Camp Freddy feature some of the biggest names in rock and have performed over 100 shows in five years, but if you don't have your finger on the pulse of L.A.'s Sunset Strip – or on the radio dial, tuning it to Indie 103.1 – you've probably never heard of them. But with a just-completed five-week residency at West Hollywood, California's Roxy Theatre, and an album and tour on the way, that may very well change.



Camp Freddy's all-star lineup includes Dave Navarro (Jane's Addiction), Billy Morrison (The Cult), Donovan Leitch (son of singer Donovan), Chris Chaney (Jane's Addiction) and Matt Sorum (Velvet Revolver, Guns N' Roses). With a roster like that, one might wonder how the band has kept itself covert for so long.

Well, you have questions, and Buzznet has answers: We caught up with Camp Freddy during one of the installments in their residency. The typically star-studded show featured Slipknot's Corey Taylor, Cypress Hill, Mark McGrath (Sugar Ray), Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) and many others.

"It's sort of been a secret, weird little kind of community," Sorum told Buzznet's Leah Cevoli. "So we hired my publicist, Mitch Schnieder, who does [Velvet Revolver], and said, 'Let's tell the world about this.' "

And is there ever something to tell the world about. As jaw-dropping as the above names are, they're only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to talking about Camp Freddy's guest list. Recent shows have also seen Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington, Slash, AFI's Davey Havok and more performing with the group, and Billy Idol performed with Camp Freddy on the final night of their residency.

So let's backtrack for a minute: How did this all-star action come about? As Sorum described, the germ of the band – which only plays cover songs – came about as a fun side affair for the five musicians who became its core (Navarro; Morrison; Sorum; Leitch, Jr.; and Chaney).

"Someone offered us to play this little party down at the Standard Hotel. We had so much fun, and people wanted to jump up onstage, and all these musicians were there and it turned into this, like, jam," Sorum revealed. "A couple weeks later, [party promoter] Brent Bolthouse asked us to play this party for, like, some, like, PlayStation thing. So we invited all our friends to come jam – Slash, Duff McKagan from my band, Perry Farrell came down from Dave Navarro's band ... Sebastian Bach showed up from Skid Row, and there was Ronnie Wood from The Stones, the drummer from The Strokes [Fab Moretti]. We had this amazing night."

That "amazing night" grew into a litany of one-off shows that featured original singer Scott Weiland and led to a weekly Saturday radio show on L.A.'s Indie 103.1 in which the bandmembers talk about their love of music and back it up by playing their favorite selections.

It's also hard to mistake the artists the guys are passionate about – The Stooges, Kiss, Van Halen ... after all, they're a cover band. So does that mean that we'll never be able to hear original Camp Freddy material?

"We're not doing any writing. It's a cover band," Sorum insisted. "Everybody's got other gigs going on and stuff, so we've just done a bunch of covers and it's been worked on and it's coming together slowly."

But don't fear, Sunset Strip sweethearts, there is a "but" ...

"... But there is a record. There's a lot of music done, but we're just adding vocals and we wanna put it out eventually ... we have it," Sorum added, saying that one of the causes of the delay is trying to clear the rights for such high-profile artists as the ones Camp Freddy are involving.


[Click on picture to hear about Camp Freddy's upcoming LP.]

The band has toyed around with the idea of touring. "I mean if people want it, and they wanna hear it and they dig it, cool. If we go out there and it get to a point that it's not feeling right anymore, it's probably when you say, 'enough's enough, you know?

You are probably asking yourself, "How can a band record and tour without a lead singer!?" Camp Freddy is still working out the kinks of vocal duties, as Sorum revealed, "If you get superstar type people singing, a lot of times business wise it can be difficult."


[Click on picture to find out more on the band's residency.]

For more on Matt Sorum, don't miss him talking about the possibility of Axl Rose fronting Velvet Revolver, who have been in the hunt for a new singer:


[Click on picture to watch Sorum's reaction about Axl Rose.]