Wistful Thinking
In times of darkness we all need light, and that’s just what Camel bassist Colin Bass is hoping to bring with his meditative new album, Still. He tells Prog about harnessing memories of simpler times with ambient musician Daniel Biro, and what the future holds for Andrew Latimer’s crew.
Words: Dom Lawson Images: Judith Burrows
When everything around you is going horribly wrong, it’s always best to keep busy. Many professional musicians have made valiant attempts to keep the creative ball rolling during lockdown, with often highly questionable results. Camel bassist Colin Bass, on the other hand, has been helping to run the health food store that he and his wife, a nutritionist, bought four years ago, “basically on a whim”.
“It’s turned into quite a business!” says Bass. “We’re the only shop like this for 25 miles or something, and somehow we’ve made a success of it. It’s been an incredible learning curve for me, but it’s been incredibly enjoyable. My wife is the boss and she’s the brains of the outfit, and that’s fine by me.”
“Hopefully we will all rise like phoenixes from the ashes and manage to put together something so we can go out and enjoy ourselves and have a great time again, and continue the communication that comes both ways through music.”