A bad vacation can be considered a beautiful destination where a person goes to have fun and find relaxation, but finds it impossible to enjoy when they arrive.
Bad Vacation is also the title of Maple Ridge musician Cam Blake’s first album, released Jan. 15 – and is a theme that runs through the whole record.
There are 12 songs, including Blake’s favourite, Waiting For Your Call, and Losing My Mind, two of the main tracks.
Waiting For Your Call is about a friend of Blake’s who was going through a “rough situation” with somebody he was seeing. They knew they were eventually going to break up, explained Blake, but they didn’t break up because they didn’t want to hurt one another.
“Whenever I write a song there is usually one thing that I’m usually thinking about that’s pretty specific,” noted Blake about his writing style.
“Then there are two or three deeper meanings that the words have. There’s more to it than what the top lyrics are,” added the 20-year-old.
What Blake really likes about the song is the way it sounds. He describes it as a mix between Pink Floyd and Tame Impala.
READ MORE: Maple Ridge musician loses his mind
“I like the fact that it’s simple. It sounds very ethereal and atmospheric but the base of the song is very simple,” said Blake, adding that he likes the simple base line and the consistent drums.
“There’s a lot on top of it that makes the song feel like it’s always building,” he said.
Losing My Mind is the first single on the album.
When he first wrote Losing My Mind, his band was falling apart, Blake said, and an old friend of his was dealing with a tough break-up.
“I was dealing with self-doubt, confusion and heartbreak,” he said.
“This song has slightly changed in meaning to me over the last few months, but the core subjects of the song still resonate with me as I’m sure they do for many others right now,” said the local musician when the single was released in June.
Blake began writing and performing music at the age of eight.
READ MORE: Maple Ridge musician finds Fast Love in large supply
His first official project was released in July, 2018, called Abyss and included a full production music video for the single Meditate that got more than 13,000 views online.
In early 2019 he released the single Falling just before releasing the Indie Rock EP called Fast Love that summer.
Blake fuses several genres into his music including R&B, indie, alternative and psychedelic rock.
Blake has been working on his debut album for about a year and only finished tracking, mixing and mastering the album in June.
Now, the musician is lamenting the absence of touring venues because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He is yearning to go on tour when the pandemic is over.
“And that’s one of the best parts of making music – is performing it,” said Blake.
For now he feels “blessed” that the pandemic also awarded him the extra time he needed to work on every aspect of each song on his new album.
Bad Vacation can be heard on Spotify, SoundCloud, Apple Music, YouTube, Tidal, and all the major music streaming services.
To download the album go to orcd.co/CBbadvacation.
cflanagan@mapleridgenews.com
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