'The Scottish Def Leppard': Camera Obscura

As Camera Obscura, Glasgow’s glorious indie-pop sextet, gear up to leave mind-numbing day jobs behind for a full-time focus on music, Gigwise chews the fat with percussionist / guitarist / trumpet-playing extraordinaire Nigel Baillie and drumming aficionado Lee Thomson…

It’s difficult to picture Nigel Baillie in his day job – schmoozing clients and evaluating property – when he’s bolstering one of Britain’s most sparkling indie-pop groups with spectacular trumpet trills and a plethora of precise percussion.
Such is his double life with Camera Obscura, despite the band having three fabulous albums and existing in various incarnations for the best part of a decade. Things are set to change however, as the group makes a more concerted push for recognition with the release of their spectacular third album, ‘Let’s Get Out Of This Country’, a record packed with what the ensemble does best – gorgeous, unadulterated 60s-tinged melodic pop.

“It’s going to be difficult,” says Baillie of juggling his two worlds. “It’s maybe moving up a couple of rungs on the ladder now. We know we’ve got to get out there and play a bit more, and we’re trying to cram in as many gigs as we can possibly do given the constraints of paying the rent and putting food on the table.” And with tours and festival appearances squeezed into the second half of the year, jokes that band members are on the verge of being sacked from their “real” jobs may not be too far from the truth.

Apart from Carey Lander, the band’s youngest recruit, Camera Obscura balance day jobs with music careers. Keyboard whizz-kid Lander has just graduated from university. She won’t bother searching for a “proper” job, as the band is increasingly eating into her time. Towering bass player Gavin Dunbar is desperate to leave the drudgery of the BSkyB call centre.

Camera Obscura’s driving force is Tracyanne Campbell. The seemingly surly but treacle-voiced frontwoman pens the majority of the group’s material, and was a founding member of the group almost ten years ago. However, Baillie admits the band didn’t really feel complete until just before the new millenium, when the current line-up of Campbell, Lander, Baillie, Thomson, Dunbar and guitarist Kenny McKeeve more or less fell into place.

‘Let’s Get Out Of This Country’ is easily the most self-assured album the band has released. It’s littered with indie anthems, shimmering 60s girl pop and country splashed odes that radiate heartbreak and relationship discontent.

Now with an experienced muso as the group’s manager – in the shape of Teenage Fanclub’s Francis McDonald – and having worked with Concretes producer Jari Haapalainen, the band seems to be upping efforts to take things more seriously.

The latest collection of songs sound like a tangible step forwards for the sextet, with Haapalainen having a lot to do with the shift during recording in Sweden. “He made things a bit catchier, a bit punchier,” says drummer Lee Thomson of the man behind the mixing desk.  “We used to just meander a bit before. I think these songs are stronger. He was bonkers though, but in a good way. Strange wee guy.”