Healing Through Song: Camille Schmidt's Honest Path to Self-Discovery
Written by: Stephanie Cherng
The blood moon illuminated the beach with a slight red tint as the camera flashed to capture singer-songwriter Camille Schmidt posing with a taxidermied fox, while the sounds of the ocean waves became our background noise. I met Camille while I was a production assistant on her photoshoot session for her upcoming album cover. The photoshoot was filled with fun floaties, such as a sittable shell, and fox- and eagle-shaped ones. Makeup-free, tall, and with piercing blue eyes, Camille posed amidst the sunset on the beach as the wind majestically flowed through her blonde hair. In one shot, she stares into the eyes of a taxidermied fox, and in another, she’s walking it as well. She released her EP, Good Person, back in June 2024 and is currently gearing up to release her debut album.
Stephanie: How are things going?
Camille: I’m good, life’s been a little hectic. This last month I played two shows in the city, shot a music video, then flew out to LA the next day to finish the album. I just got back. I like being in a space where I’m doing a ton of things at once. I’ll be like, “Oh my god, I’m so crazy busy, I need to chill.” But then when I’m chilling, I just hate chilling.
Stephanie: Your EP is titled Good Person and you explain how the title is an exploration of how to be a good person by being authentically yourself. How has that journey of exploration been for you after the release of the EP?
Photo Via Camille Schmidt
Camille: I spent a lot of my life thinking of things in terms of right or wrong and good and bad. But it’s never that simple and always subjective. Like when I was recording “Bumblebee Drinks Lavender,” I did two live takes and we ended up choosing one. But during both takes, all I could think was how badly I was doing, but afterward, the producer was like, “That was amazing!” and the band was like, “That was the take!” So I’m trying to just let things be the way they are. Sometimes you can just be good enough and that’s what I’m trying to accept. Like, it’s okay to be good enough, you don’t have to hold yourself—or even other people—to crazy standards.
Stephanie: Have you discovered anything new about yourself in that journey or anything profound about being a good person based on your own internal compass?
Camille: Much of the journey I’ve been on recently has been about developing an internal compass and returning to my body. Finding what feels good to me and not overriding my feelings all the time with my thinking mind. But also reflecting on things like, do I enjoy spending time around this person? Does it feel good when I sing this way? Do I feel comfortable wearing this?
Stephanie: I have been playing “Wake Up” non-stop and it’s my favorite song on the album. I think for me, it resonates especially when I feel depressed and unmotivated and I have to fight this inner battle to be productive and to just be normal. What was your inspiration for the song and what was the songwriting process like for it?
Camille: This is a song that came out pretty much fully formed. This usually happens when I have a strong emotion. I had just left this relationship that was so awful, but for so long I’d felt unable to get out of it. It was a situation where my friends and even my therapist were like, “Get the fuck out of this relationship!” I felt like I was in this fog, but every once in a while, I would glimpse this other way of being, this other life that I could be living. One day, I was leaving therapy. I was walking to the 4 or 5 train and there was this man who was hunched over on the ground and he was talking to a pigeon, and he told the pigeon to “wake up.” Either he was experiencing a psychotic break or he had some affinity with the bird and didn’t want it to be dead. Or who knows. But that moment, and hearing the guy say “wake up,” was where the song started.
Stephanie: So would you consider it a love and breakup song?
Camille: It’s a breakup song and a love song—I think there’s a lot of hope in the song too. It’s a breakup song with a person, but also with your depression, like “Come on, buddy, let’s get the fuck out of this.” It’s also a love song towards the future and to the self that you know is in there and you’re having trouble accessing. It’s also an angry song too because I was getting mad at myself for not getting out of the relationship. Like, the person is awful, but I’m the one staying, you know? It takes two to tango.
Stephanie: I have watched all your music videos and I appreciate that they’re all pretty simple, and when I watch them, I feel like they all explore the simplicities of life—like how it feels to be outside in nature, feeling alone, and being with friends and having fun. How do you go about creating music videos for your songs?
Camille: I only will do a music video when they’re fun for me to do. So basically all my music videos thus far I’ve worked with friends on—friends directing it and friends being in it. A lot of the songs for me are inherently visual. In the “Your Game,” “Wake Up,” and “Fakeout Ending” music videos, my friend Liz and I were just like, “Let’s just play basketball for four hours, and our friend Henry is going to film us.” The way I write music, always alone, can be isolating, so I love an excuse to hang out with friends while doing music stuff. With the Bumblebee video, I wanted to explore the concept of feeling alone while being with another person. I was exploring the concept of isolation.
Stephanie: I feel like you’re trying to heal your inner child when I watch your music videos.
Camille: I feel like a lot of it is figuring out what would the younger me do, what would I do if I didn’t have any shame about what I look like or who I am. I feel like I can find that when I’m not thinking and just having fun.
Stephanie: The “Wake Up” music video gave me Fight Club vibes. Was that on purpose or by accident?
Camille: We had no idea what was going to happen. We were just like, “We’re just going to play basketball and I’m going to wear sneakers and my friend Liz is going to wear these cute red heels.” She’s a friend where we always have fun together and we just never know what will happen. So we ended up playing aggressive basketball in the park. It’s also a homage to a summer camp where I was on an all-boys basketball team. I loved basketball growing up—I just loved wearing basketball shoes and basketball shorts.
Stephanie: How did you get over your fear of being seen?
Camille: Just continually doing it. As in, be seen. And not only when I’m at my best. The first time I did a show was in Brooklyn; it was at a local bar and it wasn’t a real show. I was shaking so much. I think I actually cried when I got home and thought about how badly I did. Then I just did it a bunch more. And now performing feels fun.
Stephanie: What made you want to become a singer-songwriter?
Camille: Music—and writing songs—has always been a place where I can be myself. I remember a time in high school where I was really lonely and I would go write songs and play piano and eat my lunch alone. I didn’t have much technical training in vocals or guitar. It felt so good to play music. And then to eventually play music with other people! I knew I wanted that feeling for the rest of my life. So I just kept doing it.
Stephanie: You’ll be releasing your first album soon. What can we expect?
Camille: It’s very honest. It’s more transparent than I’ve ever been. Some songs are way more pop-y. Some are more rock-y. It’s an album that really leans into the idea of playing; it’s heavier in some senses but also much more playful in others. It’s the first time where I’m really letting go and feeling loose. I’m really experiencing and expressing the full range of emotion in a way I never felt comfortable doing before.
Stephanie: What advice do you have for your younger self who wants to pursue music and to others who want to pursue music as well?
Camille: My advice would be that it’s so easy to want to sound like someone else or chastise yourself for not sounding like another person. I think the most exciting thing you could do is figure out what your voice sounds like, like what you want to say. I also write fiction, and there’s this book by George Saunders where he talks about how important it is to find your own iconic space. So I would tell myself to keep imitating and trying stuff but to not be scared to diverge from the imitation. I would say don’t be afraid of being honest in your art. I think the most exciting thing about art is when someone can be totally honest. It’s a freeing experience to see someone else be so honest; it’s a chilling experience. Art provides that space.
