Interview: Jamie Campbell Bower of Counterfeit.
Not many people can say that they’ve had a successful acting career. Not many successful actors can say they’re starting a rock band and building a new occupation from the ground up. Fortunately, Jamie Campbell Bower is not most people, and can confidently claim truth to both statements. Counterfeit is his latest venture, a leather-clad, punk rock gang where all of his pent-up emotions are laid bare on a guitar for the world to see. With the fresh release of their debut record Together We Are Stronger, the quintet is quickly gaining recognition.
Perhaps better known by his acting roles in the Twilight Saga, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the actor-turned-rock star had already proven his singing abilities as Anthony Hope in the Tim Burton musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, but has turned to heavier tones with Counterfeit. The publicization of Together We Are Stronger has him excited yet terrified of the retort, stepping out of his comfort zone to give the world raw and honest music; something he has created, as opposed to acting out someone else’s story. Articulate and eloquent when discussing his work, it’s easy to tell that he has grown up in the spotlight, but his tone is authentic, accentuating just how much he cares for this band.
Gaining the initial notice of fans with a three-track teaser, the Come Get Some EP, Counterfeit began their rise to popularity even before the announcement of their full-length. Beginning as a trio before the addition of drummer Jimmy Craig and Bower’s brother Sam as another guitarist (to which Bower adds, “I honestly don’t think that without him, I could really do this”), the Londoners swiftly began work on Together We Are Stronger. “It’s bittersweet,” Bower comments, the drop of the LP an emotional occasion. “[The record] was kind of finished in December, so we held on to this baby for some time, and I think that that’s played havoc with my anxiety. But, it’s an amazing feeling to finally burst the record as it were and have it out there – as well as a terrifying one.”
The record was produced by Thomas Mitchener (Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, Dead!) and is a smother of gritty punk rock, with Bower himself deeming it “erratic”. “It’s like looking into my mind,” he muses, his voice pensive. “I mean if you’ve ever woken up in the morning filled with thought, breathlessness and sort of confusion – Image that feeling of like, ‘Oh my God, the world’s ending’ on an album, that’s kind of how I’d describe it.” Writing it predominantly by himself in his house, the ten tracks are angry and raw, the dark refrains and harsh tones wrapped up in topics exemplifying death, failure, addiction and loss. ‘As Yet Untitled’, Bower’s personal favourite, is, as he describes, a “balls-out rock ‘n’ roll” song that just drives. “It just goes hard, and that for me is always a joy to play, and is always a joy to listen back to as well.”
As the record was written over a short period of time, there often comes a point where an album becomes written in a line, from start to finish, as if writing a story. The personal experiences Bower turned into songs are all fashioned around the same moments in time, but he’s quick to shoot down the idea that it’s a concept record. “I think we’d make it a lot more obvious if we were [making a concept album],” he points out, but there is a true flow to the tracks, and a suitable overall theme. “I mean the record is very personal, it all comes from personal experience,” he explains, “so with that I suppose the true line: it’s strength.” And thus comes the rationalisation of the record’s title Together We Are Stronger, simply fitting for the moments in life that Bower made sense of and placed into musical representation. “Because the record deals with a lot of negativity, or a lot of reflection on bad times, I’m thinking that [from] there comes a strength.”
Though rising steadily as a regular name in their scene, Counterfeit’s album creation was very much DIY (do it yourself), down to the cover photo itself that was shot by Bower. “To think in terms about what this band is about and how we, how much I, care about it – I love the fact that we can do everything. The website’s done by Triston [Marmont], our guitarist, and [the record’s] just very much ours. And nobody else is really looking after it but us, and I love that! It’s ours! It’s my baby,” he says, finishing in a juvenile voice as if speaking about his own child.
“We put so much hard work and effort into the making – we did everything on this record. We designed all the inserts ourselves, I’m talking like even down to the minute details of where things are placed, like logos and things. We did all that, so I feel very proud working on it, very proud.”
Currently on their European headline tour for the debut, Counterfeit are running the circuit to new spots and old, also making an appearance at some of the summer festivals including Reading & Leeds and Slam Dunk. “I’m stoked,” Bower comments. “It’s the biggest tour that we’ve done, that any of us have done, ever, so I’m pumped to be able to just go out there. We’re going up to more of Scandinavia, which I’ve actually never even been to personally before. We’re also getting up to play some more venues in the UK, which is really cool. We’re doing Leeds, like not only Leeds [Festival], but we’re playing the town of Leeds as well, and Brighton, and Southampton. It’s great for us to be able to go out there and play some more shows.”
After all this time, you wouldn’t think that a seasoned performer who’s shared the spotlight with the likes of Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter would still gets nerves when up on stage, but a live musical performance is a much different beast for Bower than a closed studio set. “I tend to spend more time in the crowd then I do on the stage,” he comments, with Counterfeit shows now notoriously rowdy due to his all-in participation. “I never really wanted to feel like we were in a zoo, like you were watching an animal,” he laughs. “And also, I get quite fearful of judgement. I can be chill beforehand and then get out on stage and it’s a rabbit in headlights kind of thing.” That being said, there’s nothing like the rush of a live audience, and he wouldn’t change a thing.
When it comes to tour necessities, Bower is adamant about his requirements, having three essential items to last the journey. “A spare pair of underwear at all times. All times,” he states firstly, a humorous seriousness crossing his tone. “It doesn’t matter if it’s just in your kit bag or if you’ve got it in your back pocket, you just need them, just in case. That’s what happens when you get older, you know? You never know when something bad is going to happen,” he laughs, as obviously being twenty-eight has its downsides. Secondly, he proclaims, “Always, always, always in this band, there always needs to be a phone charger because none of us ever have one…ever. Everyone’s lost one and Sam [Bower] is the worst. He consistently loses phone chargers, always.” The obvious dig towards his brother typifying the standard sibling teasing, always there no matter who you are or which band you’re in. “And [lastly]” he comments quickly, unhesitating, “Sriracha,” the Asian hot sauce an unexpected, but amusing, addition. “We take sriracha with us wherever we go. It’s a great accompaniment to any snack,” he states knowingly, as if a chef describing an exquisitely prepared dish. “You can have it with crisps. You can have it in a sandwich. It just makes the slices of bread that you buy from a motorway service station. It can really just up the sandwich game.”
Sriracha sandwiches aside, unfortunately it’s not all fun and games for Counterfeit, as touring can be a gruelling process that’s planned right down to the minute. The band doesn’t get a whole lot of down time because touring can be quite an expensive process, and most of the stretch gets spent on the road. “Literally, it’ll be like get to the venue at lunchtime, set up, do the sound check, play the show, and then we’ll be driving through the night,” Bower details. “I mean there’s a couple of stopovers that we’ll be able to hang out in. I think Amsterdam’s one, and I think a couple of places in Germany we’ll be able to hang out in as well. But yeah, that’s the downside. That’s the only downside. You don’t get to see half the places you go,” he laughs mirthlessly, as the comment really identifies the true beast of fame. “People are like, ‘How was [insert place here]?’ and you’re like, ‘I have no fucking idea’. I’m sure it’s amazing, but I couldn’t see it.”
It’s unfortunate really, for people may think that celebrity stars have it all, and yet they have the same hopes and wants as everyone else. Though Bower has had so many great experiences in the film industry and with his band, he still thinks about the days when he doesn’t have to be Jamie Campbell Bower - actor, musician and celebrity. He finds pleasure in the simple things. “I had a really nice day recently where I was painting a shed with my girlfriend,” he says laughing, true warmth and delight in his voice. “It was last year sometime and we were just painting this shed, and the dogs were around, and it was just a beautiful, normal day. I don’t get a chance in life to do much, like, normal shit. A lot of time is spent filming and stuff, and so those opportunities that I have to just be doing life stuff is really fucking great. Like I love, love, love, love doing life stuff. So, yeah, that was a good day; it was a sunny day too. It was beautiful.”
Clearly Bower loves the excitement of tour, and playing his music to the world is one of his dreams, but it’s eye-opening to see the reality behind it all. It takes time, effort, and a whole lot of determination to shape and release a record that you can be truly proud of, and he and Counterfeit have done just that. The exertion on the finished product is clearly evident, and the gigs will surely bring just as much all-in energy. “If you’re thinking about coming [to one of the live shows], come, please,” Bower urges. “We love to see people at the shows, and it’s like a shared experience, that’s for sure. I hope people dig the record and if not that’s cool as well,” he finishes with a smile in his voice.
Together We Are Stronger is available now.
