by Matt Kelchner
photos by CJ Harvey
With most of their band members currently residing in cities that are not exactly considered oceanfront, newcomers Palmas are out to prove that they don’t need the sand and the waves to make great summertime music. Need an example? Just take their recently released debut EP, To The Valley.
On a chilly November day, I sit down to chat with bassist Eric Camarota as he and the rest of his band prepare for their next gig. He describes to me just where they get their sound from. “It all spawned from music we really love and that we feel were played by artists who really knew their craft.”
“It all kind of started way, way back with Matt and Adam,” Camarota says as we talk about the beginnings of Palmas. “Matt and Adam (Adam still living in Philadelphia at the time) they used to talk back and forth all the time, sending each other their favorite surf records.”
With that said though, their intentions were never to be a surf rock band. It just became part of the product that came from practicing and songwriting. Camarota frankly puts it, “I don’t think there was any specific person in the band that was like ‘let’s specifically be a surf rock band.'” A quick listen through any of the songs from To The Valley will reveal others influences such as Motown or Sam Cooke.
Back then the group also went by a different name that every member really liked, Locals. However after discovering another band with the same name, they decided a change was needed. “Kurt just threw out the name Palmas and it kind of stuck.” It alludes to palm trees, fitting for their beachy tunes.
Nowadays, the group of five guys that make up the band now known as Palmas are split between New York and Philadelphia, with one member who used to call the City of Brotherly Love home now in Long Beach, California. The hundreds of miles in between everyone are not holding Palmas up. “We all take this very seriously. It does suck, yes. That’s just the truth to it. But we make it work.” Thanks to the ease of being able to send files and ideas back and forth, the space is not a problem.
“We’re a band that takes pride in taking time to write our songs,” Camarota starts as we dive into their EP. They still write and practice on a regular schedule. “Believe it or not Adam, who lives out in Long Beach, California, actually flies out more often than not to play shows, practice or record.” This kind of dedication helps to fuel the fast start that Palmas has gotten off to.
Big plans are already in the works for 2016. Camarota explains that while a lot of things are still underwrap and cannot be disclosed at this point, but did share that early in the year will be full of writing and demoing. “We have some things in the works that we can’t really talk about yet, but it’s some exciting stuff.” Even with a little more prodding, Camarota did not say whether we can expect new singles, an EP or their first full length album.
But Camarota and the rest of Palmas are not getting too far ahead of themselves. On Tuesday night they make their way back to Philadelphia to give Surfer Blood and The Lighthouse and the Whaler an excellent opener that will help shake away the cold weather blues. Be sure to make your way out to Johnny Brenda’s at the corner of Frankford and Girard to see one of our favorite up-and-coming bands out there!
