on the Boston Music Scene for some time we we were naturally curious on Keiber’s take on the current state of all things Bay State Rawk and if there are any bands fans should check out as well. Turns out, Cameron might not be the kind of guide you need on all things up and coming in BOS. He explains:
“Well, I don’t get out much. Because I’m old. It would be disingenuous to say that I go out often to see new bands. I really go from my house down to the studio or to my writing room and just work. All the local bands that I would shout out are all older bands. Minibeast, Thalia Zedek. And there are people who aren’t playing, like Ian Adams came over one afternoon and played me what he’s been working on and it’s fantastic.”
“I know that with the closure of all the medium-sized clubs, it’s a real pain in the ass to get booked in town. But that’s just the way scenes go. The scene that I came up with was never gonna be around forever. There’s very few of us still playing. Actively. Venues close, venues open. But that being said, even active venues that have been around post-COVID and pre-COVID, booking agents change every couple years. You’re always having to prove yourself to some new upstart who thinks that they are the gatekeeper of a scene. It just comes to the territory. I said years ago that, Rock And Roll was all gonna become like Jazz. The clubs are gonna get smaller. The sets were gonna get longer, and the audiences were gonna get smaller. It’s just the way it goes. Every scene has its’ time. The scene we came up with just isn’t around. And the clubs we came up with aren’t around. And that’s fine. It’s just the evolution of a scene. It’s a kick in the pants and it sucks for me, personally, but it’s just a reality.”
As for anything scheduled to celebrate the release of Nurser, Keiber says that the wheels are already in motion with plans for a local show to take place sometime soon (At the time of this interview in early March, “March or April” were mentioned). Speaking of Keiber’s new solo offering, we asked for some final words on what his hopes for the album are and what he’d like fans to get from it:
“I hope people check it out. Someone asked me recently about whether I worried about the ‘commercial viability’ of my work. And I I don’t think about it. I just don’t. I’m no dumb dumb. I’m hoping that there’s some kind of commerce from it. But people are gonna either get it or they’re not gonna get it. They’re either going to seek it out or they’re not. And whatever they get out of it, that’s fantastic. I love that. But writing music and recording music is a compulsion, like, it’s it’s a compulsion. If no one hears this album aside from you, that’s fine. There’s gonna be another album. And one after that. And one after that. Because that’s just what I do.“
“I’m in the real minority of people who still think of rock as an art form. And you know, like any art, the artist just keeps going. They keep doing it. Like, no one turned to Mark Rothko and said, ‘Oh, you did this one. Well, what happens next?’ Well, you’ paint another fucking painting. I’m hoping people listen to it. I’m hoping people buy it. I’m hoping people get something out of it. I’m hoping people enjoy it. But if they don’t, that’s not my fucking problem. I can’t make people like what I do. It would be exhausting to do that. We do our best to get it out there and hopefully they like it. And if they don’t, there’ll be more of that bullshit coming down the pike. It’s just the way it is.”
Nurser is out now on Midriff Records and you can get your copy by heading here! If you’d like to find out what we thought of the record you can head here for our recent review and for all of the rest of Cameron Keiber-related music and news, including upcoming shows like the one Eldridge Rodriguez has supporting ORBIT at Crystal Ballroom at Somerville Theatre with Harris (Direct ticket link here for your convenience) on May 30th, follow the trail of socials when you click here, here, or here.