In the mid-’90s, Andy Milk (LA’97) was playing at Delta Upsilon with his student band Johnny Wishbone, writing album reviews and creating a column for the Daily. Today, nearly 30 years later and following the diagnosis of a life-threatening heart condition, he is making his return to Medford on tour with his Long Island-based trio, Campsite.
Campsite first came together when Milk was reintroduced to bassist Michael Hirst at a house party in a small town on Long Island. The pair, who had grown up in the same small town on Cape Cod, reconnected over a shared interest in music. Soon, along with drummer Joseph Gitto — who was the lawyer for Milk’s company at the time — they formed the group now known as Campsite.
Milk endearingly described the group as “three suburban dad friends” juggling the musician’s life with that of a working parent. The band members agreed that, despite the occasional logistical challenge, having Campsite as a creative outlet has been greatly beneficial to maintaining their musical passions throughout adulthood and parenthood.
“It’s really just about rediscovering our identity as musicians,” Hirst said. A former SMFA student, prior to the school's absorption into Tufts, Hirst got his musical start in the Boston DJ scene. After college, before forming Campsite, he played with a punk rock band based in DC and founded his own electronic music label.
Milk’s musical journey also started in his college years with the aforementioned Tufts student band Johnny Wishbone, which mostly played cover shows at on-campus events. Post graduation, Milk toured and released multiple albums with the rock band The Vital Might and worked on a handful of smaller solo and duo electronic projects.
Gitto, who first got his start as a drummer in a school band at 8 years old, played with local rock bands in his time at Skidmore College. In addition to playing in the college rock scene, he was a percussionist in the Long Island Youth Orchestra, with whom he toured and performed internationally.
The diversity in the trio’s musical backgrounds has contributed to an eccentric amalgamation of genres and influences for Campsite. When asked what the group’s music style was, the members dropped genres like punk, rock, jazz, funk and hip-hop, to name a few. Because of this unique blend of tastes, Milk said they were never satisfied by playing just covers, so the band has stuck to writing their own music.
The songwriting process is primarily spearheaded by Milk, but aided by collaborative jamming and arranging. Campsite says they don’t face any challenges in this collaborative process thanks to their strong connection, both creatively and personally.
“You know, we get along really well. It’s just a three piece. So there’s no creative struggles,” Hirst said. “I think being friends, just full stop, I think that's the core of the band.”
Hirst says that this bond was strengthened by a tragic life event which unfolded just around the time of Campsite’s formation. After suffering a series of cardiac episodes, Milk was diagnosed with Giant Cell Myocarditis, a life-threatening heart disease.
Though he is no longer in the hospital long term, Milk said he now wears a pacemaker, takes numerous medications and is still in and out of doctors’ appointments. But despite these major obstacles, Milk has not wavered in his dedication to music. In many ways, Campsite has been a beneficial distraction and outlet for Milk during such a difficult time.
“It was like a kind of therapeutic thing, in a way, to get together and kind of not be thinking about that too much,” Hirst said. “Maybe for Andy, I always try to get an update, try to keep it short and then we just want to focus on the music.”
Milk’s diagnosis came around the time Campsite started writing original music together, and the experience had a major influence on his songwriting. Formerly a large proponent of hard rock and grunge, Milk said Campsite’s originals took on a more subdued theme.
“It definitely influenced kind of the vibe, I think, a little bit of my songwriting, you know. I wasn’t going for really fast, high energy jumping around kind of music,” Milk said. “The song topics [are] also about how those episodes have affected my life and my family and my outlook on life and things like that.”
But beyond influencing the subject matter of Campsite’s music, Milk said that being faced with the reality of the life-threatening condition changed his overall perspective on music and his own creative process as a whole.
“It was close calls when I was in the hospital, [when I thought] that I wasn’t gonna come home, so that makes you rethink a lot of things and really want to just live in the moment and be present,” Milk said. “That’s kind of influenced my creative process a little bit too. ... I’m not overthinking things.”
Milk said that, with previous projects, he was often caught up in how his music would be judged and received. But following the introspection and conversations that came out of his diagnosis, he has come to enjoy the process in all of its imperfections.
“I think [with] this band ... I’ve gotten to the point of not caring what anybody else thinks, and it feels so good, and I actually think the music’s more authentic,” Milk said.
Campsite continues to promote this mindset, emphasizing authenticity and good times over perfection and profit. They said, especially for parents like themselves, it is more important to have fun and enjoy the creative process than obsess over making something perfect.
“Do it, even if you suck,” Hirst said.
Campsite is set to perform at Deep Cuts in Medford Square on Saturday, March 1.
