Let Em' Talk: Campfire Social's Thomas Hyndman takes us through their debut album 'They Sound The Same Underwater'
There's been a big announcement this week, you may have seen it. Some band or other from the 90s' are getting back together to play some village fetes throughout the UK and Ireland. They argue a lot and used to have a swagger about them that made The Rolling Stones look like that guy from school who used to hide behind his hair listening to Bright Eyes on an IPod Nano. Yes, Oasis are back and the whole music world seems to have lost their collective shit quicker than an outbreak of Diarrhea on the second day of Creamfields. I don't want to add anymore other than I saw them twice and once they were good the other time they weren't. I'm sure if you get tickets it'll be a lovely gig with cracking sing songs and you'll all come home smelling of urine. What more could you ask for?
Anyway, I have more pressing things to share. Campfire Social are a band that have floated around the fringes with a collection of excellent, life-affirming singles and E.Ps for quite some time. We've been big fans here at NNWNF and we've been waiting for a debut album to arrive with baited breath. Earlier this month we finally got our wish, with the band releasing They Sound The Same Underwater on Popty Ping Records. Front man and lead songwriter Thomas Hyndman is an affable chap and couldn't resist our offer to talk about the album, so he has gone through each song on the album track-by-track and he gave us these insights.
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1) Swim Swam Swum
I don’t know if you feel this way but I feel like a lot of people do, my mood lifts as soon as I can see the sea. 'Swim Swam Swum' is an ode to the power that an endless watery horizon has over my mental state. As someone who lives inland I have become almost obsessed with the idea that, in order to stay happy, I must take regular pilgrimages to the big blue church or I might sink and be swallowed up by the oppressive hustle and bustle of everyday life.
In the summer I can actually submerge myself in the water and this is the baptism we refer to in the opening line of the song.
We wanted to make this a simple song, the kind that is just fun to strum and sing along to on stage and I think we achieved that. Its a sing-along song about swimming out in to the vast open water, not looking back, and forgetting that everything behind you exists. I don’t think it needed to be anything more than that, the sea is deep enough *wink wink* it’s probably the only song we have that’s about pure joy and I hope that it brings joy to others.
Fun fact: We filmed a video in a swimming pool for this one!
'We Need to talk about Peter' was the first song we wrote together with the album in mind.
We started meeting at mine and Carrie’s house weekly, separate to our usual practices, for a sit down writing session with just acoustic instruments and a kick drum and snare in the corner of the living room. I had a single verse written (the first verse) which consisted of words beginning with the letter C and no real idea of what the song was about or where to go with it. The structure of the song and how it builds all came together in that living room mostly led by Rhys as I repeated variations of the first verse, along with some bah bah bahs, to piece together some kind of vocal melody. It grew over time to be a song about the things we tend to leave unsaid and the damage that keeping things from your past tucked away can cause.
Fun fact: Chris played something wrong in the studio and we changed the chord structure to fit his guitar riff because it sounded better. We almost called the song Happy Little Accidents because of this.
3) Patsy Decline
“Carrie should sing lead vocals on a song!”.
In the run up to the release of the latest Lakes album Carrie filled in on keys, glock and vocals for a couple of their shows and I had the privilege of tagging along and enjoying the shows from the audience. I hadn’t seen Carrie perform from that side of the stage before and it was great!
I’d started writing a song about the sinking feeling you get when your brain tells you its time to leave a social situation but you start feeling anxious that you may be wasting an opportunity to connect or coming across as someone that isn’t worth hanging out with - I was showing Carrie the harmonies I had in mind when it clicked - I can leave the party on this one! I love this song, it’s fun and I think Seb (the producer) did an awesome job of it.
Fun fact: Our friend Paul did some animations which we layered over the video for this one. He is ace and he is responsible for all the animated clips that have been used in the promo for this record.
4) George is a Marine Biologist
In my favourite episode of my favourite sitcom, 'Seinfeld', George lies to an old college friend and tells her that he is a Marine Biologist in order to appear more successful than he actually is. This song is about not caring about peoples expectations. Be a good person, do good things, fuck others expectations, don’t fire golf balls in to the ocean it may clog up a whales blow hole.
Fun fact: Joanne is my sisters name, the song has nothing to do with my sister, I just thought it would be fun to get her name in there somewhere.
Fun fact 2: The big old scream at the end is Carrie. (probably the most surprising and funny moment in the studio we had.)
5) Living
This one is long and sad.
'Living' was originally written years ago by a previous band Chris, Depo, Carrie and I were in (This version is available online somewhere if you’re willing to search).
It’s a very personal one and I really wanted to rewrite it and give it the Campfire treatment, I thought it was important that it featured on our debut album.
Getting serious, it’s a song about my memory of being at the hospice as we said goodbye to my mother when I was a kid, a memory that has replayed in my mind for a very long time. I believe it’s important to share things like that, it’s therapeutic and benefits yourself as much as I hope it can benefit others. I think most of us have experienced something like this, experiencing loss is part of living and living is the greatest thing you can do.
Fun fact: I think this is an inappropriate song to write a fun fact for.
6) Wendy
'Wendy' is another rewrite. We’d previously recorded 'Wendy' for our First studio EP, Wellbeing.
I think this version is more uplifting and hopeful, which is how we always intended the song to feel. Seb (producer) smashed this one out of the park as well! It’s a celebration of life and I think it was the perfect song to follow 'Living' on the album for this reason.
My hopes for this song is that one day some cool indie film director will use it in a moment of revelation, however I’d settle for a trashy American teen film, first kiss at the high school prom, scene.
Fun fact: If I could find the perfect location, enough actors and a decent wardrobe department I’d make this prom scene music video myself.
Fun fact 2: Wendy was my Mother’s name, this one is intentional.
7) Clarity
A song in the key of Depo (Michael Joseph Deponeo).
Depo does it again:
I love it when someone shows you a song, says “I don’t know what it’s about, it’s not really about anything” and you’ve already found meaning in it the first time they sing it to you.
I believe this is a coming of age song for adults. It’s not first loves and leaving home its navigating adulthood, stumbling through your thirties and realising that growing up is a myth we made up as kids to make us feel like at some point everything falls in to place. That’s my interpretation and as Depo claims to not know what it means that’s all you’re getting.
What I can tell you for certain is this song is great to play live, Ben smashes it and everyone pulled it out of the bag for this one which was the last song we wrote together for the album.
Fun fact: This song is named after a Jimmy Eat World album and features a quote from a Get Up Kids song.
8) Atrophy
We’ve done hopeful, joyful and sad let’s get a bit pissed off for a couple of minutes and throw some things around in 3/4.
9) The Inevitable End
This is not just any intro to a penultimate song on an album this is a Campfire Social intro to a penultimate song on an album.
Feel the waves crash at your feet and the wind gently brush your hair away from your face as we slowly drift towards the inevitable end of the record.
Sit back and relax, let us take you on a journey.
Fun fact: This song only exists as a separate track because it was too long of an intro for 'Breathe Out Slowly'.
10) Breathe Out Slowly
This song was always going to be the climax of the album, before we had written anything else or even started compiling ideas, this was how we wanted to end it.
It’s a song we’ve been playing for so long that its become almost our theme tune and it’s changed so much since it was first written. It’s grown with us as a band. The reprise in Breathe is my favourite part of this whole record.
Adding in lines from various other stand out moments from throughout the album over the gang vocals singing “hold you head under breathe out slowly, friend” whilst Tom Hammond blasts out some of his trademark glorious trumpet, brings the wave crashing on a moment that fills my chest a bit with pride. My mates did this!
It’s another one of those bloody hope songs.
Fun fact: I recorded them waves you can hear whilst filming a jelly fish on the beach.
Fun fact 2: Chris hurt himself in the studio singing the last line of the song.
11) I’m Not Scared
The resolve:
Either Chris or Depo got Covid during one of the recording sessions so I recorded this song on my own with Seb on possibly the sunniest day at the studio we’d had. We spent ages trying to record the birds we could hear in the garden.
It was supposed to be just an acoustic guitar and some vocals until I saw Chris Lee playing Pedal steel at a show at Telford’s in Chester, I sent Chris L the recording and he layered on some pedal steel at home for us. I do love a well played Pedal steel.
Fun fact: There is nothing fun about this song. It is a sad song!
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You can buy They Sound The Same Underwater digitally or on limited edition vinyl from Bandcamp
You can buy NNWNF a coffee and help support independent, alternative music journalism at the roots. Mine's a metaphorical flat white.
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