El Campo

Artist Information

Biography

Jerid Reed Morris wrote these songs. They're variously about heading East or heading West. They sometimes explore change and loss, and how maybe those two things have always been the same thing. He tries to put his tongue in his cheek, often misses. He sings a little, plays a little guitar. Rudy Villarreal plays drums and sings a little, too, and tries not to look too much like Peter Lorre. Nick Richman plays pedal steel, sings a bit, and Zalm Almaguer plays banjo and doesn't sing at all, not even a little.

Something like The Promise Ring meets The Weakerthans, played on a pedal steel and a banjo by a completely shithoused George Jones, who is also driving a riding lawnmower.

Since their formation, El Campo has had the opportunity to provide direct support for Mayer Hawthorne, This Will Destroy You, Best Coast, has been awarded "Artist of the Month" by Austin Deli Magazine, and performed at the CMJ 2012 Music Marathon in New York City. Currently, the band is finishing up their debut full-length record and was most recently invited to perform at the SXSW 2013 Music Festival in Austin, Texas.

Instrumentation

Jerid Reed Morris - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Nick Richman - Pedal Steel Guitar
Rodolfo Villarreal - Drums, Vocal Harmonies
Zach Almaguer - Banjo
Jesse Basham - Guitars/Bass

Discography

Faux Fur 7" - Texas is Funny Records
El Campo 12" LP - (release date: TBA)

Official Website

http://www.elcampotheband.com

Links

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Bandcamp

Audio

• The Palo Fucking Duro
  Listen  
• Caliche
  Listen  
• Battle Hymn of Boy and Blood
  Listen  
• Who'd You Save Your Love For?
  Listen  

Lyrics

• The Palo Fucking Duro
• Caliche
• Battle Hymn of Boy & Blood
• Who’d You Save Your Love For?

Video

Faux Fur (Music Video). Directed/Filmed/Edited: The Brothers Andreu

Photo Gallery

Press

• An A-to-Z Guide of 26 Bands to Check Out at SXSW 2013
  

  "Perfect for fans of acoustic guitars and squeaks."

• San Antonio acts head to SXSW
  

  Details regarding our official SXSW showcase in Austin.

• SXSW
  

  Our recent feature in San Antonio Magazine for SXSW 2013.

• SXSW 2013: Tegan and Sara, Vampire Weekend, and Black Lips Top Latest Lineup
  

  Spin has us listed as a 'Go Rogue' choice for SXSW viewing

• CMJ Music Marathon Reaction [+ Show ]
  

  "I’ve only listened to a couple of tracks so far in the dank and narrow performance space nestled in..."I’ve only listened to a couple of tracks so far in the dank and narrow performance space nestled in the bowels of NYC’s Lit Lounge, but Pillow Talk is a surprisingly good alternative band with a country flair that works well."

• Vinyl Platters: 7&7 Is [+ Show ]
  

  Pillow Talk's Faux Fur single (on Texas Is Funny) is neo-classic country with haunting melodies of h...Pillow Talk's Faux Fur single (on Texas Is Funny) is neo-classic country with haunting melodies of heartaches and the warm voice of Jerid Reed Morris underscored with triplet banjo rolls and steel guitar.

• Pillow Talk embraces the suck with an easy country tempo. [+ Show ]
  

  Generally, musicians and music fans fall into two camps: those who believe that creativity has a she...Generally, musicians and music fans fall into two camps: those who believe that creativity has a shelf life and those who don’t. In the case of Pillow Talk’s Jerid Morris, 29, losing one’s creative edge is just part of growing up.
  
  “The more you unravel the whole mystery (of music), the shittier your songs become,” he said, in a recent phone interview.
  
  Young, angsty musicians, hell-bent on writing about high ideals and abstract thought eventually fall prey to boilerplate sentimentality and heartbreak, he said. Illustrating his dilemma, he invoked the specter of his first band, Muldoon. People frequently tell him that that group’s first album, Coat of Arms, is still one of their favorite recent records. Five years and three projects since, Morris both regrets giving up on Muldoon and insists that he can barely tune his guitar these days.
  
  “It’s hard to write songs when you suddenly understand that everything is four chords,” he said. “That’s why Steve Vai and Joe Satriani can hardly write a song to save their ass. [Their music] is just all technicalities.”
  
  Pillow Talk, Morris’s new project, sounds like the work of an accomplished musician embracing simplicity. The debut EP Faux Fur features none of the sprawling emo of his previous projects Muldoon, Great Northern Guns, and Stegosaur. It’s a sleepy doc of indie country birthed out of some tumultuous life events. In 2007, Morris divorced his wife of seven years and immediately got into a tortured dysfunctional relationship with someone else for another year. He said he felt like he was living life backwards, having adolescent romance experiences after his first marriage at age 25. In other words, it was perfect country material.
  
  Meanwhile, Faux Fur is just a smattering of Pillow Talk’s catalog. Morris said there’s an analog full-length sitting in the archives of Infinity Recordings Studios in Austin that no one is ever likely to hear. That first session is the product of two years’ work (Morris recording with a rotation of guest musicians) and about $5,000. He said that Infinity owner Barrette Walton’s life was “spiraling out of control” and believes that his project suffered for it — with Walton demanding an additional $1,000 to access the original tapes. Rather than pay, Morris signed with Texas is Funny Records this summer, where he plans to stay.
  
  Walton did not return calls for comment.
  
  On shifting to country, Morris said the change wasn’t all that drastic. After all, emo icons like Sunny Day Real Estate and The Promise Ring aren’t all that far from Hank Williams in his sappy heyday. “They were like the kid who just got his ass beat and he’s singing a song about it and smiling,” he said. “[It’s] the idea that you can say crappy, emotional shit and, you know, laugh about it.”

• Pillow Talk: Faux Fur EP [+ Show ]
  

  There's no shortage of country/Americana acts coming out of Saytown, with a few trying to appropriat...There's no shortage of country/Americana acts coming out of Saytown, with a few trying to appropriate the indie label to cut away from the pack. Only Pillow Talk (of both here and Austin) is turning that trick both honestly and effectively on their debut 7-inch EP Faux Fur. This release is a mopey slice of grown-up-but-not-old alt-country cut from the cloth of indie bands at their most western. Think Heartbreaker-era Ryan Adams with the color of Rilo Kiley and the soul of Neutral Milk Hotel. The album opens with a title track that doesn't sweep so much as glide. Songwriter Jerid Morris has a straight-faced charm, singing, "For the record, this record is my lullaby," implying that he wrote the song to help him sleep. Buried beneath the quirkiness are songs of righteous heartbreak. "Baby's Breath" begins with the exact same guitar lick (cheeky!) as the title cut, but veers into Morris confessing he's taking an unfulfilled love to the grave. His imagery of lovers' footprints fading from a hillside and wind dancing in his beloved's hair are on some James Joyce shit. This EP is for lovers, both together and apart.
  
  ??? 1/2 (out of 5 stars)

• Pillow Talk - Faux Fur (Official Video)
  

  NME features the "Faux Fur" music video on their official website.

Setlist

Faux Fur
Battle Hymn of Boy & Blood
The Palo Fucking Duro
Blue Moon of Kentucky/ Open Casket
A Slip of the Pen
Skinny Kids
'Neath Every Moon
Baby's Breath
Who'd You Save Your Love For?

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