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KAMERA REGION RUMBLE 2006 |
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KAMERAby Corine Jurgerson
Get ready to be exposed to Kamera (pronounced camera), a melodic rock/progressive five-piece band from Chicago/Northwest Indiana influenced by bands such as Van Halen, Queensryche and Journey.
Kamera formed back when vocalist Greg Flores and lead guitarist/keyboardist Vince Michaels were fresh out of high school.
Throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, the band endured many incarnations (which also included bassist Marshall Barber – who later left to pursue other opportunities but would inevitably return), but never quite got off the ground.
Flores and Michaels held a strong vision that they wanted Kamera to be more than just a “cookie-cutter band”, and refused to give in to the musical trends such as stadium rock and grunge that seemed to envelope the passing decades.
By the late ‘90s, Flores recruited another former schoolmate, Terry Holder, to create Kamera’s thunderous drumbeats.
It truly seemed as though Kamera were about to take off. The band began performing in clubs and even collaborated with engineer/producer Jim Bartz (Survivor, BoDeans) to produce their demo EP.
But all the pieces were still not in place at that point. Scott Nobles was added to the mix to play keyboards, but Kamera still lacked a bass player.
The members decided to put things on hold for about a year.
After that needed down time to re-think things, Flores, Michaels and Nobles decided to give the band another shot. Holder also returned and soon they managed to get Barber back into the fold as well. Now the pieces were finally in place and each felt it.
Today’s Kamera has a unique, melodic rock approach that certainly defies today’s “cookie cutter” pop sound.
Kamera’s first full-length CD – X-Posure – was released in August 2005. The lyrics to the fourteen tracks on the album were primarily written by Flores and explore themes such as relationships and everyday situations. The musical arrangements were developed as a collaborative effort by the band.
Almost immediately their song – “Everywhere I Go” – was added to regular rotation on the Night Rock radio program that airs on Sunday nights via X-ROCK 103.9. “It’s currently one of the most frequently played local songs in our music library,” noted the show’s host/music director, Tom Lounges
To ensure that there is no shortage of Kamera’s distinctive tunes, the band is already writing material for their next album and plans to head into the studio to record again in 2006.
Although they have already gained popularity in Europe – Strutterzine Magazine in the Netherlands proclaimed, “Kamera is the latest AOR sensation from the USA… an instant winner for the AOR fans.” – they aren’t necessarily pushing to get signed to a huge label.
“You always hear a billion horror stories about what goes on at the labels,” Holder explained. “In the short-term, we’d really just like to get word out about our band regionally. The Region Rumble is a great chance to do that. Any musician in this area who doesn’t want to play on the Star Plaza stage is nuts.”
For more information about Kamera, visit their website at www.kameramusic.com.
CATCH ASTERIA ON JANUARY 14 AT MIDWEST BEAT MAGAZINE’S 7TH ANNUAL REGION RUMBLE AT THE STAR PLAZA THEATRE IN MERRILLILLVILLE, INDIANA
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