Formed in 1996 by vocalist and guitarist Tracyanne Campbell, vocalist and percussionist John Henderson, and bassist Gavin Dunbar, Camera Obscura came to wider attention with the 2000 release of their debut album 'Biggest Bluest Hi Fi', partly because of the support of a certain John Peel. A decade on from that album, and some line-up changes later (Henderson left in 2003), the band are now preparing to release their fourth album. 'My Maudlin Career' is out on 20 Apr on 4AD, with a single, 'French Navy, out on 13 Apr. They'll also be doing some gigging around the UK and Ireland later this month. Ahead of all that we spoke to Tracyanne Campbell to ask our Same Six Questions.

Q1 How did you start out making music?
I decided to learn guitar when I was 20, and then decided to try to get a band together. I met John when I went to college and we put an ad out for a drummer and bass player. The rest, as they say, is history.

Q2 What inspired your latest album?
Mainly a relationship I had, but other factors like touring and being away from people I cared for influenced the lyrical content.

Q3 What process do you go through in creating an album?
I write the songs and then take them to the band. We work the ideas in the rehearsal room and try out various structures. We then invite the producer into the rehearsal room for some pre-production, where he might suggest a key change or a structure change. We discuss the instrumentation, for example if the song should have strings or brass. We then try to get the songs in shape and make sure everyone is happy with how they're sounding. Then we try to play the songs the way we plan to record them live, and that's about it really.

Q4 Which artists influence your work?
It's clear we like certain artists, like The Supremes and Sandy Posey, for example, and it's clear we like certain styles of music like Motown and country, but I'm not entirely convinced other artists really do influence the music we make as much as people think they would or should. We're our own band and I'd like to think we make our own kind of music that is influenced by each one of us.

Q5 What would you say to someone experiencing your music for the first time?
I'd say I hope you like it. If not then maybe you should listen to something else. I recommend My Morning Jacket or Arthur Russell.

Q6 What are your ambitions for your latest album, and for the future?
We hope we keep the fans we have and we hope to gain new ones. We'd like to sell enough records to enable us to financially make a new record and continue with our career. Onwards and upwards.

published april 2009