MUSIC
‘The only limit to what I can do is me...’ I n the lead up to Christmas, while the rest of us were messing about with tinsel, MK musician Cam Owden was stateside, touring with rising indie success Alfie Templeman. Carlton-based Alfie has had a phenomenal rise to fame, and when he needed a bassist he remembered the fret-feeler he’d seen in local band Khasia – and made the connection. “I tried to keep my distance from him, because it seemed like there were so many people trying to ride off his wave, but he got in touch and I thought I’d give it a go. Now he is one of my best friends and we are getting to see the world together.” Cam joined Alfie’s band in September of 2019, in a pre-covid world. Soon after, the diary was emptied and the band forced to put their instruments down and put their feet up as the shutters were pulled on the live music industry. Thankfully, 2021 proved to be kinder. “Some of our first gigs were at Boardmasters, Reading and Leeds, and we released a record too. Seeing my name in the credits still hasn’t stopped being cool to me. It has been a dream of mine to hold a physical release I’ve worked on in my hands, so that record means an awful lot to me. “More than anything though, the highlight is being able to hang out with my mates again. We all live apart and Alfie was shielding, so that first day back together was really special.”
Pic: @tatianawphotos
Pic: John Owden
Cam playing live with Alfie Templeman
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The trip across the pond was a welcome chance to put their music before a new audience and enjoy work and play. “The US has definitely been a learning experience,” Cam said, “Playing some of my bucket list venues like The Bowery Ballroom and The Roxy have been incredibly special, given that just last month I was still working a job at Starbucks.” And he returned home with a memory bank brimming with great stuff. “A highlight was driving down the West Coast; the scenery was beautiful, the soda cold and the music loud,” he reminisced, “Just road-tripping with my best mates and playing shows was blissful.” The new year is looking busy too. “Very busy actually,” he promises, “New music, a lot of shows and hopefully a bit of time to be young. I think it’s
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important that we take the time to experience life while working hard.” Then there’s the solo venture. KC Blackwater has so far delivered the EP Happy Smiling Faces. “It’s the least doubt I’ve had over anything I’ve ever done,” he said, “It’s just natural and doesn’t feel at all forced... the only limit to what I can do is me.” If his work with Alfie is indie and melodic, this solo rush makes for altogether heavier listening, and the single Fungi is more than a little bit good. It’s fresh and exciting, fraught and urgent. It gives Cam a platform to have his say: “People can say anything and somehow their opinions carry the same weight as facts,” he observes, “I wanted to write a track about confronting someone on all the egregious things they’ve said, and make them feel as small and uncomfortable as they’ve made other people feel.”
