Solemn Camel Crew are a British

British people

The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...

 electronic music

Electronic music

Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...

 Bit-Rock band. Their music is influenced by many genres from rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

, classical

Classical music

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

 to dance

Dance music

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

. Incorporating 8-bit synth and sampling the end result is their own unique Bitpop - rock style.

The name Solemn Camel Crew was adopted due to the frequency of cigarette breaks during early production sessions. At the time, both Randall and Brammer smoked Camel cigarettes, according to Brammer.

Solemn Camel Crew formed in October 2002 and are currently signed to Indie label, Electric Wax.

Formation / early years

Solemn Camel Crew started in 2002 when band members James Randall & Jonathan Brammer met as students of Yeovil College. They began working with a demo version of Fruity Loops 4

FL Studio

FL Studio is a digital audio workstation developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. FL Studio features a graphical user interface based on a pattern-based music sequencer...

 to create their first batch of digital

Digital

A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...

 tracks culminating in The Gypsy Book & Other Tales From The Phat Kitchen EP. The entire record was recorded and produced on sub standard equipment with demo software that disallowed saving. Consequently, none of the early material has ever been sold or has ever been available for download.

Subsequent recordings were made between 2002 - 2006 to follow The Gypsy Book & Other Tales From The Phat Kitchen. Each with common running themes that have survived to make appearances on later records, namely, Steven Hawking references and The Tony Bear Theme

Theme music

Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...

.

Early recordings

• 2002 - The Gypsy Book & Other Tales From The Phat Kitchen
• 2003 - Alpha Metric
• 2003 - Opium of The Masses
• 2004 - K
• 2005 - Rimpton Mixes
• 2005 - Return
• 2006 - Pinnacle Tea EP

Solemn Camel 3000

In early October 2008 after a long break Randall and Brammer got together to write new Solemn Camel Crew material. Introducing 8-bit chip sounds and focusing on an upbeat, up tempo

Tempo

In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...

 style, Solemn Camel Crew found its feet and its sound. The Citrus Jaboree called Camelnected By Camelepathy "an anthem". The record paid hommage to earlier records with track eight "The Ballad of Steven Hawking (Episode 2)" and "Exit Music For A Bear" revisiting older themes. The album became a popular electro staple through Last FM Internet Radio

Internet radio

Internet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...

.

Finger Party

Finger Party Is Solemn Camel Crew's second studio album. It features more live audio sampling compared to previous release Solemn Camel 3000. New elements such as the use of vocoders showed a development in approach and style alike. Work on the album began shortly after Solemn Camel 3000 was completed in October 2008.

Dodecatuplehedronism

Dodecatuplehedronism is Solemn Camel Crew's third studio album recorded mainly at Electric Wax Sound Studio over Summer 2009.

Beta Metric

Beta Metric is Solemn Camel Crew's fourth studio album recorded mainly at Electric Wax Sound Studio in early 2010.

Kaleidoscopic

From Mid 2010 Randall & Brammer began working on a fifth Solemn Camel Crew album. After several live shows embracing more live instrumentation the album Kaleidoscopic takes the form of a more rock influenced record.

Live shows

When performing live Solemn Camel Crew often introduce extra elements to the live sound that do not feature on studio recordings. James uses an array of gadgets and foot switches to manipulate the electric guitar in often unexpected ways and an assortment of added instrumentation (violin, synth etc.) to produce a "one off" unique performance every show. Synth bass is backed by live electric bass performed by Nick Jacobs whilst sequencing, vocals and synth are controlled front of stage by Jonathan Brammer.

Members

Current members

• Jonathan Brammer – guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , vocals, keyboards
  Keyboard instrument
  A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
  
  , programming
  Programming (music)
  Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock...
  
  , songwriter
  Songwriter
  A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
  
   (2002–present)
• James Randall – guitar, keyboards, programming, songwriter (2002–present)
• Nick Jacobs – bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  (2010–present)

Contributers

• John Pitt - Sound FX (Rimpton Mixes)
• Oliver 'Duffy' Baker - Vocals (K)
• Matthew Tucker - Saxophone (Return & Live performances under the alias "Captain Cardiac")
• Nick 'Bazilbean' Barrel - Vocals (Return)
• Jack Barlow - Writer "The BlueTooth Introduction" (Solemn Camel 3000), Vocal "Jeremy's Iron" (Finger Party)
• John Brindley - Vocals "The BlueTooth Introduction" (Solemn Camel 3000)
• Isabella Griffin Reid - Vocal "Childs Play" (Dodecatuplehedronism)

Studio albums

• 2008: Solemn Camel 3000
• 2009: Finger Party
• 2009: Dodecatuplehedronism
• 2010: Beta Metric

Solemn Camel 3000

• 1. The BlueTooth Introduction (2:48)
• 2. Homafrocat (3:15)
• 3. Camel Toe (1:48)
• 4. Camelisation (2:16)
• 5. Camelnected By Camelepathy (3:26)
• 6. I Have All The Chaos Emeralds (2:16)
• 7. Turn Off The TV (2:21)
• 8. I Hate Mono (2:17)
• 9. The Ballad Of Steven Hawking (Episode 2) (3:18)
• 10. Time For Bed (2:35)
• 11. Camel Goes West (2:45)
• 12. Camel (On The Right Side) (2:21)
• 13. Exit Music For A Bear (4:27)

Finger Party

• 1. Night of The Living MegaDrive (1:44)
• 2. I Want To Play With Lego (4:07)
• 3. Twist Your 8-Bits (1:18)
• 4. The Coolest Lunchbox (1:52)
• 5. Jeremy's Iron (2:17)
• 6. Finger Party (3:40)
• 7. Impossible To Let Go (3:04)
• 8. Japanese Import - Level Complete (0:36)
• 9. All My Sins Are Forgiven...Thanks (2:05)
• 10. Overdraft Accepted (2:19)
• 11. Soviet Assault On My Nes (1:52)
• 12. Sunday Challenge (3:58)
• 13. Power Up & Boogie (1:14)
• 14. Ground Control To Flight Lieutenant Dangerous (1:52)

Dodecatuplehedronism

• 1. Childs Play (3:39)
• 2. Pick-A-Boo (3:35)
• 3. Friendly Neighbourhood Atom (1:52)
• 4. Peel Off The Skin (2:13)
• 5. Jabba The Hutt (3:09)
• 6. I Am The Optimist (1:05)
• 7. Joyful & Triumphant (3:13)
• 8. Balzal The Great (2:51)
• 9. The Mr Beef Waltz (3:32)
• 10. Electric Me, Electric You (3:21)
• 11. No Hope For A Savoury Tongue (2:55)
• 12. Dodecatuplehedronism (2:50)

Beta Metric

• 1. I Feel Funky (2:47)
• 2. Crushing Death, The Gentle Revival (2:07)
• 3. Igloo (2:05)
• 4. I Face-Plant, You Pick Me Up (2:29)
• 5. Stephen vs The Minotaur (2:50)
• 6. Robot Dance (2:28)
• 7. Montage Music (2:37)
• 8. Good Morning Everyone (1:10)
• 9. An Integrated Circuit (5:29)
• 10. Melancholyflower Cheese (2:24)
• 11. My maths Is Broken (3:30)

External links

• http://www.solemncamelcrew.com
• CAMELVISION - YouTube
• http://www.last.fm/music/Solemn+Camel+Crew
• http://twitter.com/solemncamelcrew
• http://www.electricwax.co.uk