Yes… Summer Camp is a band that generates those infectious, stick-in-your-head pop songs, but—unlike all the other girl and boy sing/song duos of today—they put on a live show that actually brings forth the energy found on their album, Welcome to Condale. The charisma between Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey is infectious, while Sankey’s luscious vocals leave the audience swaying in awe. With corresponding retro-video imagery, Summer Camp has found a way to use the aesthetic of their distinctive vibes to create a performance that really stands out (and most importantly, makes for a really good time). We were lucky enough to get a few words with them during their performance at GlassLands Gallery in Williamsburg.

FAULT: How did you two meet?

We met about six years ago at a terrible gig in London.

FAULT: You got all “blogged out” before Elizabeth even sang in public. Was it hard perfecting your live show through the eyes of fans?

It’s definitely tricky growing up in public (Elizabeth comes out in nervous twitches if anyone mentions our first show), but we feel like we have it sorted now—with the help of our live drummer William Bowerman (who plays in the amazing Brontide).

FAULT: You never intended to be a “real” band, so what made you start writing music together?

Boredom. We both loved the Flamingos’ version of “Only Have Eyes For You.”  Jeremy has a little studio at his house, and Elizabeth was over, and we had nothing else to do.

FAULT: What city is Summer Camp based out of now and why?

Still London, we still record everything in Jeremy’s studio.

FAULT: Speaking of cities, for your album you created an imaginary city in Cali called (appropriately) Condale. Can you explain a little bit about this?

For the album, it really helped with writing to think of characters and stories for the songs to be about, rather than making it all about us. Soon those characters had names, a year they lived in, etc. So, we made them a town as well. Jeremy’s brother and his family live in California so it’s the place where we’ve both spent the most time that isn’t London.

FAULT: You worked on Condale for around two years. Have you started writing any new music yet? What’s your writing process like?

Yes we have, we’re always writing. Each song happens in a different way, but we write best when it’s the two of us sat in the same room, starting from scratch together, working on the music and the lyrics at the same time.

FAULT: Tell us the last song that made you cry.

For Elizabeth it was “The Boxer,” by Simon and Garfunkel and for Jeremy it was “In The Backseat,” by Arcade Fire.

Interview by Rachel Eleanor Sutton / Photograph by Tescia Deák