Artie Phelan
Craigslist can be either a really good thing or a really bad thing. For pop artist Camille Trust, it turned out to be an amazing thing when she posted her own ad that read, “Singer looking for band.” From there on, she grew into her own and has not looked back since then. We had a chance to chat with Trust while she’s still in her early stages towards stardom. Trust us, it was a blast to chat and hear what she had to say. She could be our next bad (but in reality, good) habit.
CelebMix: Huge congrats on your debut EP. It’s beautiful. How long was this in the making?
Camille Trust: Hi!! This EP was a little over a year in the making but has been a dream of mine forYEARS.
CelebMix: How did you go about deciding what the story or message behind this EP would be? Iread in a previous interview that there was a song that didn’t make the cut because itdidn’t fit the mold you created. I was curious as to what that mold actually was!
CT: The message behind this EP is just an introduction to Camille Trust as an artist. A starter pack, as this is only just the beginning. There are definitely many sides to an individual and I wanted to draw in listeners to a pop, soulful, funky record that shines a light on those various characters. Sometimes you feel powerless in heartbreak. Sometimes you feel desperate for attention. Sometimes you are truly feeling yourself and want to show the world what a confident, bad bitch you really are! The song that didn’t make the cut was “Bad Habit (Live)” which I just put out as a YouTube Video a couple weeks after the EP release. The sound quality on that track just didn’t match the amount of time spent on all the other tracks, but don’t you worry, you will be hearing a version of “Bad Habit” soon enough!
CelebMix: You truly are a powerhouse. But how/when did you find yourself drawn to the musicindustry path?
CT: I always knew I wanted to sing. Growing up in a suburb just North of Tampa, Florida, I had no real connections or knowledge of the music industry, so in order to get my voice heard, I had to make my own path. I was in an all-girls song/dance group called Entertainment Revue for 10 years and I also got involved in community theatre at a very young age and continued on that path all the way to college. I studied Theatre at Florida State University and moved to New York City. After auditioning for Broadway shows for a few months here in New York, I knew it wasn’t truly my path. I always wanted to sing my own music on a stage — No, arenas with choreography and backup singers, but didn’t know how to get there. So, I put out an ad on Craigslist that read “Singer Looking for Band” and the rest is kinda history. I realized how much I LOVED singing with a live band and getting involved in the music community here in New York City, for the first time, felt like where I was destined to be.
CelebMix: One of your lead singles,“Move On”, gives anyone and everyone who has ever been in a break up the major feels. It’s emotional and so true. When did this song start and finish?
CT: I wrote this song a few days after the biggest break up of my life to date. The songwriting started with this incredible artist/songwriter named Stevie Wolf. I usually have a hard time being very vulnerable in writing sessions, especially with someone I hardly know (Stevie and I had just met a few weeks prior to this). We started chatting and then I broke down, he was able to translate my emotional pain into a chord progression and the song just flowed out of us. After that, I brought it back to the producers I was working with, Roseland Songs, and we made some tweaks to the melody, re-wrote the pre-chorus and BOOM! We had THE SONG. But the production actually went through a few phases; initially, there was a produced track to it, but to me, it didn’t feel right. I felt the need to pull everything back to truly reveal the raw vulnerability of that emotion through the song. So I re-recorded the song with live instrumentation late one night at a studio in Brooklyn, New York, surrounded by some of New York’s finest musicians.
CelebMix: I can’t even imagine boxing your music into one specific genre. Where do you draw your inspiration from? How did you go about taking all that inspiration and formulating it into…you and your own voice?
CT: I am heavily inspired by the vocal grit of Etta James, the bad-assery of Janis Joplin, the enigmatic performance of James Brown and the chord-progressions of Stevie Wonder. On a more modern level, I love Lauryn Hill and Christina Aguilera. I feel that all “pop” music is truly a mash-up of all sorts of genres. I just create what makes me feel the most honest to myself and what gets me grooving.
CelebMix: You also recently released the video to fan favorite “Bad Habit.” What is the story behind this song? Can we see this on any future albums of yours?
CT: “Bad Habit” was one of the first songs I ever wrote with a good friend of mine, Michael Blume. The song plays on the idea of being tantalized by a lover you keep coming back to even though you know its not good for you. Like candy, (or in my case, pasta) it tastes SOOOO good and the flavor is unforgettable but you know its not good for that summer body, HUNNI. I’m definitely working on getting a produced version of that song to come out with the next body of work I release.
CelebMix: You’ve been doing a few shows here and there. How has performing live been for you?
CT: Performing live is what keeps me going. I was performing my original music live for a few years before releasing any music because I just feel so right when I am up on stage. That is where I feel my truest self. I love to give all the energy I have in a live show and get the audience to groove with me.
CelebMix: How would you like to see your career grow over the next few years?
CT: I’d like to perform on bigger stages for bigger crowds. I want to tour. I want to perform at music festivals, get in the studio with bigger artists, and write with dope songwriters. I just want to continue to grow and (hopefully) start to get paid for it!
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