Call it chamber folk—or don’t—but Bombadil combines sharp songwriting with a fascinating soundscape
In 2005, James Phillips answered a Craigslist ad for a drummer posted by the Durham, North Carolina band Bombadil. He was a good fit, so the band brought him on board. Since no one else wanted to do audience banter during performances, Phillips took over that role as well. Before he knew it, he was sharing lead vocal duties.
“They gave me a microphone because no one liked to talk on stage,” he says. “Then they said, ‘Maybe you should start singing.’ So I taught myself piano and here I am, 10 years later, writing songs and co-lead singing in a band. I would have never expected that.”
Often described as a chamber folk band, Bombadil plays sparse, catchy tunes driven by front-and-center vocals that fall somewhere between Donovan and Vampire Weekend. At the core of the most recent incarnation of the band are Phillips and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Michalak.
There’s an instrumental spaciousness to Bombadil’s recent work, but don’t mistake the spaciousness for simplicity. The band has a knack for gently layering acoustic instruments, electronics, textures and vocals to create a complex, interwoven sound that holds up nicely to repeat listens. On the band’s latest studio album, Hold On, horns, guitars, synth bass, and bells exist alongside beats, echoes, and something that sounds like a muted lute. There is an undeniable chamber-esque vibe to the whole thing.
When asked about the chamber folk description, Phillips says he finds it a bit cryptic.
“I don’t really know what that means, but I like those two words put together,” he says. “When people ask me what kind of band I’m in, I’m never sure how to answer. I usually just say that we like to sing a lot. I feel like chamber folk makes sense. Maybe it sounds a little too formal, like we’re all wearing bow ties and playing classical instruments, but I think it could apply.”
Lyrically, Bombadil has a penchant for slice-of-life songs that put the listener into the shoes of the singer. On Hold On, the band takes this observational songwriting approach and runs with it, telling tales of falling asleep on the subway, seeing sharkskin boots, staying in hotel rooms, and wondering if you’re being patient with a potential love or wasting your time. The album feels like you’re wandering through someone else’s life, including breakups, being in love, meeting friends, and growing up.
“I think the writing has evolved and changed over time,” says Phillips. “The songs are always grounded in personal experience, but this new record has more focus on that stuff. In the past, they were storytelling songs, but this one’s all just personal and what’s happening.”
Now five albums in, Bombadil had a scare in 2009 when Michalak, who is a driving creative force behind the band, lost the use of his hands. Diagnosed with neural tension, he spent several years unable to play instruments with his hands. But that didn’t stop him from making music. He learned to use a computer mouse with his foot and used electronics to compose and play. At the same time, Phillips had moved to Portland and fallen in with friends who were into electronic music. The forced hiatus and introduction of new styles and instruments proved, in the end, to be good for the band.
“A lot of our electronic textures come from that time,” says Phillips. “In hindsight, it was a very influential time … it wasn’t just waiting for Daniel to get better. I learned a lot and played a lot of music with a lot of different people.”
Once Michalak recovered the use of his hands, Bombadil had new sounds to work with, and a renewed commitment to playing together. These days, the band, like the sound, is sparse. Comprising Phillips and Michalak, with other artists stepping in occasionally for gigs and recording, Bombadil is gearing up for the next project, a deepening of the collaboration between the two songwriters.
“Now that it’s just Daniel and I,” says Phillips, “we’re really trying to co-write as much as possible and get both of our voices in. Songs come in so many different ways, it’s a new experience to focus on just doing that.”
Bombadil will perform at 9 p.m on Thursday, Oct. 29 at the Crepe Place, 1134 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $10. 429-6994.
OUR OTHER JOB IS IN THE MINISTRY OF SILLY WALKS James Phillips and Daniel Michalak are the core of Bombadil. They play the Crepe Place on Thursday, Oct. 29.
