BC Camplight - FUV Live - 2015

When Brian Christinzio, who records as BC Camplight, completed the tour behind his second album, 2007's Blink of a Nihilist, he tumbled into a deep depression. Then living in Philadelphia, the singer and songwriter embarked on what he wistfully calls a "master class of self-sabotage." He stopped writing for over three years and struggled to survive (barely) financially. Finally, a serendipitous exchange with a longtime fan in Manchester, England convinced Christinzio to take a wild leap of faith, pack a bag, and move to that gritty and grey northern city, which he now calls home.

 

Manchester has inspired scores of bands—like The Smiths, New Order, Elbow and the Stone Roses—and it saved BC Camplight. Christinzio's third album, How To Die in the North, is a Seventies soulful, lyrically thorny and smartly-crafted album that earned him a record deal with Bella Union and the fresh start that this New Jersey native needed and deserved.

 

BC Camplight is looking ahead to a summer of festivals and a North American tour with his bandmates, but on a particularly frigid February day, visiting the States for a spell, he stopped by WFUV's Studio A for a solo session. Not only does Christinzio play the pining "Atom Bomb" and the punchy "Grim Cinema" for his FUV Live outing, but he also speaks candidly about the arduous seven-year journey to artistic resurrection, his affinity for the music of Harry Nilsson, and why his heart now belongs to rainy Manchester.

 

[recorded: 2/18/15]