ANDY CAMPBELL OF AM RERUNS
Four years since the release of their exceptional self-titled debut, AM Reruns are back with another taste of their signature blend of new-wave, power pop and 80s indie. Taking cues from the likes of glam-rock heavyweights T. Rex, ‘Rose in Wire’ is a shuffle-driven foray into the slicker side of rock n roll, with dense drums and sharp, punctuating guitar; an outing that further solidifies them as a band firmly rooted in their influences, yet constantly breaking ground into new territory.
The track was recorded in August 2022 with Andrew ‘Idge’ Hehir at Soundpark Studios, an experience the band relished, explains guitarist and vocalist Andy Campbell. “Recording with him was fantastic. We make fairly slick sounding records, but we also love Iggy and the Stooges, and we get quite loose on stage. Idge found that balance.” Mixing duties also fell on Idge, with mastering done by regular collaborator John Davis at Metropolis London. “He’d just mastered Autofiction by Suede, which is a fantastic sounding record”, says Andy. “So going back to him made even more sense this time around.”
A lot has happened to the band since their last release. Not least of all, an almost-complete line-up change. Andy welcomed both bassist Andy Hazel and drummer Billy Raffin into the fold. September 2019 saw the band launch their debut album, but this was also the final show for then drummer Shauna Boyle (Cable Ties).
“Sometime around then, Andy Hazel asked me to join his Twin Peaks cover band,” Andy C explains. “In that, I also met Billy, and then I asked them both to join AM Reruns.” Since then, it’s been writing, rehearsing, recording, playing shows and selling out their debut record. They also began to get their first airplay in the US, were in talks with Bernard Butler (Suede) about a potential project, and finally opened for Mere Women at the Northcote Social Club. Now, with eyes set firmly on 2023, it’s time for new music!
So why ‘Rose in Wire’? Andy C explains, “I don’t hear anything like this around in modern guitar music. It’s a glam rock shuffle beat beamed in from 1958-via-1986. It’s classic new wave. It seems crazy to put this out as a single in 2023. So it has to be done!”
Campbell's love of Iggy and the Stooges becomes clearer as he joins Musicology for our ‘A Penny for Your Thoughts’ series. Sharing a personal insight, Campbell traces a single day whilst in Santa Monica, capturing one moment as shares his thoughts with this handwritten note.
