We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cam Williams a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Cam thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
I terms of a songwriter, I learned how to write songs initially by taking a creative writing class in high school. That class was taught by Mr. Hessee my senior year of high school and was life changing. He taught me to think about themes, prose, alliteration, different rhyme patterns, and how to tell a short story with a complete story arc in my music. That class was just the foundation because I still needed to experience more life to take my writing to another level and be able to express myself in a meaningful way. Ultimately life became the best teacher and provided the best lessons.
Knowing what I know now, I don’t think there is anyway to speed up that process, because life is a journey and that journey helps to broaden your knowledge and understanding of life and the human experience. As an in-game host/PA I learned by studying other announcers and hosts. I also took a Public Speaking course in junior college which helped enhance my skills a bit further. In hindsight, getting a communications degree may have helped propel me towards a career in this field a bit faster but I truly believe life is a journey and that the path I took is what god planned for me.
The most essential skills for songwriting and performing is the ability to take calculated risks unabashedly. One must be confident in their abilities to take certain risks creatively and not just stick to the same formula. It is important to know the basic tenets of songwriting and hosting, but you should never stay in the “box” of any profession and the only way to stand out is to try something new in your approach.
The biggest obstacle that stood in my way over the past 15-20 years was lack of money. I do not come from a rich family and unfortunately I did not practice good habits with money early on so I was always trying to make a dollar out of 15 cents so to speak, but once I got serious about making music, I began to plan better and use my money wisely. I also was able to find different avenues to help me with equipment, like zzounds.com and network with other people who could help me finance certain projects because they believed in my vision.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
My entry into songwriting/recording music was actually through my high school drama club. I was a thespian and considered taking acting to another level but pivoted into music (specifically Hip-Hop) after a fellow classmate showed me some of his music and inspired me to make my own. I also have 2 older cousins who live in Las Vegas that had been making music for almost a decade at that point and they helped guide me in the right direction to begin my musical journey. From there it was a lot of trial and error in finding my sound and artistic identity. And ultimately once I moved to Las Vegas and met my fellow band mates (Big Skoon & DatzDiggy) I really began to make a mark with my music and earn some money as well.
I got into hosting events by hosting a trade show in Vegas in 2017 and ever since then I have been building my resume by hosting many events from artist showcases to private events like weddings or birthday parties. My biggest hosting opportunity came by way of Erik Jorgensen through a friend/ artist (DVNCI) which lead me to hosting TCU Beach Volleyball games. My work was appreciated and that led to me being asked to work other TCU sports including football, basketball, and Women’s Triathlon.
The biggest lesson I had to learn was to stay disciplined and not be distracted by the frivolous things in life so I can stay committed to the music and my goals overall. Consistency is the key and once I understood that fact, things began to happen fast.
Although I am not a full time artist or host, I am happy with my work/art and I am still very productive because I set deadlines for myself and pride myself on being professional in every aspect of being an artist. If someone wants to collaborate or wants to pay for a feature, I send an invoice and I require a due date for the verse. Once I have a due date, my goal is to send my finished work at least 2 days before that date to establish a high level of professionalism and show that I am reliable if you work with me. This sentiment applies to all my hosting gigs as well. I am punctual to all events I’m booked for, and for me that means arriving at least 30 minutes before the scheduled time. I believe that helps solidify your credibility and reliability which in turn leads to more opportunities.
Whether I’m hosting or performing music, my professionalism is the most important thing to me because that coincides with my reputation and my reputation is what helps me to gain more bookings and opportunities in the entertainment industry. Anyone who books me as a host or performing artist can expect punctuality, high level performance, and a professional presentation akin to any major artist they would book.
My greatest achievement thus far as a host was hosting the inaugural Big 12 Beach Volleyball conference tournament in Fort Worth, TX and being part of the National Championship run for the TCU Beach Volleyball team. And as an artist, opening up for hip-hop legend Rakim with my group Lost Elements Official was one of my greatest moments as an artist.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
I think non-creatives will struggle to understand what my music stands for and also they may wonder why I don’t have as many music videos as other artists. My music content has and always be about story telling and positive vibes. Motivation music is the core concept, but because the music industry (especially Hip-Hop) is so saturated, I think my music gets lost in The shuffle. The reality is, my music is not for everyone honestly, but for the people who get it and resonate with the music, they will receive a musical experience when they listen. My goal is not to be the next Jay -Z or Kendrick Lamar, but it is to provide quality music the listener can connect with and gain some inspiration from.
Also the reason I do not have as many music videos as people may think I should, is because I don’t want to make videos just to say I have a music. video. I want to create visuals that align with the music or tell a complete story in a full length project (similar to Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”). The market is saturated with videos and they all seem the same to me in my opinion. Also, I have not found the videographer who understands my overall vision yet, so I have decided to produce and direct many visuals on my own. And since my budget is not as big as other artists, I have been slowly saving so that when I do find the videographer who can bring my vision to life for my latest project, I will have the funds to do so.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
The best thing society can do for creatives to support them, is share the art with others to help spread the word. The oldest and best form of marketing is word-of-mouth and that stands true even in this era of social media marketing. Although many experts say organic marketing is a thing of the past I respectfully disagree. It’s true, myself and most artists use social media to help market their music or get the word out, but that’s not the only means available to us. However, it is beneficial when friends or family could at least share the music even if they don’t actually purchase the art sharing it to their followers and viewers helps spread the word and gets more eyes on the art outside of our own followers. Society should also try not to compare creatives to other established artists because those established artists likely have a bigger machine behind them to help propel their art into mainstream faster than an independent artist does. Allow new creatives to develop and give them encouragement to continue by sharing their work or helping the creative grow their network.
Conversely, those that are not friends or family, but like the music/art or maybe are just even rooting for the artist to succeed, can help by sharing the art on their social media platforms as well. It’s truly a numbers game because if people are sharing the music/art, on top of the artist doing their due diligence in marketing their art with other mediums, it creates a formula that ultimately will lead to the Art being seen by many eyes outside of the artist’s own network.
Another way to help an artist is by just verbally telling somebody about the artist and their latest work. I know there is still a good number of people that don’t use social media, which is completely understandable so they can help by spreading the word verbally. For example, if the artist has a website, telling people about the website and even taking their phone and showing them the website personally is a huge way to help a creative person. These small gestures have a much bigger impact than many people may think. Buying the art or music is certainly a great way to help a creative in pursuit of making a living with their art, but that is not the only means, and even when you don’t purchase the art, if you do another small gesture which helps spread the word about a creative person‘s art that is almost just as powerful if not more in some cases.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://donjondebasturd.com
- Instagram: cam_onthe_mic
- Linkedin: Cameron Williams
- Youtube: @donjondebasturd6632
- Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/donjondebasturd
- Other: Bigvybzradio.com
Artist instagrams:
donjondebasturd (solo artist) & lost_elements_official (group)
