Winechuggers

The simplest way for me to describe Winechuggers is to quote the band's bio:

"Winechuggers is the project headed up by William Cameron, a songwriter who catalogs various human foibles -- from obsessive love to angst to the inability to settle down in one place very long -- and then chisels out an unusual melody to sing along with."

In 2001, Cameron recorded Grand Rapids. As you will read below, circumstances kept him from releasing the CD until recently. Hop on board, grab a glass, and enjoy the events that have brought the band to the present.

What intrigues you most about emotions?

I guess the most intriguing aspect of human emotions to me is the bizarre behaviors they often lead to. People often do really weird and unexpected things as a result of their emotions, particularly when they try to suppress or ignore them. You can't say that person X feeling emotion Y will necessarily exhibit behavior Z, you know? The unpredictability and occasional chaos that sometimes follows can be good fodder for songs.

What was behind the choice to pack Grand Rapids in 2001?

I moved from the midwest to San Francisco in 2001, right after recording a bunch of songs that ended up on the album. I packed up all my stuff (including the album, so to speak) and didn't unpack everything until I was settled in my new home. Once I was settled, I decided to try to find a home for the record.

What made 2005 the perfect time to see it released?

Really, it just took that long to get it done and ready for release. The first year in SF was taken up with finding an apartment, a job, moving all my stuff west, learning my new job once I got it, etc., etc. It was a very hectic period for me. While I was busy with all of that, my friends Carl and Jeb back in the midwest were working on the album -- finishing mixes, trying out sequencing ideas, mastering the record, etc. Once that stuff was done I burned a bunch of CDs and sent them to labels I liked who accepted unsolicited demos. Then there was the whole process of coming to terms with Arena Rock, putting artwork together, scheduling the release, et cetera. All of which typically takes less than four years, but we followed the Paul Masson ethos - to "sell no wine(chuggers records) before it's time." I would have loved to put it out back in 2001 but it just wasn't ready, and I had too much going on at the time. The time feels right now.

That's quite a piece of artwork on the cover of GR. What were you looking to convey? Who did the artwork? Are you happy with it?

I didn't have a specific idea I wanted to convey; the selection of the artwork was more like "I'll know it when I see it." I came across the painting that adorns the front and back covers of the record on the website of Jason Oberbeck. He's a Bay Area artist who does some nice paintings and drawings. He's also a really nice guy. I like the cover image a lot. I don't know why exactly, but it seems to fit the mood of the record. It's kind of dream-like and weird, with the snakes and the half-horse and the girl on the tightrope. I like that and thought it fit with the mood of a lot of the songs. Oddly, the face on the cover looks a lot like one of my old bosses. I suppose that that's the only thing I don't like about it -- that it makes me think of my old boss whenever I see the CD.

Speculate for a moment, if you will, what Arena Rock heard in your music that others may not have?

Greg (Arena Rock head honcho) and I are about the same age, so we've lived thru the same trends and bands. We both grew up in mid-sized burgs (he in Birmingham, I in Indianapolis) and moved to teeming megalopolises (he to New York, I to Chicago), and both grew dissatisfied and moved to smaller West Coast cities (he to Portland, I to San Francisco). We seem to have a lot in common. The first time I spoke to him on the phone, our conversation touched on a surprising bunch of bands -- Wishbone Ash, old Genesis, The Replacements, Lilys, Superdrag, Uriah Heep, Beach Boys -- and it occurred to me that he is a huge music nerd like I am, and he likes a wide variety of bands and music for that reason. I think that was a factor in our hitting it off and making a connection. I liked the fact that he was well-versed in a variety of music and interested in music history, as opposed to being an indie snob whose musical vocabulary only went back to Built To Spill or whatever. As for what he may have responded to in the record, I'm not sure. Musically, the album is a little bit all over the map, so to speak, and that might have appealed to someone like Greg who seems to have broad tastes.

Your bio mentions that Winechuggers is a "project." The connotation, in my opinion, of "project" is that it's something to do while the "real" band takes a break. In fact, that same bio used "side gig" as a descriptor. Where do you stand with Winechuggers?

I guess I think "project" is interchangeable with "band," at least for the purposes of a bio. Winechuggers is my main musical endeavor, but I still play music in other situations from time to time for fun. I play piano once in a while in a country band. I have a monster-themed heavy metal duo with Michael from Winechuggers that I want to keep working on. When I go back to Chicago, I work on music with Carl from Emperor Penguin, and I would like to release more music with him. And I also play on recordings by my friends from time to time as well. But I don't think of Winechuggers as a side band, or an in-between sort of thing. If bands were relationships, Winechuggers would my main squeeze, with an old flame or two in the background and the occasional fling.

Write about the other members of the band. How did you meet them? What made them the right fit for this band?

Michael Cormier plays guitar and pedal steel, Ashley Adams plays the double bass, and Charlie Knote plays the drums. I met Michael at work and hit it off with him right away. I soon met Ashley, his wife, and found out she is a terrific bassist. The three of us began jamming together here and there, just for fun. I had been friends with Charlie's brother Andy for about ten years, and, when I moved to San Francisco, Andy mentioned that his little brother lived in San Francisco and played the drums. We eventually all got together and worked out a set and started doing little gigs. While that was all happening I was working out the particulars of the contract with Arena Rock for the album to come out. The timing was very good. I've always said that, when it comes to band members, it's not worth it if a musician has great talent but a lousy personality. Luckily, these guys are all swell people in addition to being talented musicians. We're friends in addition to being in the band together, which I think is vastly preferable to having antagonistic relationships with fellow band members.

Finally, let's talk future? What is in store for The Winechuggers? New material? tour? etc.

I have a lot of songs, and we've been working them out and arranging them. The sound of the band now is quite different from the sound of the record, which is only natural given that I made Grand Rapids before I'd met any of the people now in the band. So the next record will probably sound quite different, with a "band" sound and feel rather than the "schizophonic one-man-band" approach in which the sounds are really different from track to track. That said, I like to experiment as well, so there likely be more in the way of sound effects, synthesizers, layers, backup vocals, percussion, etc., than either on Grand Rapids or in our live shows. We'll be recording soon, so we shall see!

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