Punk Legends, The El Caminos, Tell Their Story
The Trenches of Vaudeville – The El Camino’s Story is a short film by James Truax about the local Punk legends The El Caminos. The film is full of old footage from home videos from their early tours across Americaand Mexico from 1995- 2001 and current footage from some of their latest shows include their performance with The New York Dolls this year. Mixed in-between the great footage are interviews with Paul, J.J., Craig and David covering the ups and downs of the band from highs playing with Slyvain of the New York Dolls to the lows that came with the death of guitarist Damon Moore.
Mr. Traux weaves us in and out of old and new footage with the interviews mixed in with some great editing. If you have not followed the band that closely from the beginning, it is a great way to learn about their impressive history.
After seeing them live and watching the film I wanted to know more so I got Bass player Pablo (aka Paul e Jones) to give me his account on the history of the band.
Pablo:
“The El Caminos are-Pablo Camino-Bass; CC Camino – Guitar; Dave Camino-Drums; JJ Camino-vocals
We released “Save my Soul Again” in 1995 .The cd release was at the old Dotties.
After the release, we hit the road and toured the US and Mexico. Hard Rock lives on in Mexico City. We had such a good time in Mexico that we kept going back year after year for a while.
Damon Moore, David’s Brother, joined the band 1996 and we had to take him to Mexico of course. One night he and the guys wrote a song that we never released called “The Kings of Mexico”. With Damon in the band, we recorded “Double Lock and Bleed” in 1997. This was the year of Camino Royale; when Atlanta, New York and Mexico loved The El Caminos. We won the Creative Loafing Critic choice for best band, we played with D-Generation at The Point in L5points.We would run into them in New York and go to their bar before and after we rocked the Continental.
Things were Great!!! Then Damon passed. We all went crazy in the head for a while.
We resurfaced with a new producer Eric Gagnon “EZE”. He produced “Suns of Evil,” and we formed a bond with Sylvain of the New York Dolls at this time. Sylvain had been watching us from day one but we were not aware of it. We started touring with him and became his back-up band. One time we went to Nashville to play with Sylvain and Cheetah Chrome of the infamous “The Dead Boys”. It was a crazy night.
The EL Caminos then recorded “Last Band Standing.” Eric Gagnon recorded it and took Damon’s spot on guitar. We all went to Hollywood and recorded a rock video after this album came out. Then some time went by and Eric was out (he is still our bro) and our drummer got locked up for almost 2 years . I started touring with Sylvain until our van was stolen in Dallas Texas.
The El Caminos then recruited Mario from Tiger Tiger on drums and then we got Shane Morton from Super X13 / The Luchagors on drums. We got a chick friend of mine, DJ, on rhythm guitar and did some more Camino touring.Dave got out- we went to a 4 piece and recorded “Raised By Wolves” on Uncle punk records, J.J. and Kevin’s label. The Wolf on the cover is Eric Scealf’s from The Unsatisfied, pet named “MOC”.
Then we met James Traux and he made a movie about us, “The Trenches of Vaudeville”. It is a must see if you like the under dog of the world like The EL Caminos – cheers!!!”
You can pick up their CDs and the DVD of “The Trenches of Vaudeville”at Criminal Records.
Dec 5 at 7 Stages Gallery -JJ and Paul’s Art show “Devils and Angels”- music by The DKOs
Mr. Traux weaves us in and out of old and new footage with the interviews mixed in with some great editing. If you have not followed the band that closely from the beginning, it is a great way to learn about their impressive history.
After seeing them live and watching the film I wanted to know more so I got Bass player Pablo (aka Paul e Jones) to give me his account on the history of the band.
Pablo:
“The El Caminos are-Pablo Camino-Bass; CC Camino – Guitar; Dave Camino-Drums; JJ Camino-vocals
We released “Save my Soul Again” in 1995 .The cd release was at the old Dotties.
After the release, we hit the road and toured the US and Mexico. Hard Rock lives on in Mexico City. We had such a good time in Mexico that we kept going back year after year for a while.
Damon Moore, David’s Brother, joined the band 1996 and we had to take him to Mexico of course. One night he and the guys wrote a song that we never released called “The Kings of Mexico”. With Damon in the band, we recorded “Double Lock and Bleed” in 1997. This was the year of Camino Royale; when Atlanta, New York and Mexico loved The El Caminos. We won the Creative Loafing Critic choice for best band, we played with D-Generation at The Point in L5points.We would run into them in New York and go to their bar before and after we rocked the Continental.
Things were Great!!! Then Damon passed. We all went crazy in the head for a while.
We resurfaced with a new producer Eric Gagnon “EZE”. He produced “Suns of Evil,” and we formed a bond with Sylvain of the New York Dolls at this time. Sylvain had been watching us from day one but we were not aware of it. We started touring with him and became his back-up band. One time we went to Nashville to play with Sylvain and Cheetah Chrome of the infamous “The Dead Boys”. It was a crazy night.
The EL Caminos then recorded “Last Band Standing.” Eric Gagnon recorded it and took Damon’s spot on guitar. We all went to Hollywood and recorded a rock video after this album came out. Then some time went by and Eric was out (he is still our bro) and our drummer got locked up for almost 2 years . I started touring with Sylvain until our van was stolen in Dallas Texas.
The El Caminos then recruited Mario from Tiger Tiger on drums and then we got Shane Morton from Super X13 / The Luchagors on drums. We got a chick friend of mine, DJ, on rhythm guitar and did some more Camino touring.Dave got out- we went to a 4 piece and recorded “Raised By Wolves” on Uncle punk records, J.J. and Kevin’s label. The Wolf on the cover is Eric Scealf’s from The Unsatisfied, pet named “MOC”.
Then we met James Traux and he made a movie about us, “The Trenches of Vaudeville”. It is a must see if you like the under dog of the world like The EL Caminos – cheers!!!”
You can pick up their CDs and the DVD of “The Trenches of Vaudeville”at Criminal Records.
Dec 5 at 7 Stages Gallery -JJ and Paul’s Art show “Devils and Angels”- music by The DKOs
El Caminos: Get to the Top Review
The most impressive thing about the El Caminos – they do punk well! At first listen, fans will easily start comparing them to everyone from Dead Boys to the Ramones, but I wouldn’t stuff them too quickly into any category. The vocals bite with raw emotion that isn’t buried by poor production; The Groovy Ghoulies come to mind as does Rancid. Guitar work like that in “Action” mount hysterical yearning in fans of those bands that so often go unknown. The El Caminos are no new band; they have been through more than twice as many past members as they have current since their start in 1994.
Get to the Top follows the 2008 release of Raised by Wolves, and these guys have played everywhere in Atlanta from the Masquerade to Criminal Records in support of keeping the record store in business. Favorites of mine on Get to the Top include “Picture” with its line, “You think you know me well, but you’re wrong, wrong, wrong,” “Rock N’ Roll City” with its subtle melodies and the title track, “Get to the Top” with its rolling drums and punchy guitar intro.
Those who haven’t yet been introduced to this Atlanta staple would do well to check out Get to the Top and previous releases. Watch Target Audience Magazine 2012 previews for show dates.
Get to the Top follows the 2008 release of Raised by Wolves, and these guys have played everywhere in Atlanta from the Masquerade to Criminal Records in support of keeping the record store in business. Favorites of mine on Get to the Top include “Picture” with its line, “You think you know me well, but you’re wrong, wrong, wrong,” “Rock N’ Roll City” with its subtle melodies and the title track, “Get to the Top” with its rolling drums and punchy guitar intro.
Those who haven’t yet been introduced to this Atlanta staple would do well to check out Get to the Top and previous releases. Watch Target Audience Magazine 2012 previews for show dates.