Happy Pride Month, everyone! The first artist we would like to introduce to our readers for Pride Month is the talented Camille Schmidt. Camille Schmidt is a singer-songwriter and wordsmith based in Brooklyn, NY. She has just released her debut EP, “Good Person” which is getting quite the buzz on Spotify. The record starts off strongly with “Your Game.” This song effortlessly pulls listeners in with a warm acoustic guitar contrasted with a bright electric guitar lead. Camille’s gentle vocal joins in on the track, further complimenting the guitars. The lyrics are personal and emotional, centering around unrequited love and the feeling of being used by a crush. The song builds into a gorgeous chorus section with themes of self-empowerment. The bridge section echos that sentiment even more, showing the listener that Camille has, rightfully so, chosen herself over the demands of a crush who is taking advantage of her time and energy.
I wrote this song right after driving this girl I had a crush on and her friends home. They all sat in the back seat and I drove and I felt like their fucking uber driver or something. I just chewed gum as they all talked. When I got home though, I was thinking both about my frustration and about my own complicity. How I was the one allowing it to happen (saying yes to driving them home!), playing my own part in sort of allowing this person to “lead me on” or “use me.” – Camille Schmidt
A simple piano drives the emotion in the next song, “Red and Blue.” Originally written on guitar, this song was recorded live with a piano instead of an acoustic guitar, a production choice that seems perfectly fitting for the song’s raw lyrics. Camille Schmidt creates vivid scenes with her lyrics, making the listener feel as though they are right there with her. This level of intimacy adds a layer of authenticity to her songs, a quality that many artists struggle to achieve. However, Camille effortlessly conveys her emotions, allowing them to flow naturally and reach the listener with ease. She has evolved since the writing of track one, singing: “I’ve learned to stick to myself like glue.”
The next song “Bumblebee Drinks Lavender” comes with a compelling music video. An intricate finger-picked acoustic guitar drives this song as Camille’s unique vocal melody rests on top. This song is light in terms of production, allowing Camille Schmidt’s incredible songwriting to shine even more. The sound is peaceful and meaningful. It’s truly the perfect gift for the listener. The music video is simple, yet striking. It features two characters that are in their own little world, not interacting at all with one another. One is playing guitar and singing on the porch. The other is taking out the trash and then lighting a cigarette. The two characters exist in the same world but ignore each other effortlessly. Watch this music video via YouTube now:
The pace picks up and so does the production for “Fakeout Ending.” This song is only 1 minute and 20 seconds long, and feels like an interlude or short poem that adds another dimension to the record. This song stands out from the previous tracks on the EP because it leans more toward grunge than folk. This song is raw and real. It feels completely authentic, both lyrically and musically. Here’s what Camille had to say about it:
I was tired of all the overly floral lyrics I was writing and felt like I JUST WANT TO SAY EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN!!! This song came out while I was sitting in bed with my guitar, right before I went to a book club (the only meeting I attended). I was thinking both about people I’d loved, been in relationships, situationships with, and also the music I was making at the time. I was thinking about the precious fleeting feeling – like a match struck in the dark, as Virginia Woolf puts it – that comes with creating something artistically honest and also of the feeling of falling in love, of seeing the beautiful and complexity in another person. And then how awful it can be to bring this person or creation out into the world and to have to hear other people’s opinions! It’s not something I feel as much anymore, this intense fear of other people’s opinions, how it can shift my own. I believe basically that everyone will see what they want to see in what you make. – Camille Schmidt
“Wake Up” is quite literally a wake-up call, and can serve as one to anyone who needs one. Camille Schmidt shared the magical story with us and of course, all of us here at Rock the Pigeon loved it. She said: “This song came out as I was leaving therapy and walked by a man crouched over the sidewalk shouting “Wake up, wake up” – I thought he was talking to a friend who’d OD’d but when I got closer I saw he was talking to a dead pigeon. I was so touched by whatever connection the man had to that bird, whether real or imagined. I was trying to wake myself up out of a bad relationship, out of a bout of depression, and I felt this connection to both the crouching man and the dead or dying pigeon. I came home and the whole song came out.”
The theme of birds continues for the closing track, “Bird on a Telephone Wire.” Camille returns to her gorgeous acoustic guitar driven ballad style for this song. Her poetic lyrics shine brightly on this song as she shares about the end of a relationship. She shared that this song was impossible to finish until she was completely out of the relationship that was breaking her heart over and over again. This song floats from the speakers like a lullaby. It’s an intimate portrayal of Camille’s real life and all the emotions that comes with. Camille Schmidt unapologetically shares all with her listeners. That is one of the major things that makes “Good Person” stand out.
This is a song that when I play live makes me feel so calm. When I first started playing this song live I would always start each set with this song because I would become so grounded. There’s something I think about the guitar part that’s calming to play, and then also about singing “I’ve lived my whole life in shame” as the first thing you say to an audience. It’s like well now I’ve told you a deep dark true thing about myself what else could I be scared of? – Camille Schmidt
Written by Ryan Cassata
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