BC Camplight Watch Video - BC Camplight

Thu Mar 31 2022

7:00 PM

Newcastle University Student Union

Kings Walk Newcastle NE1 8QB

Newcastle University Student Union

Kings Walk Newcastle NE1 8QB

All Ages

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“This is an examination of madness and loss,” says Brian Christinzio, the inimitable force behind BC Camplight. “I hope it starts a long overdue conversation.”

Fired by his ongoing battle with mental illness, Shortly After Takeoff is the final, and finest, chapter of what Christinzio calls his “Manchester Trilogy”, following 2015’s “How To Die In The North” and 2018’s “Deportation Blues”. All three albums were created after the native Philadelphian had moved to Manchester. Like Deportation Blues, Shortly After Takeoff spans singer-songwriter classicism, gnarly synth-pop and ‘50s rock’n’roll, with Christinzio’s similarly distinctive, flexible vocal carrying a fearless approach to lyrical introspection, but the new album is a major leap forward in songwriting sophistication and lyrical communication

“It’s important to stress that this isn’t a redemption story,” he says. “I'm a guy who maybe lives a little hard and I’m in the thick of some heavy stuff. But as a result, I think I've made my best record.”

The “heavy stuff” has come thick and fast for Christinzio. Just days before How To Die In The North was released, he was deported and banned from the UK because of visa issues. Estranged from his new home, his girlfriend and his dog, unable to promote his album and back home with his parents, Christinzio sunk deep into the dark. An Italian passport, care of his grandparents, eventually allowed him to re-settle in Manchester, but then just days before Deportation Blues was released, his father Angelo unexpectedly died.“I went into a spiral that was worse than any time since my twenties,” he recalls. Hence the title Shortly After Takeoff: the feeling of being suddenly thwarted by what life throws at you. Making matters worse was a neurological disorder that returned after years in remission: “I see TV static, and it messes with how my brain interprets everything from sound to my own feelings.”One way to process tragedy is comedy, which elevates Shortly After Takeoff to a heightened plateau, from grief-stricken vulnerability to armoured bravado, from the black dog of depression to gallows humour.

Bleak comedy is evident from the album’s first song. ‘I Only Drink When I’m Drunk’ features Christinzio’s trademark ‘keep you on your toes’ style. ‘Ghosthunting’ similarly changes tack, between serene melody, classical harps, and pounding passages. Though the Nilsson-esque ‘I Want To Be In the Mafia’ (Christinzio’s favourite lyric on the album) and the elegantly sombre ‘Arms Around Your Sadness’ are less changeable, the way ‘Back To Work’ trades dreamy AOR and robotic funk, “sums up this record perfectly,” Christinzio feels. “The verse seems to make sense, then out of nowhere, boom boom…just when you think you have it figured out… It’s the never-ending cycle of mental illness.”

TKASG Present
BC Camplight

  • Event Cancelled.
  • BC Camplight

    BC Camplight

    Alternative Country

    BC Camplight is the moniker of maverick songsmith Brian Christinzio. The Philadelphian turned Mancunian is considered one of indie music’s most forward-thinking artists with a discography which acts as a soundtrack to a life rife with bad fortune, mental illness, running afoul of the law, and ultimately absolute redemption. Whilst living in Philadelphia Christinzio performed live with The War On Drugs in between releasing two critically successful yet commercially ignored records. He was also a coveted session pianist lending his talents to scores of albums, perhaps most notably Sharon Van Etten’s ‘Epic’. After a period of homelessness and running on fumes creatively Christinzio made a move across the Atlantic to Manchester, UK in an effort take control of his life and reshuffle his musical deck. The result was the recording of 2015’s ode to Manchester and baroque pop tour de force “How To Die In The North”. The recordings resulted in a record deal with Bella Union and placed Christinzio on a path towards artistic fulfilment. However, a severe leg injury landed Christinzio in hospital where he was forced to remain whilst his UK work visa expired. Despite pleas to the Home Office to allow the ailing artist to apply for an extension a decision was made that would forever alter Brian personally and artistically. The day after his record was released Christinzio was deported from the UK and banned from returning. "How To Die In The North" was essentially shelved.
     
    After 16 months of separation from the UK the resilient Christinzio was reunited with his beloved Manchester, gaining entry through newly acquired Italian citizenship. His most recent, and most lauded album "Deportation Blues" is an exhilarating dynamic document of calamity and stress, relayed through richly melodic arrangements spanning songwriter classicism, gnarled synth pop, 50’s filth-rock, and various odd junctions in between mirroring the creators fractured mindset. It is an immensely powerful diary chronicling an impossible set of life circumstances whilst shining a white-hot spotlight on the composer’s off-kilter brilliance. The album has since been revered by critics, become a stalwart on the BBC Radio 6 Music playlist (BBC 6 Music 2018 album of the year as voted by Marc Riley), and put BC Camplight back on the stage where he belongs. With a slew of tours and festivals on the horizon Christinzio, a remarkably relentless entertainer, will bring his immense new live show to the UK and Europe. “It’s no fun giving an audience a standard show that they can get elsewhere” explains Christinzio. “Sometimes it’s intense, sometimes it’s emotional, sometimes it’s basically a fucking stand-up routine. I always like to involve the audience and make it memorable for everyone involved.  I think we are one of the best live bands in the world and it’s an odd feeling finally getting an opportunity to get in front of loads of ears and eyes. In a perfect world I’d be able to organise a concert on the roof of the Home Office one day”.
  • Katy J Pearson

    Katy J Pearson

    Country Pop

TKASG Present

BC Camplight

Thu Mar 31 2022 7:00 PM

Newcastle University Student Union Newcastle
BC Camplight
  • Event Cancelled.

All Ages

“This is an examination of madness and loss,” says Brian Christinzio, the inimitable force behind BC Camplight. “I hope it starts a long overdue conversation.”

Fired by his ongoing battle with mental illness, Shortly After Takeoff is the final, and finest, chapter of what Christinzio calls his “Manchester Trilogy”, following 2015’s “How To Die In The North” and 2018’s “Deportation Blues”. All three albums were created after the native Philadelphian had moved to Manchester. Like Deportation Blues, Shortly After Takeoff spans singer-songwriter classicism, gnarly synth-pop and ‘50s rock’n’roll, with Christinzio’s similarly distinctive, flexible vocal carrying a fearless approach to lyrical introspection, but the new album is a major leap forward in songwriting sophistication and lyrical communication

“It’s important to stress that this isn’t a redemption story,” he says. “I'm a guy who maybe lives a little hard and I’m in the thick of some heavy stuff. But as a result, I think I've made my best record.”

The “heavy stuff” has come thick and fast for Christinzio. Just days before How To Die In The North was released, he was deported and banned from the UK because of visa issues. Estranged from his new home, his girlfriend and his dog, unable to promote his album and back home with his parents, Christinzio sunk deep into the dark. An Italian passport, care of his grandparents, eventually allowed him to re-settle in Manchester, but then just days before Deportation Blues was released, his father Angelo unexpectedly died.“I went into a spiral that was worse than any time since my twenties,” he recalls. Hence the title Shortly After Takeoff: the feeling of being suddenly thwarted by what life throws at you. Making matters worse was a neurological disorder that returned after years in remission: “I see TV static, and it messes with how my brain interprets everything from sound to my own feelings.”One way to process tragedy is comedy, which elevates Shortly After Takeoff to a heightened plateau, from grief-stricken vulnerability to armoured bravado, from the black dog of depression to gallows humour.

Bleak comedy is evident from the album’s first song. ‘I Only Drink When I’m Drunk’ features Christinzio’s trademark ‘keep you on your toes’ style. ‘Ghosthunting’ similarly changes tack, between serene melody, classical harps, and pounding passages. Though the Nilsson-esque ‘I Want To Be In the Mafia’ (Christinzio’s favourite lyric on the album) and the elegantly sombre ‘Arms Around Your Sadness’ are less changeable, the way ‘Back To Work’ trades dreamy AOR and robotic funk, “sums up this record perfectly,” Christinzio feels. “The verse seems to make sense, then out of nowhere, boom boom…just when you think you have it figured out… It’s the never-ending cycle of mental illness.”

BC Camplight is the moniker of maverick songsmith Brian Christinzio. The Philadelphian turned Mancunian is considered one of indie music’s most forward-thinking artists with a discography which acts as a soundtrack to a life rife with bad fortune, mental illness, running afoul of the law, and ultimately absolute redemption. Whilst living in Philadelphia Christinzio performed live with The War On Drugs in between releasing two critically successful yet commercially ignored records. He was also a coveted session pianist lending his talents to scores of albums, perhaps most notably Sharon Van Etten’s ‘Epic’. After a period of homelessness and running on fumes creatively Christinzio made a move across the Atlantic to Manchester, UK in an effort take control of his life and reshuffle his musical deck. The result was the recording of 2015’s ode to Manchester and baroque pop tour de force “How To Die In The North”. The recordings resulted in a record deal with Bella Union and placed Christinzio on a path towards artistic fulfilment. However, a severe leg injury landed Christinzio in hospital where he was forced to remain whilst his UK work visa expired. Despite pleas to the Home Office to allow the ailing artist to apply for an extension a decision was made that would forever alter Brian personally and artistically. The day after his record was released Christinzio was deported from the UK and banned from returning. "How To Die In The North" was essentially shelved.
 
After 16 months of separation from the UK the resilient Christinzio was reunited with his beloved Manchester, gaining entry through newly acquired Italian citizenship. His most recent, and most lauded album "Deportation Blues" is an exhilarating dynamic document of calamity and stress, relayed through richly melodic arrangements spanning songwriter classicism, gnarled synth pop, 50’s filth-rock, and various odd junctions in between mirroring the creators fractured mindset. It is an immensely powerful diary chronicling an impossible set of life circumstances whilst shining a white-hot spotlight on the composer’s off-kilter brilliance. The album has since been revered by critics, become a stalwart on the BBC Radio 6 Music playlist (BBC 6 Music 2018 album of the year as voted by Marc Riley), and put BC Camplight back on the stage where he belongs. With a slew of tours and festivals on the horizon Christinzio, a remarkably relentless entertainer, will bring his immense new live show to the UK and Europe. “It’s no fun giving an audience a standard show that they can get elsewhere” explains Christinzio. “Sometimes it’s intense, sometimes it’s emotional, sometimes it’s basically a fucking stand-up routine. I always like to involve the audience and make it memorable for everyone involved.  I think we are one of the best live bands in the world and it’s an odd feeling finally getting an opportunity to get in front of loads of ears and eyes. In a perfect world I’d be able to organise a concert on the roof of the Home Office one day”.