No Longer a Secret: Scamp 14 Welcomes Undercover Organism

Undercover Organism: Ian Hutchinson: Guitar, Synth, Vocals Josh Chamberlin: Guitar, Synth, Electronics, Production, Vocals Jason Haeberlin: Bass Jason Perry: Drums   Thanks for sitting down with me here, guys! Congratulations on winning the battle of bands in Madison! So what was it like to prepare for the battle? What does it mean to be able to play Summer Camp? Jason H: Preparation was goofy because our guitarist has been in Africa for the past month. We were preparing with just the 3 of us for a while, then we got the guitarist from Wook to play with us. Then suddenly a week before the show he said he was moving to Southern California so the other guitarist would play with us, but he couldn’t practice with us at all. So he learned all our songs form the internet via us sending it to them. Then we kinda had a 5 minute run through before we played. Josh: We played the battle 2 years ago, and we lost by 6 votes – to ironically Wook. And since it was on a Wednesday  and we’re from Milwaukee we couldn’t really get our fans there. So we took the next year off with a goal of doing it this year and winning it. I mean a goal of ours has been to play Summer Camp for a long time now. So even though Hutch was out of the country we wanted to do this and couldn’t pass this opportunity up. Jason P: It’s definitely the biggest festival we want to play. We love the headliners there, and with the Midwest location it’s perfect for us. Jason P– so you’re relatively new to the band, about 8 months, right? How has the transition been? It’s been really great. I’ve played music a long time, jamming with people and what not. This is the first band I’ve played in that has lots of songs that are set up with jams. It’s nice that I’m learning new music but also learning how to play with these guys and putting it together with moments like, “Alright, I know this is what you want to hear, and I’m gonna play like this, I hope it sounds good!” (laughs) It’s been nice. Josh: We play a lot of loops and stuff like that too. So we had to adapt and being able to keep on grinding while also improvising. Jason has a lot of the same ideas as us and he was also able to catch on pretty quick – he’s got good jamming instinct. Jason P: I’ve always listened to this kinda music, Sound Tribe, etc., and I wanted this feeling, and found a group of guys that it worked out with so it’s been great. What kind of music were you playing before joining UO? Jason P: Either strict straight jams or playing electric drum set, never one or the other. I’ve never put it together. So it’s been a whole new journey. It’s awesome. I heard the original founding of UO occurred at Rothbury. Is there a good story behind that? Jason H: 2009, Josh and Hutch and I originally. Rothbury #1 was like the first dramatic exposure to crazy music festival – and with the electric forest, it was incredible. Hutch and I were having a great time, amazing music, amazing people. We just realized, “Oh my God, why would we not want to do this for a living?” And we’re from Milwaukee, went to UWM, so when we got back we’re like dude, we’re starting a band. So this will be your first year playing Summer Camp – Have you guys attended before? Any favorite memories? Jason P: I’ve never been there myself so I’m really looking forward to it. Jason H: So last year some guy who was super messed up was trying to get in the late night barn. He had an Umprey’s VIP pass and he was trying to use it to get into the barn, and they’re like, “This isn’t good here!” So he’s just like, “Oh this is garbage,” and just threw it on the ground! So I picked it up and got to go be backstage with Umphrey’s. I was sitting under the stage in a hammock, watching through a crack in the stage. After Sphongle’s set, I was back there, and a lady was like, “Oh you’re from Jane’s Addiction, you can go on stage.” So it’s like okay, (laughs) so I go on stage and am just chilling on the back of the stage during their set. Josh: I think 2010 was my first year and I’ve gone every year since. I’ve had some crazy nights there and so many great times. It’s always a great time, always fun. Playing at Summer Camp you’ll be exposed to a lot of new potential fans. What do you want the new listeners to take away from Undercover Organism? Jason H: We’d like to deliver Undercover Orgasms. (group laughter). Just put the name out there. Hopefully people will come see us. I mean I don’t know what kinda time slot we’re gonna get. But just to get our name on the poster, and people see the name and remember it and maybe look it up in the future. Jason P: I don’t care if people are sitting right in front of the stage or they’re out in their tent, and they hear us and are like, “What is that? I’m gonna go walk that way.” If a couple people walk that way just cause we’re playing then I know we’re doing something right. Josh: The special thing about our music that a lot of other bands don’t incorporate is how we can use technology for what a jam band can be. And that’s kind of our niche to incorporate more than just a guitar solo that’s made up on the spot. I really like utilizing and developing a new live, electronic jam style that a lot of people aren’t exposed to. A lot of people have never heard of it before. Jason P: I think the biggest times of when our sound really comes through is when we’ll be pushing through an electronic part of a song and then we’ll put it off and go straight to jamming, and then push it through further and add back the electronic part. Jason H: We kind of have a musical ADD going on. We jump through different genres a lot. People in the scene today have a shorter attention span, especially at a festival – you can stop at a band  for 10 minutes then go see somebody completely different. So we switch a lot- not just the same jam over and over. We might go from a bluegrass song into a hip-hop song into a techno song into a jam song. It’s a good variety. If we get bored with it then we know for sure the fans will so we mix it up as much as possible. Josh: And truly though this has been a goal of ours for a while. To accomplish something we’ve set out for so long feels really good. The fact that we’re gonna play at Summer Camp is going to be an amazing thing in itself. The whole process – to travel to Madison and beat out all the Madison bands –It says something! It’s great to represent Wisconsin and Milwaukee. Jason H: We really appreciate it. I’ve been seeing moe. and Umphrey’s for 15 years now. Umphrey’s is the first band I saw live when I was 13 and now it’s so unreal to play now at their festival. Reaching this is definitely a stepping stone for you all. What aspirations do you have going forward? Jason P: We’re looking to make an album, not sure if to be EP or not. We’ve done some recordings; we’ll see where we’re at financially as the money could be a big hinder. So this summer we’ll be working on an album but we will get it done no matter what it takes. Sounds great, guys! Thank you for spending some time here with me and I’m looking forward to seeing you again at Summer Camp! Be sure to check out Undercover Organism make their Summer Camp debut Friday at 11:00 AM on the Camping Stage! Like UO on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UndercoverOrganism]]>