Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Camila Grey of Laurel Canyon

We recently had the chance to connect with Camila Grey and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Camila, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What is a normal day like for you right now?
A normal day looks like waking up in a new city every 2-3 days and immediately grabbing an iced oat double shot latte with honey, upon opening my eyes… I then proceed to program my MainStage computer rigs (there are 2 as fail safes for live shows) with the current concert’s setlist. I hop on the tour bus from our hotel and run soundcheck, grab a quick dinner, and then prep and warm up my fingers for the show! We then have a quick band meeting, and then get back on the tour bus for a night drive to the next city. If we are in Europe it’s usually a flight the next day. Add, rinse, repeat! I love it, though. It definitely keeps you moving and on your toes!

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Camila Grey. I guess you could say I’m a professional touring musician, and songwriter/producer. Of course I DJ on the side (how cliche) and am also an avid lover of photography. I’ve been obsessed with Ansel Adams since I was very young. I am currently playing keys,guitar, and whatever else he asks me to play, for Morrissey. We have been touring for the last 3 years all over the world. I also play in 3 other bands: Uh Huh Her/Summer Moon (with Nikolai Fraiture from the Strokes) and Rogues (with actor Luke Brandon Field). When I’m not playing music I’m traveling to beautiful scenic nature spots and studying astrophysics and naturopathic healing. Fun fact: I’m a certified level 2 reiki healer. Mastery is a ways away, but that is the goal.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
This is a great question. I think what breaks the bonds between people could be from a myriad of reasons. In my personal experience it was always a lack of communication and empathy, and the inability to see myself from another person’s eyes, that really woke me up. To be able to zoom out, and see yourself and how you interact with the world, is so important. It was a lot of letting go of ego, and having what I would term a “Dark Night of the Soul”, that eventually led to the tools of self reflection and realization. I believe that’s the entire point of our life’s journey- to be fully realized. It’s a spiritual process. It’s the art of unlearning, and re-learning, but also being able to implement what you’ve learned in real time, and not just talk about it. What breaks most people apart is that inability to listen and have unconditional love and understanding, even if their POV differs from your worldview. People choose to walk away, as opposed to working through tough issues. I suppose it’s easier that way in a society that favors swiping left or right and having too many options for having your ego fed by the next best thing, instead of walking the hard path of resolving issues with someone it’s not easy to do that with. At the end of the day, it’s all about self love. Everyone is a mirror of that, after all.

What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering is information. Flow is wisdom. Harmony is the goal. We need duality. We need the darkness and the light, the struggles and the successes. Without it, we don’t grow. It’s about letting the mind be fluid with what is, regardless of circumstance, and being the wise observer of your thoughts…It’s so easy to be reactive, and so hard to stop and think, before we react. It’s a lifelong lesson! Accepting reality in the present moment is key. If you’re constantly successful, that’s lovely, but artistic hardship really pushes the mind into greater spheres of understanding, I believe.

Next, maybe we can discuss some of your foundational philosophies and views? What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
That the artists are the bottom feeders. That men in suits sitting behind desks in Silicon Valley value us at .003 to the dollar for our craft. After paying everyone their commissions and fees, we are the last ones fed. Why is that? Why don’t labels give artists health insurance like their corporate staffs? Why do they make us become social media whores to help them turn a dollar when that marketing was a service they are supposed to provide, for taking such high percentages of our value. It’s a broken model. It’s an old model. We need to unionize and fix it, because it’s absolutely dire for artists that aren’t superstars to survive. It would be wonderful if we could all boycott the DSP’s until they can give us fair streaming wages, but that is easier said than done.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. If immortality were real, what would you build?
We are immortal, as souls. We built this construct of consciousness on earth to learn. Reality is multidimensional. We exist in 3rd dimension, currently. We come here to learn, and we go back to the higher energetic dimensions when we’re done without our meat-suits. Very simple. 😉 (winky face)
Nikola Tesla said that,”if you want to understand the universe, think in terms of energy and frequency”. He’s not wrong. Time isn’t real-also a construct. But in the words of Sarah McLaughlin, I would build a “mystery”? No, honestly, If I could live for another 500 or so years, I would finally unearth zero point energy technology (even though we already have this-hello Lockheed Martin and Raytheon!), and build a interdimensional spacecraft to take me off this very polarizing planet, in search of a more utopian loving planet, where I wouldn’t have to speak, and just communicate via telepathy. So basically the Pleaides galaxy (Aka Messier 45), probably. See Yuh!!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @camgrey

Image Credits
Self. except the morrissey shot by Ryan Lowry