12.20.06 - Volume 2, Episode #11 - Length 22:25
Having a persistent positive attitude and proving it in her songs, Camille Bloom has not only faced adversity, but she took it on and won. She has discovered that music can be her way of life. Become her newest fan by listening in.
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MP3 20.5 MB
( ♪ ??? – Recorded Live by BSB ♪ )
Camille Bloom: I love working for myself. I love the fact that I get to decide what my schedule is and where I go and if I can make a living working myself that’s what I want to do.
( ♪ ??? – Recorded Live by BSB ♪ )
Camille Bloom: Oh, my gosh! I love it. I love working for myself. In fact we were talking on the way over here about would I sign with a label if they offered. And you know, I’m thinking, I’m not sure. But then again to be able to get the exposure that a label would give you would be great. So far it’s been awesome. I’ve met some incredible musicians that are independent that you just go, “How do people not know about you? How are you not famous?” And of course, it’s because we don’t have the money to get noticed, but now with the Internet…Internet downloads, podcasts…with the opportunities that we have to be heard, I mean, now you can download my first album on a ringtone on your phone. There’s so much you can do without the help of label that its awesome.
( ♪ ??? – Recorded Live by BSB ♪ )
Camille Bloom: Obviously, honestly, for the first year that I played I was so terribly nervous before a shows that I would almost get sick. So that was definitely hard for me to believe that I could get up in front of people and that they would really care what I had to say at all. (Laughter) In the beginning I honestly was telling people I would pay you to sit and listen to me. I mean, that’s just where I came from. I just couldn’t believe that people wanted to listen. So there was a huge aspect of getting the courage to just believe that people would want to hear you, or hear me, I should say. So that was a whole different thing.
Leaving my job…leaving it wasn’t hard because I did have that idea that I had this person that was supporting me so, I was very excited. I mean, I thought I have the world, I have this person who’s willing to support me to do my dream, this is so amazing. I thought it was one of those other doors. Finding out that I wasn’t going to get a call back for three months after we had already drawn up the contracts. I think that’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to deal with in my life. I just left a career of teaching for five years and I loved teaching, it was great. I suddenly had nothing. I didn’t have insurance. If I got sick I couldn’t call the doctor and go have an appointment. And I hadn’t realized what a big sacrifice it was until the floor dropped from underneath me. And deciding that (Laughter) not only did the investor drop out, but within a month I rolled my ankle and broke my primary playing guitar, my Martin. I cracked it from neck to bass which was a big investment, my mom bought it for me. It was really sentimental and then in September just before my first big tour my entire Mackie sound system, $3,500, got ripped off out my car. All of those things happened and I thought, is this suppose to happen? Am I even suppose to be doing this, because why are these signs saying, you’re really stupid for just leaving your job, you should have at least gone part-time or whatever. So just deciding that even though those things happened, that I was going to pursue it anyway and that I just worked my ass off from March through August to setup my September tour of ten days. I mean it took that long for me to research venues, figure out who the booker was, send my press kit, follow up, figure out a routing and everything…and I just said, I gotta’ go for it. I’m not going to grabble back for my job, this was suppose to happen. And when I did, I ended up meeting my booking agent on that tour and that’s opened up great doors to meet other musicians and get to tour. I’m still doing a lot of my booking. She’ll book me a ten day tour and then I book maybe the next one in there somewhere and then she books me another one so, we’re working together but, yeah…it was definitely a big, huge risk. That was the hardest. I’m still twelve grand in debt right now and trying to deal with the emotional impact of…I’ve had a full time job since I was eighteen – worked my through school. It took me six years for college just because I had to work full time so now, never having a paycheck not coming at the end of the month is like pretty anxiety provoking. But when I’m up on the stage and I’m playing and I’m looking at people and they’re digging it and they’re coming and I’m getting emails from fans and people that are touched by what I do, you know, if I die and I’m forty grand in debt I feel bad for the people that (laughter) are going to take it over, but, I’m living my dream.
( ♪ Stay – From the Album Say Goodbye to Pretty ♪ )
Camille Bloom: I really honestly love kids. I loved kids. I loved working with them. I had a wonderful classroom. I called it the classroom of love. (Laughter) It was a very awesome, awesome career. I was really sad to leave the kids. I was so excited to do what I’m doing, but to leave kids that cared about me as Miss Bloom, they really feel the absence and I get emails from them all the time and they were so sad that I wasn’t coming back, but they were so excited that I wasn’t coming back. They’re teacher plays music and is cool! But my ultimate goal as I want to bring some of this stuff back to kids in the way that I’ve thought about doing it is, I’ve made some contacts around it, I want to go play for high schools. I want to go give talks, play concerts, talk about music as an outlet as opposed to alternate things that are more destructive. Talk about how even though your parents might have each been married four or five times between, each and you’ve been through nine marriages and your two parents and you’ve had whatever substance abuse or you’ve had these different experiences as a kid, you know, whatever…substance abuse…these different experiences as a kid doesn’t mean you can’t make something of yourself. I really, really want to continue to work with kids and so I’m hoping to be able to incorporate that aspect, be able to still reach them. A lot of times I’m playing venues kids can’t go or they can’t drive. Honestly, some of my biggest fans, I’m not kidding, are between seven and ten years old that write me, that will come to every show any time they can and they like hearing messages about, that they’re okay. It’s okay to be a nerd or write or express yourself. I get it, what it’s like to have your parents not be together or to feel lost. So, if I could get that into some kids heads it might help them grow up. I’ve also written songs about some of my students that really applicable. 17. 17 is about a seventeen year old girl and Hey, Mister about a girl that was suicidal in my class. I’ve had teachers that have told me that they bring my music in and play some of the songs and talk about it with them so I follow up and say, Hey, well let me know because I’m hopefully going to take that to a new level.
( ♪ I Found Love – Recorded Live by BSB ♪ )
Camille Bloom: I feel totally inspired almost everyday. A lot of it, a lot of stuff I write comes from my life. Probably some of the songs that impact people the most are me writing from personal experience because I feel like I can capture the most. I suppose that’s the generic answer you’d get from most songwriters. I mean we’re writing from relational experiences or family. I’ve written Pretty which seems to be one of the songs that people connect with the most. After I started making it in the, relative terms in the Northwest anyway, people started telling me what they thought I should do and be and you should wear this and why aren’t you wearing makeup and your band should match and I wish you’d write prettier songs, why can’t you write songs in major chords, they just seem kinda’ dark and so I respond a lot to people. In fact my latest song is also about that now that I’m starting to make some waves a little bit the reactions I’m getting from people and my emotional response to it, I’m trying to think of other…I do write a lot more than I actually write music. I have so many lyrics for songs that I actually turned into songs yet about watching other people and their experiences. What it must feel like to be them. And some about our purpose in life. Why are we here? Why are we if not to do what we really feel passionate about. I can’t believe that there were people that were born just to work for The Man, just to bring home a paycheck. I was saying the other people work 50-60 hours a week in order to make money to take vacations that they’ll never take because they have to keep working 50-60 hours a week. It just seems so odd. I want to explore what are we hear for. The song, This World I think was one of the ones on the album that talks about that. I guess those are some of my inspirations.
( ♪ Pretty – From the Album Say Goodbye to Pretty ♪ )
First of all if you forget any of the information google Camille Bloom and it’s all going to come up there. My website Camille Bloom dot com you can get all of my albums there, merchandise, T-shirts, underwear, whatever you want. Everybody needs underwear. It’s also available online at CD Baby, which is a great tool. They deal with all my digital distribution. They have gone ahead and sent my music, at least my first two albums to 50 different digital download sites and of course iTunes and Napster, all the big ones. I’ll be there. Weedtunes. And my newest album is just now, it finally got to iTunes and again you can just find your way on the Internet now to anything but, I definitely have my albums starting, I’m starting the push to get into stores.
( ♪ Habit – From the Album Say Goodbye to Pretty ♪ )
"In the beginning I honestly was telling people I would pay you to sit and listen to me... I just couldn't believe that people wanted to listen." - Camille Bloom
