A group of Redding music scene veterans team up as Not Your Babe to craft an album debut fueled by fond memories and heartbreaking lessons of navigating the human experience.
The newly formed quartet delivers a potent blend of California-gloom indie punk-pop, offering a delicate sound that still carries angst and packs a punch.
Created by lead vocalist and songwriter Cam Zeller, the band features guitarist Zach Zeller, drummer Preston Faires, and bassist Dan Wait.
“This project is also my baby, so I wanted to make sure that I reached out to the right people, and I trusted them with what I knew they were capable of,” Cam Zeller said.
The band's name is a lyric from one of their songs, a suggestion from bassist Waite when Cam Zeller was struggling to name the project.
The eight tracks are a culmination of years of solo songwriting by Cam Zeller. After completing the writing process, they reached out to each musician to finalize the lineup, prioritizing strong chemistry.
"The songs that I've played when it's just me and my guitar, I've always heard them in my head as being full band," Cam Zeller said.
In the midst of the Redding music scene
The band’s formation is relatively new, but none of its members are firmly cemented in the Redding music scene.
“We kind of have three different generations of playing in the local scene,” Zach Zeller said.
With over two decades of experience in the local scene, Waite is familiar with the principles of the Redding-area grassroots DIY scene.
“I've just been playing in bands for the last 20-plus years in town,” Wait said. “For what reason, I don't know.”
Both Wait and Zach have collaborated before in Belda Beast.
Faires also comes from a band background, having spent his younger years watching his brother play the scene and being a member of the once-formed Goldberg.
Also, before this debut, Cam Zeller was making her way through the DIY scene in punk-rock band Needle Beach and in a solo project.
“I've always been a fan of the projects that they've been in, so it's been really cool to, like, actually be in a band with them,” Zach Seller said.
As members of the local music scene, they also continue to support it by attending shows and backing local bands in their area.
“It's cool to see bands that I'm not really familiar with doing their thing at the age that we were all kind of playing shows at,” Faires said.
Equally, they’re grateful for the community's boundless support.
“They're are older bands that I got into that gave me opportunities, put me on a bill, to be able to do that for the younger bands is really cool,” Zach Zeller said. “And keep that love going, because I remember it being really important to me when I was younger.”
A self-titled debut filled with emotions
After much time of dedicated focus, the completion of Cam Zeller's creative writing journey is finally at hand with the release of the band’s full-length album.
Set to drop on Nov. 28, the singer looked to her bandmates to arrange the songs to their liking.
“I write about my life and my feelings, and I've always kind of described how I write as kind of a journal entry,” Cam Zeller said. “Just giving them kind of a blank canvas to do whatever they want on.”
The band aimed to capture the raw energy of their live performances on the recording, keeping overdubs to a minimum.
"We wanted to make space for [extra harmonies]," Zach Zeller said.
Waite and Zach Zeller found themselves in opposite roles during the album's recording. Waite is used to guitar but switched to bass with Zach Zeller leading the guitar.
“It was sort of pushing our boundaries, I think, for writing and recording in a different role,” Wait said.
Leading the charge is their first single, “Somebody Died,” about the dynamics and complexity of Cam Zeller’s relationship with her father.
“It just feels very cathartic and like fun to play, and it just it feels a little healing every time I get to play that song,” Cam Zeller said.
For Cam Zeller, their music is something you can ‘dance and cry’ to, and they hope listeners find the tracks equally suitable for bops and emotional catharsis.
“I feel like these songs have lived in my brain for so long, and I've always wanted them to sound like this, so getting to share that with everyone just feels really fulfilling and exciting,” Cam Zeller said.
The album will be available online, on CD, and on cassette through the Chico label KitKats Records.
