Today we’d like to introduce you to Cami Petyn.
Cami, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My whole life, I’ve dreamt of becoming a singer, but being my anxious-hyper-perfectionist-self, I was terrified of pursuing it in fear of failure. But, in June 2018 I got out of an ugly breakup and was in that whole “I’m gonna better myself, chase my dreams and becoming the baddest bitch ever” mindset. So, I impulsively booked a vocal lesson and told myself “if I hate it, I will never go back”. But, after that first lesson, I knew there as absolutely NOTHING else I wanted to do with my life. I had never sang before so admittedly, I couldn’t sing very well. At all. But, like I said, there was nothing else I wanted to do, so I worked my absolute butt off. I did any and every vocal exercise I could find online every day. Some days I would practice singing for 7 hours straight. The process definitely taught me patience and persistence, but it paid off, as a year later, I met my producer Ben Cohen and we made my first song, “Static” and I’m still working with him to this day.
Has it been a smooth road?
While I’ve been quite lucky with the incredible people that have been placed in my path (my producer, cinematographer, hairstylist), the rest of the path has been the complete opposite of smooth, haha. For starters, I’m a millennial, so I like instant gratification. And let me tell you- starting a music career from scratch is not that. I truly had to learn the lesson that “the best things in life come with patience”. But, the biggest obstacle for me was my insecurity and self-criticism. When I started making music, I think I had a panic attack at least once a week thinking to myself “holy shit what am I doing dedicating all my time and money to music?! Is anyone going to listen to my stuff?!”. My first song “Static” was actually written during one of these panic attacks. I still have fear but my love for the art is greater than it, so I now use it as motivation.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
My music is my therapy. So when I have any strong emotions, I sit down to write lyrics (both for the sake of creation and for the sake of sanity haha). This results in a lot of vulnerability & transparency in my work, which I highly value. I’ve been told my music sounds like “the lovechild of Amy Winehouse and Billie Eilish”, so I tend to describe my songs as jazzy alternative-pop, but I think labels are constricting and I’m constantly trying to push my artistic comfort zone.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I think the pandemic has really shown people how much of music can be done digitally/remotely, but I hope that doesn’t become the norm as I (along with all the other performing artists) have been itching to perform again. My goal is definitely to go on a world tour(s) one day.
Contact Info:
- Website: camipetyn.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/cami.petyn
- Other: camipetyn.com/music, youtube.com/camipetyn
Image Credit:
Performance photos by Michelle Shiers
Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
