"Con Alma de Blues Magazine" Nº7 English Edition Con Alma de Blues Magazine Nº7 /English Edition | Page 75

rock and it was only then did he delve
back into the blues to discover where his
original heroes had got it all from!
Over the years he played many styles but
always with bands playing original ma-
terial. Simon’s band Little Brother signed
a major record deal with Polydor in the
late 80’s but it was only after the band
folded did he started singing lead vocals!
Falling out of love with the music bu-
siness he had a 10 year hiatus but then
came back in 2011 with his first solo
album ‘ThirtySix’ which earned him a
British Blues Award nomination. This
was followed in 2013 with the acoustic
based Folk/Americana album ‘The Knife’.
Starlite Campbell Band is our passion
project. We have been recording, playing
and touring in bands for many years
until we met in 2012, when Suzy asked
Simon to join her band to play guitar.
The love extended past our playing and
we wed in 2014 after a whirlwind roman-
ce, forming our new band in January
2016. songwriter and music in today’s society.
As musicians and storytellers, which is essentially the
roots of Blues music, we always work in service of the
lyric and the song. The sound reflects the heartbeat of
what the song demands to come alive, it’s tonal qualities
painted as a sonic expression of the feeling and meaning
of the lyric.
We also love to create a natural sound with the minimum
of digital jiggery pokery, so many of parts on ‘Blueberry
Pie’ are ‘first takes’. We embrace imperfection as we are
more interested in the performance and energy.
MS:How did you meet and merge
your individual careers into this solid
band? and equally a great groove. I grew up singing along with
Karen Carpenter and dancing to the Jackson 5 and Stevie
Wonder so there is a real cross-over of influences which
are far and wide from David Bowie, Roxy Music, Queen,
Donald Fagen to the Bee Gees. When I picked up the
acoustic guitar aged 16 the music I was drawn to sing
and play headed right down the middle of folk alley with
Simon & Garfunkel and The Beatles a great inspiration
which sparked off the desire to write my own songs.
Simon and I both started writing songs
when we were sixteen years old; years
before we ever met.
When we started writing together a
couple of years ago, one of the things
we debated at length was the role of the
MS:Who were the artists that had influenced you and your
music?
Simon: Well of course the bands from the late 60’s and
70’s really started my guitar playing. Bands like Led Ze-
ppelin, Free, Deep Purple, John Mayall’s Blues Breakers,
Fleetwood Mac (with Peter Green), 10 Years After, Jeff
Beck, Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Wishbone Ash. Of
course after listening to these guys, I studied the originals,
John Lee Hooker, Bobby Bland, T Bone Walker, From a
writing perspective it was more Neil Young, Bob Dylan
and the Stones…
Suzy: I have always been attracted to a great melody