Winnipeg musician J.C. Campbell honoured with music award nomination for first music video

J.C. Campbell (Supplied by J.C. Campbell)

J.C. Campbell could be described as having eclectic musical tastes while others might think he just hasn't settled on a musical genre.  After all he has been nominated in the Rock, Folk, Blues and Country categories at the Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards. The very funny and irreverent J.C. talks about his next album and his nomination for Best Music Video at tonight's industry awards at the APCMAs, and his seemingly ADD when it comes to sticking with one sound.

Why did you select this specific song to make a video about?
I probably would have chosen one of the songs from my soon to be released CD but I didn't pick the song...an aspiring filmmaker in a program through the National Screen Institute heard the song at the basement studio I recorded it in. A place called "Doin Time" with a great guy named Steve Skavinsky. The student was there and Steve had my song "The Floor"  playing on his mp3 player.  He really liked it and pitched it to his film class. It was picked.  And there you have it, a true honour to have been chosen for this film project. The students name is Dion Teleski and he actually had some of the lyrics tattooed on his arm.

The song is about a young woman who hits the skids and finds herself lost in the down and out.  How was this song inspired?
At the time I was working with youth in the justice system and was made aware of some of the troubled family life these youth came from. I felt the need to write about the struggles of addiction and although the positive message of "this is where I am for now I won't be here long" may have been missed in the video.  The reality of addictions and the impact they have not only on the person with the addiction but also the people in the lives of the addict was shown true to life.
 
Tell us one story about the making of this video that has really stuck with you.
One thing that has stuck with me about the making of the video was the professionalism of the students involved. I didn't spend a whole lotta time on set but when I was there everyone was cool and really knew what they were doing.

If you win who will you thank in your acceptance speech?
If I was fortunate enough to win I would thank baby jesus...you know the brown one ...born on the plains...was reborn after spending 4 days on the hill...that guy. And then I would thank Steve Skavinsky, Dion Telesky, NSI, and my friend Dean Drimes, who played bass on this demo.

Why do you keep changing musical genres?
Why do you keep changin questions?....what is this? some kinda Q and eh? haha...ha. It's not that I change my genres, it's just hard to nail down exaclty what the JC Campbell sound is. I been tryin' to figure that one out for everrrr!

What can we expect from your next album?
My next CD will sound like a mix of...stuff. jk. The final sound I believe will be born in the studio but like my past recordings the songs will be about life experience...there may be one or two cheeky ones in this batch of songs to be released sooner than later. Within the next few months I figure. With the help of Manitoba Film and Music. Without the help of the great funders we have in Manitoba and Canada like MFM, Factor, Canada Council and Manitoba Music the road to making a quality recording would be impossible.

Catch J.C. Campbell and his wife Tracy Bone perform Thursday, Nov. 3 to Saturday, Nov. 5 as they host the All My Relations stage at The Windsor as part of Aboriginal Music Week.