Camp Freddy to rock for Legacy Park
By Melonie Magruder //Special to The Malibu Times
Pitching in for art, commerce and environmental concerns in Malibu, good-time cover band Camp Freddy, featuring Chris Chaney (Jane’s Addiction), Donovan Leitch (Nancy Boy), Dave Navarro (Jane’s Addiction) Matt Sorum (Gun’s N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver) and Billy Morrison (The Cult, Circus Diablo) will perform a charity concert this Saturday at the Malibu Country Mart that will benefit Legacy Park. Local fashion designer John Varvatos is sponsoring the concert.
The group Camp Freddy was started seven years ago as a lark for the experienced musicians.
“When we started Camp Freddy, we didn’t think it would be a long-term thing,” front man Billy Morrison said in an interview with The Malibu Times. “That’s the joy of Freddy. A couple of us just got together thinking we wanted to play a few cover songs for fun. Seven years later, we’re still playing together.”
Camp Freddy’s (the name was taken from a sleaze ball character in the classic Michael Caine film, “The Italian Job”) longevity might have as much to do with the group’s low expectations of commercial success as it does with its talent.
“We honestly just want to get together and jam,” Morrison said. “We know who we are and we’re not trying to write the next Pink Floyd album. This is primarily to get a few mates together and have fun playing rock and roll.”
The band is “sickeningly democratic,” Morrison said, focusing only on songs they all like to play, with the added twist that the core band of Morrison, Navarro Chaney, Sorum and Leitch (son of ’60s folk/rock artist Donovan) are usually joined on stage by a celebrity star to jam.
“We never know who will show up and we don’t plan it,” Morrison said. “Sometimes, someone will call me as I’m driving to the gig and I just ask them to come on by. It’s whoever shows up.”
Musicians who have “showed up” in the past include Melissa Etheridge, Slash, Macy Gray, Moby, Kid Rock, Gavin Rossdale, Ronnie Wood and Juliette Lewis.
“When we tried to pull some of the bigger stars in to jam with us, they just didn’t get it,” Leitch said. “Steven Tyler (of Aerosmith legend) finally saw that we were really there for the fun of it. So, now, he’s played three times with us.”
Camp Freddy also lends their talents to a variety of charitable organizations, giving 100 percent of performance proceeds to whatever cause rocks them, including cancer research and MusicCares MAP fund, which provides members of the music community access to addiction recovery treatment.
“So when John [Varvatos] asked us to do this gig, it was a natural,” Morrison said. “John really understands rock ‘n’ roll and our needs.”
Varvatos himself said about Camp Freddy, “I’ve long been a fan of the band and each artists’ previous projects. Matt and Donovan have become friends over the years, so it just made sense to have them perform and I’m thrilled they accepted to help support the cause.”
Leitch said he often visited Malibu with his father, Donavan Letch Sr., as a youngster.
“Legacy Park will be wonderful for Malibu,” he said. “And when we do a charity performance, it’s usually because we all really believe in the cause.”
Leitch said growing up with such an iconic star as his father initially turned him away from music.” I wanted to be an actor or a writer. Anything but a musician,” he said. “But music was such a part of my life growing up that, while it wasn’t a conscious decision, here I am.” Susan Shaw, capital campaign coordinator for the city, said of the Legacy Park project, “What’s exciting about this project is it’s now attracting great talent because of the environmental cause.”
Shaw said the Legacy Park coffers of $6.1 million have been raised almost entirely by Malibu, either through the city, individual donations, which have been matched by the Annenberg Foundation, and city businesses.
“The city has kept with local fundraising, instead of accepting state funds because we wanted to keep control of it,” Shaw said. “This really is a local project and Legacy Park will be the only storm water treatment facility in California that uniquely brings together ocean, lagoons, riparian, coastal and wetland habitats.”
The project expects to break ground early next year.
To help reach the $12 million funding goal, Varvatos and Camp Freddy will be donating all proceeds from the event to the Legacy Park fund. Entry to the concert is free with an RSVP, but Varvatos is offering limited-edition flip-flops he designed for the occasion, plus a celebrity-autographed surfboard to be auctioned at a later date.
The fundraising event on Saturday starts at 3 p.m. at the Malibu Country Mart at Cross Creek Rd. and Civic Center Way. The concert starts at 4 p.m. To RSVP for the concert, call 310 358 2799 or write events@blupr.com or info@malibulegacy.org