CAMP

Zurich rocks. After years devoted of techno and electronic music, these days bands resume the great tradition of Zurich rock, punk, new wave, and pop. Camp are one such rock combo. However, it is not solely about guitars: Their home town, Zurich, always proves a fertile ground for the band’s disco qualities.

Dominic Suter (voc, guit, key) and Raphael Rogenmoser (bs, voc) found Camp in 2003 while studying in Zurich. It has taken Dominic some time to develop his very own sound, sharing his enthusiasm for 80ies synthesizer bands in various projects in Zurich since 1996. Before founding Camp, Raphael Rogenmoser was singing and playing bass in several indie-rock bands in Lucerne for years. Right from day one, Dominic’s and Raphael’s shared love of alternative rock music and Zurich’s clubbing scene proves a binding force. Shortly after Camp is founded, drummer Tosho Yakkatokuo joins the band.

Consequently, they release their first album, titled «Iconography», in late 2005. The album meets with a big press response; the tracks «My Heart Is Breaking Down» and «In Paris with You» get daytime airplay on DRS3 and Couleur3. New Wave and Punk are as much part of the sound as dance and pop music elements. Camp would now go on to state that they were trying to advance their influences – ranging from old heroes like The Cure and New Order and peers Franz Ferdinand and Bloc Party to less obvious artists like Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene – to a worthy version of the originals. But this is under-statement. The band are not merely quoting: Their sound bears Camp’s own hallmarks.

Camp are three Zurich boys to keep an eye on in the future. Referring to themselves as «smalltown neurotics», their motivation for making music is summed up by Woody Allen’s one-liner: „Failing in life can be dangerous; failing in art is simply embarrassing.» Within one year, Camp release «Talking Cure», the follow-up to their debut album. The band prove that there is more to them than writing straight dancefloor hits. The three rock musicians, every one of them knowledgeable about the more modern history of pop music, have found a multi-layered sonic language, the speed, style, beauty, and mood swings of which never fail to surprise and move the listener. On stage, the main purpose of Camp’s melting of traditional rock instrumentalisation and electronics is still to make girls dance.