A local musician known for making electronic pop bangers is now creating music dedicated to authentic instrumentation and subdued grooves.
Sebastian Camacho, the bassist for Koka, recently started his career as a solo singer/songwriter with the release of his debut single, “No Need to Rush.” A stark contrast from the club anthems he wrote with Koka, “No Need to Rush” is a warm bed of instrumentals featuring small hints of psychedelic rock and acoustic folk. Camacho’s vocal delivery is somber and subdued, yet sweet; the song also features enchanting saxophone and trumpet solos.
During a recent phone interview, Camacho said these softer musical sides have always been a part of him.
“Koka was a blend of three people’s tastes,” Camacho said. “I’ve always been very diverse when it comes to listening to what I like to listen to. The best way I can describe it is: When you’re in a band, you mix everybody’s ingredients together, but you still have a lot more left in your vault that you don’t get to use. (In) the music that I want to create now, I want to use all those ingredients I didn’t get to use, but I also want to try to use things that I wasn’t able to use in the past. Koka was much more drum-machine-heavy, and for this project, I really want to focus on live playing and live instruments.”
Camacho’s solo music is a passion project that had been put on hold for years, in large part due to the musician’s vocal insecurity.
“I’m very confident that I can play multiple instruments and write parts for them and everything, but the biggest instrument I never really was able to fully grasp was singing,” he said. “This is the first time I’m doing it on a track, and recording and releasing it, and it took years to build that confidence up. I know I don’t have an amazing voice—like, you’re probably never going to hear me belt and hit all these crazy-ass notes and shit—but I just wanted to get it to a point where it would fit the song that I’m writing and the music that I’m working on. The biggest feeling in doing all that and building it up was just being scared of that, scared of being ready, or scared of how people are going to hear me.”
“No Need to Rush” showcases Camacho embracing his vocal style and using it to serve the laid-back nature of the song.
“I’m confident in the way it sounds, and I’m confident in the direction it’s going to go,” Camacho said. “I have an instrument in my voice where I can say, ‘OK, it passes.’ I listen to guys—like Toro y Moi for example—and he doesn’t have a crazy-ass voice. You’re never going to hear him belt, but he has beautiful songs where his voice fits those songs, and that’s what I was looking at. I was practicing over and over again, getting it to a point where I can be in key, in tune, in time, getting rid of that fear that has been there for the past few years. The only feelings now are confidence and pride.”
Camacho’s debut solo track isn’t just a showcase of his skills; the song also features friends and bandmates who helped bring his vision to life.
“I do vocals, bass and acoustic guitar,” Camacho said. “My friend James Page, who plays live guitar for Koka, did electric guitar. My friend Francisco (Carrillo), he did the drums, and then my friend Marypaz (Lugo) and her sister (Lupita Lugo) were on trumpet and tenor sax. It took a team to build this whole sound. I knew I wanted those instruments on the song to begin with, and then after that, it was a matter of who I wanted to work with, and then asking them for leads. It came together pretty smoothly; everything was tracked separately over the course of probably a month or so.”
In previous interviews with Koka, Camacho discussed the deliberate way in which Koka created and released music, crafting more than 20 songs before honing in on the five gems that constitute Koka’s latest release, 4EVER. Camacho said he now regrets working in this way, and is looking to turn a new leaf for his solo career.
“I think that’s a mistake I made with Koka and my prior writing, which was overthinking it too much, and thinking everything has to be perfect,” Camacho said. “We needed to have 15 synths all doing countermelodies in the background, and it becomes too much at some point. With my music now, I want to do it more freely, and I really want to focus on making a good song, and focusing less on making it perfect. … I used to write a bunch of songs with 10-plus or 20-plus instruments, because I thought more would be better, but a common theme you’ll see with this song and more in the future is just guitar, bass, drums and horns. I’m not really trying to perfect it as much as trying to make it a solid package, where it’s easily digestible and memorable, and it just makes you feel something, whether it’s the groove or the melodies or the lyrics.”
Camacho said he prefers the difficulties that come with fewer tracks over the stress of adding more.
“When it’s minimalist, you have to have it shine real good,” he said. “It’s in the open. … It is harder, but to some degree, it’s less stressful than trying to figure out a bunch of different parts or a bunch of different instruments.”
While live shows aren’t on the table for Camacho just yet, he promised the live band he does put together will stand out.
“It wasn’t until this past year with Koka where we started using real instruments, and my goal has always been to do a band specifically with five or six musicians on there, like bass, drums, keys and guitar, and I’ve always loved horns, so … trumpet and sax,” Camacho said. “That’s something you don’t really see a lot in the valley. I’ve never seen a band with horns; I’m not talking about jazz bands or anything, but I’m talking about indie bands. … It would be something different that stands out.”
Learn more at sebastiancamachocamp.bandcamp.com.
