Zachary Campos – The Castle
Zachary Campos – The Castle – EP Review
I know, I know, I know…I said in my last review of Zachary’s music that it would be the last one for a while…but we’ve got one more. Word on the street is that he’s already hanging up the spurs before his career even had a chance to really take off, or he could even implement some of the many changes I’d suggested to him – he’s told me directly that he’s not going to be making anymore music and that he’s going to become an author instead. So what’s the harm in writing one final review, right? Just wait until he finds out being a writer is often infinitely harder than being a musical artist… but shhh…don’t tell him.
On the bright side, I’m getting richer. As the old saying goes, if I had a dime for every time someone told me they were gonna quit making music forever…you know how the rest of that statement goes. I am ROLLING in dimes y’all! For real, I can barely even more my arms as buried as I am under all these silver coins. I can only promise you this – of the HUNDREDS of times I’ve heard that from people at this point in my career, there is still only ONE that has followed through on walking away. His name is Brian Pampouselle, he made music under the name of Undocument, and I STILL think he’ll come back one day even though he’s really dug his heels in, and resisted it for more than a decade. The rest have come back, because they always do. Zachary will as well – I ain’t gonna lie, I practically laughed out loud at the mere concept of him retiring before he’s even found out what he’s actually capable of – it ain’t gonna happen. It might be a while before we see him on these pages of ours again, but I’ve met a whole bunch of Zacharys out there in this lifetime, and none of them have been able to simply give up what they’re most passionate about. Nor should they if I’m being truthful with ya. Why would Campos give up now when he’s just scratching the surface of his music career? Because no major labels have come calling? Fuck those guys! Is that the only reason anyone makes music nowadays? It is assuredly not. So…yes – he’ll be back in action soon enough, I assure you – don’t panic. If he isn’t, then go out and buy his book.
Anyhow. I guess time will tell who’s right. I look at it this way – if anything about the past couple months has taught us, it’s that Campos could fall out of bed and hit a song on his way down – he’s got natural talent, and one can only hope that he’ll go on to find a way to get the best out of it. As it stands right now, he’s got a bunch of GOOD material – we’re waiting for that greatness track after track, but given that it’s the early part of his career, no one was expecting him to be at that level yet, other than himself. “My issue is my lack of patience,” as he sings on “Purpose” – and he’s right about that. There’s no reason to walk away right now, other than not wanting to put in the work he knows that he’d need to. Personally, I think he’s better than that. I don’t think he realizes how many people out there would practically kill to have the natural talent he has…and if he could somehow understand he’s starting out with way better blocks to build an empire with than most people would ever have, he’d probably stick around and keep it going. I think he might have made the wrong choice in going the Rap route if I may be so bold to simply spell out the main issue…if he’d gone into making Indie-Rock instead, he might have already found his way to a bunch of opening slots for major acts out there. He’s got the right mindset and the kind of determination it takes…or at least, he did…but yeah…his uniqueness was able to shine through so much clearer on tracks like “Purpose” that seemed so much more genuine and authentic to who he really is inside. Maybe that’s just the way I hear it, maybe that’s the way it really is – only Zach knows for sure. In any event, he’s made his choice, and I truly wish him nothing but the best for the future ahead, whichever direction he chooses to go in. Still, I can’t help but hear a track like “Purpose” and think to myself, ‘why in the fuck wasn’t this guy doing THIS all along?’ – this is the REAL Campos. I can’t prove that…it’s just a theory…but I’ve been doing this long enough to have a little bit of insight.
There’s still a long ways to go, even despite the fact I feel like he’s much more suited for this style of music than what he’s brought to Hip-Hop so far. How do I know? Again – this ain’t my first rodeo, and I’ve got the ability to be more objective as a listener than anyone would be able to be as a creator. So like, when “Sage” started up, the first thing I thought to myself was about how Campos is basically singing this song in the exact same way that he sang “Purpose” only moments before. Sure there are pieces later in the song that’ll offer a bit of distinction between one and the other, but for real yo – you don’t want your first two cuts on a five track EP, that are only over a minute in length to begin with, to remind you of another one on the record – you NEED things to be completely different. But this is what I have been trying to explain to Zachary all along…without the use of time as a tool and the perspective that comes along with it, we just end up repeating ourselves over and over again with different titles attached. Do I like “Sage?” Actually, yes – but that doesn’t make my point any less accurate. I like lots of things that I’d consider to be mistakes or missteps by artists out there. I liked “Purpose” a lot, so I’d be lying to you if I didn’t say I liked “Sage” as well, given that a lot of the vocal melody is a carbon copy. The real crux of the issue is that Campos himself has got to recognize that this is happening, or he’s really doomed to continue repeating himself. As an artist, we should be continually craving diversity and challenging ourselves to incorporate it as much as we possibly can be…that means music, that means vocals, that means lyrics, themes, tones, approach – all that stuff. There’s no rule that says anyone HAS to do that with their music or art, but when you’re not, some asshat like me is going to pick up on you taking the easy way out, and we’ll notice when you slide back into routine. I could easily make an argument that Campos actually sings “Sage” even better than he sang “Purpose” beforehand – but that doesn’t mean he’s not still essentially doing the same thing twice. I like that he’s got a more endearing sound on The Castle EP for sure – and I loved hearing the low tones of his voice come booming through on “Sage” – there are positives to work with here for sure…he’s just gotta avoid the repetition in what he creates track-to-track…if he can focus on that, there’s a clear pathway forward.
I’ll tell you this much with certainty – I wish I had one tenth of the incredible tone this dude has in his singing voice, and it’s somewhat mystifying that going in this more humble & low-key direction with his music wasn’t his original choice. Because this dude can SING y’all…I’ve pointed that out to him at every opportunity I’ve had ever since I first started writing about his music, and in listening to how much mileage he gets out of such a simple melody like he does on “Allegory” is nothing short of mind-blowing. For real y’all – have a listen for yourself, and tell me if YOU could sing like that, that it wouldn’t be ALL you’re doing every single damn day of your life! You KNOW that it would be. I hate to break it to Campos, but there are no books that come along with this kind of inherent melody to them…and to simply shelve talent like this…I dunno man…I ain’t here to tell someone else how to live their life, all I can do is point out that it’d never be the choice I’d personally make if I was in the same situation. He’s got a voice like freakin’ BEIRUT y’all…that’s who he reminds me of when he’s singing “Allegory,” and so in a weird way, we kind of have to assume he’d be capable of a similar genius when it comes to creating melodies. I’ll also accept that he can sound like the dude from Cake too…so he COULD go in that direction if he wanted to…but I have always felt like Zachary Campos has been seeking out a way to make ART that connects our hearts and minds together…if that’s the case, it’d be Beirut that he’d want to model himself after. That definitely ain’t gonna happen overnight…and if he’s gonna become an author then I suppose it’s not gonna happen at all…but yeah man…I couldn’t walk away from having a voice like this if that was what I had. People would give everything they had to have tone like he does.
Do I feel the same level of affection for “Luna” as I do for the rest of the material? No. I probably would have tossed this track outta the set-list if I was Campos, but I respect him for creating a tributary track for his rabbit friend – I’m sure she has a great life and is very well loved. Do I appreciate that Campos is writing about different topics and themes beyond himself and how great he is? Yes. Yes I do. I’d still cut “Luna” from the lineup as it doesn’t quite measure up to the caliber of the rest, but I do love the fact that he wrote a song about something he genuinely cares about, and that it reveals more of who he really is on the inside – I think that’s important, pass or fail. I look at it this way – “Luna” is written from a very simplistic and sweet point of view…and there’s ultimately nothing wrong with going in that direction at all – but it becomes more about who this would be intended to reach. If you’re telling me that it’s for a mid-forties dude like me, I’d tell ya that it’s not. If you’re telling me that it’s for a crowd of kids under ten, I’d be all for it – you see what I’m saying? Sometimes we just have to recognize what it is we’re actually doing and where the material would have the best chance of success is all. Based on what I’m hearing on “Luna,” I’d be fully supportive of Campos taking his music to the kids section – he could carve himself out quite a lucrative career doing that if he wanted to. I ain’t saying that to insult the guy – I know lots of people that have gone in different directions they never thought they would have in life, and many of them have gone on to be extremely successful doing something they never imagined they would have done at the start. There’s no shame in adapting your natural skillset to what would potentially suit it the best…I’m tellin’ ya, have a listen to “Luna” and tell me your kids wouldn’t love something like this? You ever heard one of those albums where they take all the Alternative songs you know and love and turn them into nursery rhymes? Adaptation is the real key to life itself – that’s why every music critic writes about it instead of makes it like they wish they could, and it’s also why that movie with Nicholas Cage is the best movie ever made, bar none – because it’s completely the truth. Adaptation is the best weapon we have against our own mediocrity…we could toil away trying to do so many things we wish we could, but life is really about finding the best way to go about using what we’ve got. Sometimes you write a movie about trying to write a movie about a book about flowers…trust me.
If this is REALLY the end of Zachary Campos as a musical artist (again, it’s not…I might not be able to prove that for a fact, but…yeah…this ain’t the end), then “Finale” is just about the best note you could ever hope to go out on. I love pretty much everything about this track and feel like it’s has to be up there with the very best we’ve ever heard from the guy. We could split hairs about split seconds of timing in the music that would arguably separate the good from the great on a technical level, but I don’t think that’s the best way to look at a track like this one. “Finale” is another glimpse into the guy that has always been behind the mic, waiting for an invitation to come out from the dark into the light. For the record, if I’ve ever seemed antagonistic, or even possibly too hard on this guy at times along the way as I’ve written about him…I suppose you could say it was all with the best of intentions and hoping I could provoke THIS guy, the one we hear singing on “Finale,” to reveal himself. Zachary’s written a truly beautiful song with this last cut on The Castle, and he’s sung it completely perfectly…you can’t ask for more than what you’ll find in this song, you feel me? It’s a goodbye, it’s a thank you, it’s a moment where he’s taking stock of everything he appreciates and all of the places where support has come from – and it’s sincere, straight up, full stop. Lyrically, I have zero doubt about this being the best I’ve heard from the guy so far…there’s emotion, and it’s authentic – you can tell he’s feeling this moment in time and believes in every word he sings. It’s seriously hard to imagine the guy quitting on music when you hear how well so many of the songs from The Castle have come out, truly…so hopefully that’s not the case…hopefully this isn’t “the grand finale” and it’s actually the start of his next exciting chapter ahead.
Whether it’s music, whether it’s writing, whether it’s freakin’ accounting or otherwise…I’m confident that Campos will find his way in life. Mark my words y’all…this ain’t the last we’ve heard from Zachary.
Find everything you wanna know about Zachary Campos at his official site: https://zacharycampos.com
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