This year is the 20th anniversary of Cameron Hons Music, and there have certainly been plenty of celebrations about it throughout the year. In March, Cameron released the album "The Wrong Crowd" and several themed 20th Anniversary Collection albums. Some more of these sets are planned which are now digital exclusive releases. He has also experimented with AI Music as well. Do Cameron Hons fans need to worry about the AI takeover?
"AI Music will never replace me." says Cameron. "My music has been real and independent from the start and I continue to keep it that way. The problem I have with AI music is that it's very monotonous. It has limited creativity standards. As pointed out in the song "Not As Good As Me", AI music can't say words like "shit" and "fuck", but Cameron Hons can.
"Bored Of The Blues" certainly feels more like a proper 20th Anniversary album, as Cameron's foray into the independent music world started back in June 2004 with his first band, The Country Folk People. "I got my black Fender Telecaster, which was my first proper electric guitar on my birthday in June 2004..I still have it and use it today, and I also used it on the new album too."
Cameron's music was always meant to be fun, silly, entertaining and not to be taken seriously. "I never use overproduction when I record my music. I just enjoy recording what's there..Guitar, bass, drums, keyboards , and vocals. Yes I do like mixing songs but I don't obsess about it like a perfectionist. I like the independent feel to my music that not a lot of people understand. My method of recording sometimes drives people insane because to them it's not "quality enough" or that I record my music at home rather than a Studio. Recording studios are getting to become obsolete while home made recordings and personal computer setups are more popular these days."
After a brief keyboard introduction, the album starts off with a heavy opener called 'Bored Of The Blues'. It was one of the first ideas Cameron had as the album title. But in real life Cameron likes Blues rock music. The title is a piece of irony as the listener may realize, there are actually a lot of blues sounding songs on the album.
Next up is one of Cameron's personal favourite new songs 'You Say You're Crazy'. "This was inspired by a conversation a neighbour had about me, I was told they said "they are crazy because of me". I had laughed at that comment for a long time..They were crazy before they even knew who I was. I am not responsible for how other people choose to behave and people shouldn't blame their problems on someone else, as proper communication is key. The song includes Cameron's classic Stratocaster sound.
"The Internet's Not Worth Checking Anymore" is an absolutely true story. Social Media these days is filling up with too much AI on your main feed. About AI again, Cameron thinks "At the moment the only people who seem to care about AI these days is social media companies. Facebook and X have forced it upon us so they can use it as an easy excuse to track our data.
Trying to find some thing to watch on Netflix can be sometimes an impossible task. I'm sure many can relate to the epic ballad "Nothing On Netflix"..Sometimes there is something new and interesting, but other times not, and most times it seems to be just content made for the recycle bin. There is such a thing as "too much content" sometimes.
"You Don't Need Facebook" is very philosophical. These days Facebook keeps on getting a bad rep and sometimes you just need to take a break from it once in a while. "You don't need Facebook in your life, it only causes misery and it only causes strife."
3 Day Weekend is based on Cameron's own personal observations on how people in his area seem to take time off work whenever they like. Forget about working from home. How about not working at all. People seem to walk around, jog or take their dogs out for walks every Monday. Take as much time off as they want. During COVID times, that invented the very frustrating practice of "working from home", but people mostly just bludge off instead, inconveniencing many who wanted the neighbourhood to themselves while others were at work. Now in a much more relaxed environment, more people seem to just take whenever time off they want over 3 days instead of two. It's a great track with a good sense of rhythm.
The song "Not As Good As Me" is about Cameron's feelings of AI music.."I may have made a couple of AI Sonic themed albums" says Cameron. "Mostly for meme related purposes and whatnot. I find sometimes AI struggles to get exactly everything you want. As I mentioned previously, you can't make AI music swear. There is heavy censorship on certain things which gets annoying. Sometimes it sounds OK, but it will no way ever be as good as real music. Real music like mine, or other actual music I enjoy. AI music to me is just good for jokes."
Some people think "They'll Still Complain" is the lead track for the album. "I get a lot of people who complain about me and have a lot of critics. They boss me around and think they can criticize or tell me what to do with what I enjoy doing. I don't bother to appeal to them because one way or another they want to make sure you know they're your enemy. There is no point of trying to please them and when you know you did nothing wrong in the first place they don't need to be a worry to you anymore, and one way or the other, they'll still complain!" Cameron often gets people who complain a lot about his music as well and creativity process. "A lot of people say "why do I do this' , "Why do I record like that" , "You're not doing it right" etc. Some people just are not good enough. They'll always complain!
The last track on the album is "5o Clock Train", which was a song idea that Cameron had when he was walking through the park once. "A park near my place is close to a train track and I was walking around one morning and saw a train pass by and something just came to me and said "5'o Clock Train". Stopping and thinking for a few moments I started rhyming things in my head. "5'o Clock Train. Ain't it a shame. I missed it again." When I went home I recorded the song straight after and that's what it was on the album. It's a great track."
Bored Of The Blues is certainly one of Cameron's finest albums ever. 2024 has really been a good year for Cameron Hons Music fans. But what's next for the celebrations and beyond?
"I have a few more "Themed Compilation" albums coming out throughout the year, and I just released Volume 3 of the meme related Sonic AI Music albums called "Even More Songs From the Abyss - Music Inspired By Sonic". I'm always getting loads of wacky ideas. It's also the 15th anniversary of my other band, Azure Star this year and I may release something to account for it.
Cameron Hons - Bored Of The Blues is out now on Bandcamp, The Internet Archive and CD. Get a copy today!
Cameron Hons: Bored Of The Blues
Year: 2024
Release Date: June 25
Tracklist
01. Introduction
02. Bored Of The Blues
03. You Say You're Crazy
04. The Internet's Not Worth Checking Anymore
05. Nothing On Netflix
06. You Don't Need Facebook
07. 3 Day Weekend
08. Not As Good As Me
09. They'll Still Complain
10. 5'o Clock Train
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