{"id":1876169,"date":"2026-04-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1876169"},"modified":"2026-04-10T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T21:00:00","slug":"wonderland-128","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1876169","title":{"rendered":"Wonderland"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\n\t\t
\n\t\t\tWonderland<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n\t\t<\/a>
\n\t<\/h1>\n
\n

\n\t\t\tCAMERON PICTON IS MAKING IT UP AS HE GOES ALONG<\/span>
\n\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n
\n

black midi might be over, but Cameron Picton is only just getting started. With a raft of new (and old) collaborators in tow, anything goes in his brand new project, My New Band Believe.\u00a0<\/h3>\n
\n
\"Cameron<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

I meet Cameron Picton in a low-key but well-loved Italian cafe, just around the corner from his regular studio space. He immediately comes across as a little shy, sitting at a slight angle to me with his eyes regularly downcast. He orders a soup consisting of a pork and beef broth paired with tortellini parcels, which I worry about keeping him from as he answers my questions. Later, I find out that this is the first in-person interview he\u2019s done for this press run, which in itself is the first he\u2019s done as a semi-solo musician. It\u2019s been two years since black midi \u2013 the band that he grew up in \u2013 came to an abrupt end.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re here to discuss Picton\u2019s new semi-solo project, My New Band Believe<\/a>, and their eponymous debut album. The venture debuted last autumn as a series of \u2018workshop\u2019 shows at small venues around London, a term that Picton employed partly in fear that \u201cIt might be a bit shit.\u201d For the shows, an open invite was extended to potential collaborators to join \u201cfor one song, one show, one night, or maybe even more,\u201d an attitude that Picton explains extended to the entirety of the production process.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you want to start a band, you only really have one lineup. So I kind of just thought, why not make it open to anyone?,\u201d he posits. \u201cIt means that people come in, see what it\u2019s like to play with me, and if they like it or not. And then once it comes to actual touring, then you\u2019ve played with each other quite a bit. It\u2019s not really a contrived decision. It feels quite natural to just keep playing with these people, because it feels good when you do it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Some of the early sounds of My New Band Believe can be heard in the three mixtapes that Picton released under the moniker Camera Picture, a low-key set of CDs available only on Bandcamp and titled after their lengths. Picton explains that these were created partly out of financial necessity: \u201cObviously, I wanted to make it as good as possible, but the motivation was really, I need about 5 grand [laughs<\/em>].\u201d He\u2019d committed to being the tour opener for his friends, Windmill scene contemporaries Black Country, New Road<\/a>, but was hit with an eye-watering visa sum that had to be paid in order for him to work abroad.\u00a0 So, he started selling the Camera Picture CDs at shows to make it work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Created over a two-year period, My New Band Believe<\/em> involved numerous friends and collaborators. The record was co-produced with two members of the folk rock band caroline, Mike O\u2019Malley and Jasper Llewellyn, whom at one point Picton had been speaking about \u201cdoing a collaborative album with,\u201d \u201cbut also kind of half knowing that they wanted to do their own thing and finish their album, which I knew would take a long time.\u201d It was in these early conversations that the idea for the workshop shows was born, as a way for Picton to \u201ctry playing out with different people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

This off-the-cuff quality is central to the record, which brings in field recordings, twenty-two different musicians, and sounds captured in Picton\u2019s own kitchen. Picton suggests that he sees My New Band Believe not as a fully-formed band<\/em>, per se, nor a solo record made with session musicians, but instead something that exists in the space in-between. \u201cThe ambition for it, longer term, is for it to be a band for a certain period that operates like a band \u2026 When black midi was breaking up, I didn\u2019t want to do a solo record. I didn\u2019t want to have a solo career.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a refreshing, albeit surprising, openness in how Picton gestures to the dissolution of black midi, the band that he acted as a vocalist and bassist in with fellow vocalist Geordie Greep, drummer Morgan Simpson, and bassist Matt Kwasniewski-Kelvin, who passed away at the beginning of this year. It\u2019s no exaggeration to suggest that black midi defined a moment in British indie music, becoming synonymous with the Windmill scene and a certain style of experimental, oddball rock: it\u2019s also clear that by the end of their time together, they seemed to have little desire to continue. Although the split was initially described as a \u201chiatus\u201d by the band\u2019s label, Picton speaks about the group in the past tense.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\"Cameron<\/figure>\n
\"Cameron<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

black midi formed almost accidentally when the members were nearing the end of their time at the Brit School. Their debut album, Schlagenheim, <\/em>hit the charts and went on to be nominated for a Mercury prize, ushering in the start of a progressive rock revival in its wake. Picton describes their success as fundamentally unexpected, even with the Brit school\u2019s reputation for producing platinum-record musical talent: Adele and Olivia Dean are both alumni. \u201cOnce the band had done six or seven gigs or something, and had interest from management, it was a bit like, oh, might as well just give this a go,\u201d he recalls. \u201cAnd then that turned into six years of touring and three albums.\u201d All of this took place during the period when the band might have gone to university. Instead, they were on global tours.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The final days of black midi were marked by a fundamental breakdown in communication: \u201cIt was just functionally not possible to do anything\u2026it was impossible to work in a group scenario,\u201d Picton explains. \u201cNot full stop, but I was just not having joy working in a group scenario. So I was like, well, why don\u2019t I try working solo? And then I\u2019m just kind of only really answering to myself, in terms of writing, in terms of practising, when the gig happens, what songs we play. I\u2019d only ever played music \u2013 apart from in my bedroom \u2013 with other people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

After the whirlwind success of black midi, Picton wanted a break, and he also wanted to spend an extended period of time on a single record, starting work on the project that eventually became My New Band Believe. \u201cThe third black midi record [Hellfire<\/em>], we had to do it basically all in three weeks, because that was the first time we could get into a studio, and then after that we were going on tour.\u201d By contrast, this was a project in which he\u2019d only have to answer to himself, with \u201cno deadline.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

While there\u2019s fast-paced moments on My New Band Believe<\/em> \u2013 echoed in the standalone single \u201cNumerology\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Picton\u2019s not afraid to dive into lengthier, more sprawling tracks. \u201cHeart of Darkness\u201d <\/em>is a standout, clocking in at eight minutes with a climax that dissolves into upright bass and guitar harmonics. Picton explains that the titular reference to Joseph Conrad\u2019s 1899 novella was partly chosen by the need to replace a previous, \u201creally terrible\u201d name, but came to feel appropriate.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething reminded me of the book, and I realised that it kind of works,\u201d he reflects. \u201cIn terms of both the themes, there\u2019s a journey in the lyrics, [which] parallels Marlow going to meet [Mr. Kurtz]. And lots of nature references.\u201d The track began as an interpolation of \u201cRosslyn,<\/em>\u201d a track by the British folk revival icon John Renbourn, but incorporating sounds from America, \u201cwhere you have a more soulful feeling verse and a transatlantic vibe.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Steve Noble \u2013 at 66, the oldest collaborator on the record, who started his career working with Nigerian drumming master Elkan Ogunde \u2013 came in as a final touch to the track, adding improvised percussion as an overdub. This was layered with a second overdub contributed by bassist Caius Williams, one of the contributors that\u2019s become most closely tied to the project. The end product is a track that is dense and lived-in, filled with fragmentary images that operate on the dream logic that the record\u2019s lyricism employs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In this vein comes the question of whether Cameron Picton can be defined as a believer of some form. The group\u2019s name came to him in a fever dream: while travelling in China, Picton was seriously under the weather in that way that verges on hallucinatory. Picton seems surprised by how much significance has been piled onto it since, pointing out that what started as an \u201cinnocuous\u201d choice has been overblown, \u201cand then you\u2019re left answering questions as if it\u2019s some foundational part of your existence.\u201d That\u2019s pretty much all there is to it: a phrase that appeared in a haze and stayed tucked in his back pocket.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If not via belief, then, perhaps My New Band Believe can be described as a project between friends and peers, which, in a way, is not so different from black midi. As we wrap up our conversation, Picton describes the struggle to get their press photography done. One shot was captured through his flat windows by a close friend who happens to live directly across the street from him, another, showing a fake karaoke night, came together so last-minute that Picton worried that they\u2019d end up with no extras.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did it in a karaoke bar, and I was just frantically texting people four hours before. And I\u2019m like, fuck, I actually haven\u2019t texted anyone about this, no one\u2019s going to come, it\u2019s going to look like a shit party,\u201d Picton gesticulates. \u201cIt was just come, come, come, I\u2019ll buy you a beer. And that just turned out to be the best photo!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Listen to the album here<\/a>\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Photography \u2013 Daisy and Tomos Ayscough<\/em><\/p>\n

Words \u2013 Sasha Mills<\/a>
<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n

\n
\n\t\t\t\t10 April 2026\t\t\t<\/div>\n
\n
\n
Feature Interview<\/a><\/div>\n
Music<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t<\/span>
\n\t\t<\/section>\n

\n\t\t\t\tWonderlist<\/span> <\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wonderland CAMERON PICTON IS MAKING IT UP AS HE GOES ALONG black midi might be over, but Cameron Picton is only just getting started. With a raft of new (and old) collaborators in tow, anything goes in his brand new project, My New Band Believe.\u00a0 I meet Cameron Picton in a low-key but well-loved Italian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,257],"class_list":["post-1876169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-wonderlandmagazine-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1876169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1876169\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1876169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1876169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1876169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}