In a music industry often defined by meticulous production and calculated releases, The Campbell Apartment's latest album "510" stands as a refreshing testament to creative spontaneity.
Frontman Ari Vais, whose songwriting journey spans over three decades and 120 songs, embraced an unusually impromptu approach for this collection—some tracks were written mere hours (or even half an hour) before recording.
The result is a raw, emotionally charged album that captures the essence of Vais's newfound East Bay home and his evolution as an artist.
We sat down with Ari to discuss how sobriety, fatherhood, and finally finding a place to call home have shaped this powerful new chapter in The Campbell Apartment's musical story.
Your new album 510 was written and recorded with an unusual level of spontaneity—some songs were crafted mere hours before recording. How did this process shape the sound and emotional intensity of the album compared to your previous work?
In some cases, half an hour! I think it suited me and, more importantly, the songs, really well. It’s a bit hard to explain this, but emotional richness comes with a raw honesty that can only be created if one does not labor over the track. Not going back to edit the words other than maybe a once-over allowed for that honesty to be extra powerful. Some of these tracks are too emotional even for me to listen to without losing it a little. As to the sound, the production sounds both really rich and raw, but as far as the writing, I have fewer bizarre chord changes and breaking of patterns within the songs than usual - which also probably gives this album more general appeal, I wasn’t worried about making the songs impossible to figure out how to play in order to impress other, future musicians so there’s - not a simplicity - kind of an everyman feeling about them al.
Also, having thought about this more, the simple explanation is that I am a lazy lazy man. So my producer (Chris Dunn) and I agreed on a deadline with Mint 400, to submit the record by the end of ‘24, and set out to work sometime after labor day, as we were both unemployed again at the same time (as was the case with our previous release, Under The Influence Of Love, which came out in January of last year).
And this reminds me of college, when I’d wait til the last possible chunk of time to write and submit the essay, which always turned out quite good, because I seemed almost incapable of acting on it or anything else without a real deadline looming - not just looming but approaching extremely rapidly where procrastination was no longer an option.
And so, with (510), digging through old voice memo ideas, scraps of lyrics, but mostly just sitting down at the piano or with a guitar with no more time to waste, and a piece of paper + pen, literally just before it was time to record that song, was how I wrote them and why I like them so much. I could do this with my sleep with real deadlines but without them I’m fairly useless. The songs are in me though.
The title "510" marks a significant personal milestone, referencing your home in Oakland after a lifetime of movement. How has settling in the East Bay influenced your songwriting, and do you feel a stronger sense of identity in your music because of it?
I don’t know about that exactly, but for very many years I was called a New Yorker by other Bay Area people. NYC certainly informed my music and I had almost a schism about writing at least one song per album about NJ since moving out west. Also, for the longest time, I couldn’t answer the question “where are you from” or “where’s home” since I’ve moved around so much: Moscow, Rome, Vienna, West Hollywood, Boston, Amherst, NYC (4 separate stints!), Richmond VA, London, SF and now the East Bay.
But I’ve lived here long enough and can’t really leave for the next 12 years - that I’ve actually become a part of the local music scene, something I have not had since the mid-late ‘90s when I was playing in Northampton, MA. You don’t know how much you miss and need something until it reappears in your life.
My approach to writing hasn’t and won’t change, in its essence - it’s not like I have any choice in the matter - the melodies and words just come to me.
Chris Collingwood and Rolling Stone have both praised your ability to consistently deliver sharp, filler-free songwriting. After more than 30 years and 120 songs, what drives you to keep pushing your craft forward, and what excites you most about this album?
Oh I will never stop writing, just like McCartney will probably never stop touring, this is who and what I am. So another reason is because constantly doing something that you are good at to begin with - like our drummer being as incredible as he is still takes drum lessons because you can never be too good at something without further improvement, ever - constantly doing it your whole life, it’ll get better and better, so stopping is not an option as far as cranially, my brain would dry up if I stopped, competitively, though I hate to admit this it does feel pretty awesome to outdo myself with each record/song, and wow people and make people I don’t even know feel stuff. It’s a rush.
I’m the most excited about this album because of the production, listen and you will hear what I mean, Chris Dunn should and will be world famous as a producer, and because the songs are unfussy and as such there is a real intimacy to them. The angry songs are palpably angry, almost scary, the Life On An Oil Rig track, really about isolation, is so lonely it made one of my kids weep, the love songs (for my kids) make me emotional frankly, and the ones that are word salad, kind of like What’s Goin On and Alone in the Bar, still have meaning and feeling even though the words were literally used because they fit syllabically and the sounds sounded good together - a sort of magic! I guess that’s called the subconscious.
I love the brevity of it, it’s under 30 minutes and those 11 tracks pack a wallop, so I guess it is an improvement on all the things I do well, but without any tricks up my sleeve, it’s purely pouring my heart out but still being cheeky lest something be too melancholy, infusing a bit of humor if something might seem too serious or self important, although Words With Birds is pure emotion, zero irony, and probably the best song on the album.
Words with Birds is a reference of what I used to kill time with when my kids were away - as I have them just half the time and they are incredible, smart, adorable, loving and hilarious 6 year old identical twin girls - Words With Friends and dating apps on my phone (birds meaning girls in British slang), it just came to me but I guess the title is deceptively whimsical/silly so that the emotional power of the song is even more devastating - though none of this was premeditated, nor even thought about much before I quickly wrote the stuff.
Fatherhood, isolation, addiction, and love are central themes in 510. Was there a particular moment or experience that sparked the writing of "30,000 Days", and how does it set the tone for the rest of the album?
Like with What’s Goin On, and all those quirky animal factoids, which was due to my watching animal documentaries (when you no longer follow the news as of Jan. 19, animal shows serve as a very zen replacement), 30,000 Days was based on some article I read about that being the average length of a lifetime. I riffed around with my friend Karen who liked the idea of how I measure time, like with weekly garbage night and said I should come up with a string of those, and the rest just poured out of me.
Since it is about life, I did not want it to be too profound so - like much of the album - it sounds a bit like Wings or solo John - I made it playful and poppy, but it has a deeper meaning, although plenty of John-like words like “Don’t leave me alone because I’m so tired of bein alone, on the other hand it’s good to be on your own”, kind of reminds me of It’s getting better all the times, it couldn’t get much worse. Giving oneself the freedom to just write and sing whatever comes to you without worrying whether it makes sense, the end result makes the most sense possible, I’ve found.
But the sequencing was done not in the order in which the songs were written. I just has What’s Goin On, and came into the studio with it, the magic was there again but tenfold, since this was the 2nd record Chris and I did together, so we decided to make an LP and let Mint 400 know, and then just worked really hard and quickly with levity, to create it. As it was ending, just like with a great novel, I missed the process of creating (510) already.
This is your fifth release with Mint 400 Records, a label known for championing indie artists. How has that partnership shaped your career, and what does 510 represent in your evolution as a songwriter and bandleader?
I guess it represents a confidence I never knew I had before, surprising myself in my ability to write these songs almost on the spot. When you’ve been doing it since the freaking 1980s, eventually there comes a time when the not giving a fuckery plateaus and crests and some of the best art is made possible. We’ll see how this new album shapes my career but I certainly have high hopes.
This is all me and Chris Dunn, as well as Steve Mathews on drums - although now I’ve assembled a group that wants to play live loads, with Marky Pena on drums and Chris Greasen on bass. As a band leader? I’m even more devoted to letting the producer produce, the players play, without giving any guidance or request as to how my compositions should be played or produced. Being hands off makes everyone deliver their best results possible, makes everyone engaged, and makes everyone as much a part of the project as I am. Without collaboration, I’d just resume oil painting full time.
As to Mint 400, you know, just the validation of being on a label, and frankly getting sober back in 2020, I take this whole music thing way more seriously (without my writing being too serious because bleh! Zero irony is why I can’t “do” Pearl Jam or most any other modern rock band that is not indie rock), and professionally.
Having maintained, somehow, an incredibly wasted lifestyle for my entire adult life til my 5th decade on this marble, the music was still good, but now that my soul is pure and clean, the music is elevated accordingly. Being on a label, other than liking the whole arrangement of creative carte blanche that I get with Neil, gives me accountability as a writer, but also the confidence to have more fun with the whole thing - I’m kind of not trying anymore to be a star or whatever - which is just SO good for the music, that it’s like a real job, but the most dreamy, idealistic, utopian job ever. Living the dream.