My earliest memory is playing with a plastic yellow car, or exploring life under stones in my nursery school… I was fascinated with insects at the time.
I come from Bogotá, from a very musical family. Music would be around me all the time as part of a daily life… mum humming and singing songs all the time, songs from the 70’s and 80’s, and my uncles playing (on the radio) their collection of Cuban music and Old School salsa! No one in my family has been a professional musician before me, but I carry all the genes and passion for music my parents and grandparent have. My granddad used to play Tiple, my grandma used to sing in a choir (and still sings), and my dad played guitar.
I had my first ‘official’ singing experience at the age of 9 at school in the choir. I also played Recorder, then Guitar, Bass Guitar, triple and cuatro, in the school orchestra from the age of 11. My music teacher at school was very passionate about Colombian folk. That influenced my musical experiences a lot, especially at the beginning my guitar and my singing repertoire.
I was part of a rock band at the age of 14, joined a gospel music band, then in the army played Andean music, and after that when I was studying Mathematics at Uni I was playing solo and duo gigs in university bars and competitions. Once I finished my Math’s studies, I decided it was time to take my musicianship to a professional level, so I went to Uni again (another one) and did Classical Guitar Studies while working as a Math’s teacher.
I came to England to learn the language and…. why not… try with music full time. I am a happy musician passionate about Latin American music, singing, community singing, and music projects that involve creative approaches and cultural blending.
My biggest influences are Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés from Cuba, and The King’s Singers from the UK. Along the way I’ve met very interesting people (like for example Mauricio Velasierra, Amira Kheir and Stephanie O’Brien) that with their music have influenced my playing and incited my curiosity to explore new sounds, harmonies, styles, etc.
Playing the Guitar for me is an experience that can be hardly compared to anything else as it is intimate, abstract, honest, even spiritual and very transparent.
I am becoming more and more aware of the power of music, the way I can influence people and the many things that can be shared, inspired or simply said through music. That is something I love: sharing the happiness I feel when I play or sing, so more people can feel the same! Something I like about the music scene is that there is so much to be learnt from others, their music and their art.
The biggest obstacle I had to overcome is with no doubt to keep the belief in what I have to offer. Sometimes I can be very critical and hard on myself to the point of not believing in what I do, so overcoming that fear is one of the hardest things.
In England, world music is well appreciated as it can be perceived as exotic. Spanish language is a growing language around the world so offering music that usually is in Spanish, is groovy and has a rich cultural background, creates in people curiosity and willingness to hear it or be part of it. What has kept me driven was the love for music itself and of course, unconditional support from loved ones.
What makes me happy is having a choir of people from different nationalities singing Colombian music makes me happy. People attending to my workshop and leaving with a massive smile in their faces, that makes me happy. If I could go back in time I would travel to Renaissance and/or Baroque period to witness with my ears/eyes the musicianship of my early music heroes.
My plan for the future is to carry on making music, exploring more areas in the music scene and keep sharing the passion for music making wherever I can. This together with a discipline will bring me for sure to more places and will keep me busy and happy.
Camilo will be performing on Tuesday 22 June. Book your ticket here
