We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Camilo Velandia. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Camilo below.

Camilo, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

My father was a musician, and he tried to teach me piano when I was really young, but I didn’t have a passion for the instrument. However, thanks to that, I developed a musical ear from an early age. Around middle school, my best friend got an electric guitar, and every time I would go to his house, I’d watch him and his brother play, and I thought it was just the most mind-blowing sound I had ever heard. This definitely ignited a spark inside of me, and I just knew I needed a guitar! Around my birthday, my aunt took me to guitar center, and bought me a guitar and an amplifier. I became addicted to playing guitar, and figuring songs out by ear and with the help of the internet. I really didn’t have a plan to become a professional musician, but then again, I didn’t have a plan to become anything else. I continued to play several hours a day, for many years, and unknowingly, I was crafting this skill. Eventually, I joined a highschool band, which got a record deal with a small label. Up to that point, I had a job at a grocery store, but there came a crossroads where I decided to really pursue music, thanks to my mom’s support. The rest is history for me. I think once you’ve worked hard at something, opportunities begin to appear, and eventually I started joining bands that would pay, and that was kind of the beginning of it all.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Camilo Velandia. I am a guitarist/producer/engineer. I have won a Latin Grammy, and have participated in a few other Latin Grammy winning projects, as well as many nominated projects. I have also toured the world in over 45 countries and performed with artists such as Julio Iglesias, Jon Secada, Jennifer Lopez, Luis Fonsi, Camila Cabello, and many more.

The music industry for a musician is a very “word of mouth” type of industry. I have never auditioned for anything. Every artist I have ever worked with, has come from someone recommending me. The industry is a giant spiderweb of musicians, engineers, producers, and the people who really thrive, are the people who have a few set of qualities. First of all, being good at what you do has to be a given. Having good work ethic… showing up on time and prepared, being reliable, being a team player. Finally, we are in a “service” business after all, so having a good personality, being a “good hang” will definitely result in a call back.

I spent many years as a touring musician, where my job was to be a sideman for the artist. The job is to be consistent every single show, deliver good performances, and in a nutshell, serve the artist; make the artist look/sound good. On the down time, travel days, days off, you are usually touring with a band and managers, and you spend a lot of hours with the same people, so being a pleasant person to be around is key. I saw many people get fired off of tours for things that had nothing to do with the actual skill they were hired to perform, but rather for other stupid, small things that had more to do with ethic, or attitude.

For the past few years, I’ve pretty much switched to just being a studio musician and producer. I live working in my studio, and I record for artists, TV shows, or movies. My job now is to be able to decipher what a song needs from me that I can offer. It is entirely about recording the right guitar part that the song needs, and not the guitar part that will show me off. Sometimes I have more intimate insight into the artists, as I am an artist that is helping them sculpt their art, and I have to have the sensibility to understand who they are, what they like, and what they’re trying to achieve with this piece of art that they’ve hired me to be a part of.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

As a session musician, or a musician that is hired to record people’s music, the most rewarding aspect for me is being able to create something that the artist really connects with. Artists are very sensitive people. Many artists have worked really hard to get to the position that they are in when they hire me, and so I am in a place where I have to be able to decipher what they need from me, even if they themselves don’t know. Some of the most rewarding experiences I can recall, are when I record for an artist, and we are so in tune with the same idea, that they are overwhelmed with emotion. I have had many experiences where an artist will cry of joy after hearing what I have done with their song. Sometimes an artist is writing about a painful experience, or a very happy one, and being able to “add the right condiments” to take their song further in the direction they want to take it is VERY important to me. If I can make an artist emotional after hearing my work, then I know they will come to me again.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Growth has always been one of the most important things for me. I have an enormous phobia of staying in the same “place” professionally for too long. I am always hungry for acquiring a new skill, learning a new craft, or taking my craft to a new direction. This means sometimes you have to make a decision that may feel like the wrong decision at a time when things feel right. For example, in 2015, my wife was pregnant with my son, and I was touring with a major artist. I was making good money on tour, I was going every where in the world, I had companies endorsing me, I had the life that many young musicians would dream of, but I knew I wanted to be home when my son was born, so I took the decision to take a few years off of touring. It’s never easy making a decision like that, because you are leaving something that is good and fruitful, to start something that isn’t anything yet. So I quit touring for a few years and focused on recording sessions and local shows, as well as occasional touring, but in shorter spurts. Eventually I built enough work to be able to make the same money that I was touring, and after a few years when my son was a little older, I decided to go back on tour, but at that point my heart wasn’t really in it anymore. I knew that I could “move” more working in town, so when the pandemic happened, I was able to work all throughout pandemic because of the remote clients I had made starting in 2015. After pandemic was over, I made the decision to retire from touring altogether, and it has worked marvelously for me now.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.camilovelandia.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/camilovelandiamusic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CamiloVelandiaMusic/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camilovelandia/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/camilo_velandia
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/camilovelandiamusic

Image Credits
Siufer Gonzalez, EI Photography