Diandra Interviews CAMINA: Making Music Cinnamon

I heard it, somewhere, that part of getting older is not so much getting tired physical but spiritually. Your heart just doesn’t want to have the same reactions, which means it wants more peace and joy. Thus, old behaviors of reacting big to small things begin tire, and traumas are suddenly things you confront to feel invigorated. For Camina, her upcoming EP, Te Quiero Mucho, was her attempt to encompass all that she has learned about letting herself feel, and, in our interview, she discusses a few lessons.

Diandra: How do you feel the pandemic will change music?

CAMINA: There are different modes to communication, and this pandemic has created different, temporal modes to connecting with people. So, I’m curious to see how people receive information and communicate for next generations. I remember the excitement of going to the shop to buy a CD after it dropped and now people excited are about it streaming. I was there when Napster came out and people thought it didn’t have much weight. (she laughs) I am excited to see what tech is invented to help artists continue doing their art and make money.

Diandra: What made you choose to do music now?

CAMINA: In my early twenties, I was in this indie rock band, and I was never confident enough to do something on my own. I feel that after doing a lot of personal reflection, in the past years, I realized I wasn’t ready. I have a real respect for art and music, and I didn’t know what I wanted to say or what I wanted to create for the world. Now that I am older and I have had more experiences, I am ready to say something. I think in life everything is timing. Now, I can afford to make music and have access to the right equipment. I wanted to do it right, and now everything is in place.

Diandra: What inspired your sound?

CAMINA: It’s taken years for me to get to this place. This concept is wildly diverse, and, certainly, everyone that knows me is shocked by it, but I wanted something different. So really had to explore and do research; listening to records from the 40s and learning that lofi sound and playing with certain samples and synths. I am a classically trained vocal performer and I was taught old, classical ways to approaching music. I wanted my sound to be off-kilter and interesting, and, nowadays, everything can be so easily fixed with auto-tune, but I feel that takes away the heart. I wanted to put time and make something different.

Crafting this sound took years, but to write the lyrics I really had to self-isolate. So I rented this cabin with no internet or service so I could really channel my thoughts, and it was in Camino La Sierra. I thought that is a cool name, and I changed it with an a to make it feminine.
Camína – Cinnamon (Official Music Video)

Diandra: You mentioned are classically trained and I am, as well. How do you not get in your head about your vocals being perfect?

CAMINA: You can’t be a perfectionist with your vocals. I listen to Neil Young, and he is off-kilter. I love his approach, and he shows music is a feeling. You have to have an emotional approach for the song to resonate and that gives it different energies and magic and allows it to be attractively imperfect. It is definitely emotional.

Diandra: What does your upcoming EP say abut you?

CAMINA: I feel like these tracks are a culmination. I am 37. I have experienced a lot of sadness and had a really turbulent childhood. I have been doing a lot of internal work, and doing this EP has been very transformational for me. It was like closing a chapter for me. There is beauty in sadness, and in this crazy time it is good to remember that so we can adjust. I’m not afraid to be sad or show my sadness. It takes a self-awareness to get there.

Diandra: What has helped you gain that self-awareness?

CAMINA: I’ve been studying Native American culture, and they believe in energy and reincarnation. Energy doesn’t die; it runs on a continuum, and I believe in that. It is about paying attention to death and rebirth and watching things to gain your own perspective.

Diandra: So if CAMINA was a past-life who would she be?

CAMINA: I think she would be an empowering bad-ass that did not give a f**k. I feel powerful when I do my songs, and she is like an alter-ego. She stands up for things and speaks for others that can’t speak for themselves.

Diandra: What is an injustice that you feel needs to be talked about even more or, at least, differently?

CAMINA: What a loaded question! I feel like there are so many injustices that have occurred since the beginning of time, and human beingS don’t seem to learn. Yet, I will say that after George Floyd things have changed, and the internet has caused the insemination of information to inform and unite people unlike ever before. You really feel like, this time, things can change because there is more access to information to guide you on how to be a better person. It is really empowering to see people trying to see how to change things and really cause an impact.

I feel like a better day is upon us or, at least, we are getting closer. Powerful protests come from the people and I think there is more movement. There are dark influences, like racism, that are so ingrained in our history and it influences every generation. I don’t Know if it will ever go away, but it can lessen. We need more people and movement and recognition that privilege is not the same for everyone or even at all for someone. I think, as an artist, you have a responsibility to comment on contemporary culture and speak some truth. Healing comes from that, and a lot of people need positivity and encouragement to be resilient.

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