Coffee Maker / Photo: Damen Washington
A new local band made up of members of locals Claw Marks American and fronted by the singer of former Fayetteville band Skirt (full disclosure, I played in Skirt more than 20 years ago) is set to release a new album this weekend.
The new band, called Coffee Maker, is made up of singer Jeremy Digby, guitarist Chase Davidson, drummer Tim Campbell, and bassist Brock Davidson, will release their self-titled debut on streaming services beginning on Friday, Aug. 30.
The new band recorded 10 tracks in Fayetteville’s East Hall Studio last year, and they’ll self release the record this weekend.
As I mentioned earlier, Jeremy and I played together in his previous two bands, and have been friends since junior high, so I’m not an impartial judge on this one, but I think the new band and album are worth a listen.
We got in touch with him to talk about the new project in advance of the release date, and he was nice enough to answer some questions for us.
What have you been listening to lately?
I’ve been on a Peter Gabriel kick lately. And Claw Marks American, Chase and Brock’s other band, just put out a great new record.
We’ve been friends a long time, so I know a lot of your history as a musician, but fill our readers that might not be familiar in on some of the projects you’ve been involved in over the years.
I was in Skirt and Fulton years ago. We played a lot of shows in the area. Then I didn’t really play with anyone seriously until CoffeeMaker was formed.
Album artwork / Courtesy
Tell us a bit about the new record? How long have you been working on it, where’d you record, how many tracks, etc.
We started working on the new record a little over a year ago. We recorded it at East Hall Recording Studio in Fayetteville. We recorded 10 tracks, 9 originals and 1 cover of an old gospel song from the 70’s.
We recorded them live in the studio and then added vocals and a couple other little things. We wanted to keep it pretty straightforward. Guitars, bass and drums for the most part. We just wanted to make a solid rock album.
I know you’ve played with Tim from way back, but tell us a bit about how you hooked up with Chase and Brock to fill out the band? They bring a lot to the table musically, for sure.
Yeah, I’ve known Tim for a long time. He introduced me to Chase and Brock. He thought we’d hit it off and he was right. We were fast friends.
It wasn’t long before we started playing music together and it just felt right. We figured we better make a record of it. All those guys are tremendous musicians. Awesome friends too.
What can you tell us about your songwriting process? Do you write a lot of the songs on your own, or with the band? Both?
I usually have several songs going at a time. I’ll take one to practice and we’ll start shaping it. All the dudes write their own parts and I’ll come up with lyrics. It’s very much a collaboration.
How has your approach to music, and what you get out of it, evolved and changed over the years?
Man, I don’t think it’s changed all that much. I still just sit down and start writing and hope that something good will come out. And playing with the other guys is great, sharing ideas and all that. That’s probably the best, most fulfilling part. Just hanging out and making music.
The record comes out later this month, correct? How can folks get their hands (or ears, whatever) on the new tunes?
The album is available August 30. You can get it on all the streaming services.
Do you guys have any plans for a live performance or album release party in the works?
We’ll be doing an album release party at some point, but no date yet.
