If you’ve ever been to Battle of the Bands at He’s Not Here (or anywhere really), chances are you’ve heard the UNC phenomenon that is Campfires and Constellations. Campfires and Constellations is a band comprised of five of UNC’s most talented seniors and if you haven’t been to one of their shows, get yourself there soon because you’re missing out. I sat down with band member Daniel T Perry IV for an interview to get the dirt on these “outlaws.”
HC: Tell us about the band members, who are the guys behind C&C?C&C: I (Daniel T. Perry IV) play bass guitar and studies political science; Charlie Smith does vocals and acoustic guitar, and majors in history; Corey Bax also does vocals and plays acoustic/electric guitar, he’s studying geography; Ernest Thompson plays the banjo, majoring in linguistics; Stephen Mooneyhan plays the drums, he’s a philosophy major.
HC: When/how did the band start?C&C: The band started with Charlie and Corey in Dunn, NC about four years ago, just before they came to college. Ernest joined the band freshmen year, then Stephen joined sophomore year. I (Daniel) joined at the beginning of junior year and the lineup has been the same ever since.
HC: How would you describe your style of music?C&C: We refer to our music as outlaw country. Our sound is gritty and up tempo. The goal is to have everyone at every show stomping their boots and raising hell.
HC: What musicians inspire you?C&C: Musicians that inspire us include country artists like Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Buck Owens, and Johnny Cash. We all have a wide range of musical influences so we are also inspired by bands like the Charlie Daniels band, He is Legend, Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.
HC: Who writes the songs?C&C: Generally, Corey or Charlie writes the lyrics and a basic chord progression to a song. Then they present it to the rest of the band and we all write our own individual parts and give feedback on what we think needs to be done with the song. It is a very collaborative process.
HC: If there’s one song that new fans should hear, which would you recommend?C&C: One song that I think new fans should hear is called “Movin’.” I’d call that one an upbeat folk song. (You can listen to “Movin’” here.)
HC: How many CDs do you have out? Where are they available?C&C: We currently have a live recording of us performing on Greensboro radio on our bandcamp page. We are working on a full length album called Carolina Homegrown, which we want to have out in March sometime.
HC: How often do you all play? Where?C&C: We usually have a few gigs a month at various frats around campus. When the weather is nice we often play at He’s Not. We have been playing fewer gigs since school came back because we are in the studio working on the album in pretty much all of our free time.
HC: Do you sell merch?C&C: We usually have t-shirts, CDs, stickers and lighters on sale at our shows.
HC: What’s the best part about being in the band?C&C: The best part about being in the band, aside from hanging out with the guys and meeting all kinds of musicians, is getting to make something that is going to last and hopefully make a few people happy along the way.
HC: Will the band continue once you graduate?C&C: The band is planning on staying together after we all graduate. We hope to keep the music going and try to make a decent living out of playing for crowds of people around the country.
HC: And lastly, any advice for aspiring bands/musicians?C&C: The best I can say about that is to get in with a group of people that are fun to hang out with as well as good musicians. Its important to be good friends with your bandmates or it is hard to create good music.
Thanks, Daniel! Interested in hearing more from Campfires and Constellations? You can find them on Twitter, Facebook, and their Bandcamp page!