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Mixing Preston-flavoured folky sounds with a healthy respect for Spanish footballers, Ivan Campo are a band doing some serious head-turning.
Describing themselves as peddlers of "laid-back, melodic, acoustic folk-pop", the trio is made up of vocalist and guitarist Adam Shaw, Will Rogers on guitar, keyboards, percussion and Ben Atha on bass, clarinet and percussion.
The trio first got together at university in Preston after getting on to the same music course by the skin of their collective teeth.
"We worked together for the first couple of years and then started jamming and writing songs together. So, technically, you could say we sort of ventured into music before we formed as a band."
Like many a new act, Ivan Campo were stuck for a name, so decided to come over all rock and roll by stealing someone else's.
"Around the time when we'd exhausted all our efforts to think of a name for ourselves, Campo started playing for Bolton."
"We then thought, wouldn't it be funny to name ourselves after him and decided we'd go for it. It roughly translates as 'John Fields'."
With twinkling melodies, multi-instrumental tendencies and a rosy observational angle, Ivan Campo are more often than not labelled folk or nu-folk. But when it comes to genres, they would rather let instincts take control.
"We prefer people to decide for themselves. I always say, best listened to on a Sunday afternoon with a nice cup of tea."
Pulling out obscure instruments is something very much in vogue with bands looking for an easy shot of image quirk, but one of the charms of watching or listening to Ivan Campo is that they don't make a conscious grab for attention.
There are no coordinating outfits here, no onstage shenanigans or attention-grabbing stunts - just good old honest music.
"We choose to stay away from gimmicks, as they have a tendency to backfire. But if it has reason behind it and works as part of the whole live set, then you can get away with it."
"I think, for us at least, we just prefer to turn up to gigs and simply play our songs."
After their MySpace address mysteriously found its way on to the back of Elbow front man Guy Garvey's receipt in a record store, the band received some airtime on the 6Music presenter's show, doing no harm for their profile.
Garvey is not the only one to have flashed them a vote of confidence. One of their tracks recently featured on 'Skins', after which, messages poured in from admirers.
"It's reached a brand new audience for us, which has been great. The exposure it's given us has been phenomenal. I didn't realise how popular the show is worldwide, so it's helped massively in reaching people all over the globe."
Speaking of reaching diverse audiences, Ivan Campo also did their second session for Marc Riley's BBC6 music show at the end of 2009.
"Marc is a top bloke who makes you feel right at home and is very hospitable. It can be fairly nerve-wracking doing a live broadcast, so at the time we were all feeling the pressure, but think we just about managed to keep our cool."
So, what does an up-and-coming band think about the prospect of a 6Music-less future?
"We're all keeping our fingers and toes crossed that BBC6 Music manages to avoid being axed. It would be an absolute crying shame if it does. I know John Peel would have something to say about it all..."
As well as TV and radio, the band has already opened for the likes of Jason Lytle, which they describe as a "dream come true", Nick Harper, the Pale Fountains and comic book king-cum-storytelling musician Jeffrey Lewis.
"We seem to go down really well with his fans. I think if we pick who we'd like to go on tour with, he'd be our first choice."
Other Ivan Campo apexes include playing across the country with Shack, having Michael Head join them on percussion and receiving some glowing praise from Manchester music scene stalwart Peter Hook.
"It's moments like these that keep us doing what we're doing. Real confidence boosters."
So, what can we expect from Ivan Campo over the coming months?
For those who love their music over a cider and a roll in the mud, the band hopes to bend their heads around the doors of a few festivals this summer, namely the Secret Garden Party.
As well as spending some valuable time in the great outdoors, the boys have also been putting in some serious studio time.
"We've got the release of our latest EP 'A Holiday With The Sun' at the end of April and we plan to have another EP out shortly after that."
"This is before we start work on our next project, which is going to be a concept album."
So, hold that thought and save some pennies - Ivan Campo is sure to claim hearts, minds and a special place on your CD shelf in the very near future. TAGS: Ivan Campo Words by: Denise Tench
Links:
Ivan Campo - Myspace
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