Photo credit: Karl Schmid
Cami Galles is an eclectic and soulful singer-songwriter who has taken the influence of Prince, Aretha Franklin, Susan Tedeschi and has woven together her own unique identity as an artist. From growing up in a small town and transitioning to living in the big city, Cami Galles's journey as an artist leads her to her first single "Elevator." Since, Cami has gained the attraction of over 53k social media followers and has played iconic venues in Chicago like Soho House, The Drake Hotel, and Rosa's Lounge.
Cami Galles captivates the audience from her first steps on stage with her charisma, confidence, smile and tantalizing voice. Cami's track "No Light" is an exciting electronic dance song. "No Light" opens with beautiful mellow piano chords and melodic vocals before exploding into a dance-centric party in the chorus. "No Light" is a simple yet exciting track that keeps you hooked throughout with its calm verses, explosive choruses, memorable melodies, beautiful vocal tone, groovy drum rhythms, and positive songwriting. This is one of those songs that will keep you dancing all night long.
Listen to "No Light" here.
Hi Cami, welcome to BuzzMusic! We're in love with your album "Correlated" every song has such a unique vibe while feeling part of the same album. Could you tell us about the thought process when writing and producing each song on "Correlated"?
Every relationship in life relates back to our relationship with ourselves. They are all Correlated. While writing about some of the wildest relationships I've had, it called my attention to the need to work on my relationship with myself. The last song on the album God Only Knows is a promise to me to live a life for myself and to be kinder to myself really.
I wrote all the songs myself and worked with a very talented co-producer, Joe Hurt to create the backing instrumentation + arrangement for the songs on the album. He is also the featured keys & organ player on all the songs.
Each song has a different vibe as each relationship is different. What ties them together/makes them correlated is that they are all real-life experiences and the love I approached them with was the same. Additionally, the style of my vocals and backing vocals are related in the sense that they are all me.
It's amazing to know that you started writing so young, truly a gift! Has the classical and contemporary training from when you were eight influenced the music you're creating now? Did you ever think your style would be what it is now when you started singing and writing?
Yes, I loved singing and would sing so much that my parents had to ban singing at the dinner table. I'm the youngest of six girls and it was my way of expressing myself and standing out amongst the herd as being the youngest you don't quite get the same attention or new things. My classical training allowed me to see that music, passion & success is a discipline. You have to practice every day. Learning to sing in French & Italian at a young age was very difficult, although invaluable as a lesson in patience. I love to do impersonations, so it has definitely helped with that. Also, the ear training, as well as sight-reading as a classical musician is very useful and something that I'm grateful for. At times I do/did feel a little frustrated though... classical training does not lend well to power belting & emoting the blues for example. Everything has to be on the pitch, to the exact beat & enunciated perfectly, whereas soul music or pop is just how you feel + the exact opposite. It took me about 6 years of retraining to allow my natural/contemporary voice to come through. While I didn't think my style would be this starting out, I'm glad it has evolved and allowed me the opportunity to be brave and tell my story & put it out there. I would not have been able to share my soul if it were a classical album.
Can you tell us about "No Light," where did you draw inspiration for its story and musical direction? How did its inspiration compare to your first single "Elevator"?
No Light is about a time I experienced immense heartbreak. My highschool sweetheart who was my best friend and confidant allowed his narrow-minded/ignorant friends from Ohio to shout horrific things into the phone while he was talking to me when he was visiting his home town on holiday break. Growing up in Kansas it was very challenging being bi-racial. I thought he loved me for me and was my ride or die. We talked about getting married and spending our lives together, although our relationship was never the same after that, as here he was, letting people insult me with hate speech. Young love is always tough esp when you think it's meant to be forever.
The music production is set to a reggaeton beat as dancing through the heartbreak during those times and throwing myself into school/my audio engineering saved me. I went to college in FL, so it was important for the song to have a backing beat that was similar to what I was listening to/making back then. Also, the lyrics are a bit dark & even in the darkness there is always a glimmer of light, so it was important for the song to be heavy yet still something people could move to.
It must be exciting to have been able to perform at so many iconic venues, do you have any goals and ideas for future shows? What are your favorite things about performing your music live?
After my show at Arlene's Grocery in NYC, I had one of the biggest compliments paid to me: "you sound better live"! I love performing live because it's such an intimate moment that I get to share with those who want to come on my journey with me. I get to share what the songs about & every time I perform it, it's different each time & yet always perfect in that singular delivery. The stage feels like home, so I'm always honored to play live and share my music with audiences. I'd like to play a summer music festival in Chicago, playing Red Rocks is def on the bucket list (the acoustics there are insane).
What can we expect next from you, Cami Galles?
More music & more live shows. I've been back in the studio recording new singles. Make sure to head over to my website: camigalles.com to signup for my newsletter so you can stay up to date on what's coming next!
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