Although they are not the headliner bands like Cracker and Big Head Todd, the Monsters owe a lot of their work to Camper Van Beethoven. Back in the mid-1980s, the Redlands Calif.-based band fused together folk, punk, ska and world music in a way no one had ever heard before or conceived. Once described as surrealist absurdist folk, the band was created in 1983 by singer/songwriter David Lowery and bass player Victor Krummenarcher. It was not long before the band expanded to include drums and two lead guitars along with a spellbinding violin, played by Jonathan Segel.
Going through a variety of band members, CVB split up in 1989. Since this time, CVB founder David Lowery joined up with Johnny Hickman to form what became known as the band Cracker. Camper Van Beethoven’s decade split allowed the band members to pursue their own passions. In 1999, the band reunited in-studio to compile a set of songs lovingly titled - “Camper Van Beethoven is Dead. Long Live Camper Van Beethoven.” Since then, CVB along with its sister band Cracker, have found a way to tour together through a majority of the last decade.
A Closer Look
Lumino Magazine was lucky enough to sit down with violinist and consistent member of Camper Van Beethoven, Jonathan Segel. A composer, violinist, guitar player and singer, Segel has seen the evolution of Camper Van Beethoven since its humble beginnings.
“Camper Van Beethoven really made me the musician I am today,” he says candidly. “During our hiatus we all did our own side projects and essentially had to become the band leaders of each of our new bands. When we finally got back together in 2004 for New Roman Times, that was when I realized that I learned to be a musician by playing with Camper Van Beethoven. Learning to trust other musicians, find my style and all that other stuff I had learned while playing with these guys. Even though there had been a 10-year hiatus, we’ve actually been together now for longer than we were when we first started in the 1980s. “
Segel finds it amazing that so much time has passed and notes that the new Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker, although complement each other, are truly two unique bands. “We have been touring together for a long time now and although Cracker can be considered an offshoot of Beethoven they are two very different bands. Lowery and Funaro have a way of shifting the entire tone and mood of a show the moment Cracker comes on stage,” he reflects.
A New Year
2012 is looking to be a big year for Segel as two of his new albums drop the first week in January. “All Attractions really is the main album, Apricot Jam is more of a compilation of us fooling around,” he says.
Although he hadn’t planned on making another record after “Honey,” he found himself compelled to write some songs while with his wife in Sweden. “All Attractions” is the result.
“My wife is Swedish and I found myself writing most of those songs while we were in our place in Sweden. I do violin for CVB but play electric guitar at home and I found myself writing most of those songs just to entertain myself. It felt like that Onion article you read about, where the man goes off into the woods to write an album, I was kind of that guy,” he jokes.
All Attractions is a playful and light album full of the kind of masterful work you would expect from Segel. Though he never intended to make the album, I have no doubt that it will become an indie favorite in the coming year.
You can see Segel along with the rest of Camper Van Beethoven this New Years Eve in Chicago. Buy your tickets now before they sell out.
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