Marissa M. Conner 
Bored of your Spotify “Discover Weekly”? 5C singer-songwriters have even more music to discover. In this week’s episode of a Spotlight on the Student Singer-Songwriter, 5C musicians continue to engage with other musicians on campus and create new tunes.
Although the musical experiences and styles of Keaton Schiller SC ’22 and Denson Camp PO ’24 differ in many ways, they share a commitment to the songwriting journey and show their creativity through their music.
Keaton Schiller SC ’22
Latest Release: Single “Lady” by Keats, available on all platforms
Schiller started writing songs when she learned to play guitar in her senior year of high school. Four years later, as a senior in college, his love for songwriting is still going strong. This year, she released her first single, “Lady”, in collaboration with her older sister, who produces music.
“She always said, ‘If you ever want to do a song, just tell me, and I’ll work on one with you,'” Schiller said. “And then I finally covered it, and we recorded a full song, and it’s on Spotify now!”
Schiller recommends people listen to “Lady” three times.
“Be careful every time,” she says. “And if you don’t like it after the third one, that’s fine, but I always need to listen to a song a few times to get into it. Usually if you don’t like a song on the first listen, you you might notice things you like on the third listen, but I think there’s something in music for everyone.
Despite her busy schedule as a high school student, she tries to improvise on her guitar every day.
“Whenever I have something in mind, I listen to a lot of music and sing along,” she said. “Then I’ll have this moment where I’m like, ‘I wish I had my own lyrics ready, about my own experience, that I could sing right now. If I have something in mind, I have to sit down and write it all down and try to capture it.
In particular, she prefers to write her ideas by hand rather than typing them.
“There’s something about having the pencil in your hand that feels a little less academic and a little more artistic to me,” she said. “There’s more room to be creative or different or non-linear.”
Recently, Schiller realized she wanted to pursue music full-time after graduating.
“I just started saying it out loud,” she said, “and now I have to figure out what it actually means.”
For now, she’s working on taking herself more seriously and standing up for herself. As daunting as it can be, the support she receives from friends and family helps her feel excited about the journey ahead.
Denson Camp PO ’24
Latest release: Album “Good Morning, My Love!” Tomorrow It’s All Over” by denson camp, available on all platforms
Camp is reluctant to label his own music, although he feels indie pop and indie rock might be appropriate descriptors. Instead, he draws inspiration from bands that don’t conform to structure or form and instead focus on unique textures. Some of his songs start with an acoustic guitar but build, melt and dissolve until they become a living soundscape.
“Someone once described my music as ‘dream folk’,” he said. “I like it! It’s a fun tag.
Although he had been playing music for most of his life, Camp didn’t discover his style until the middle of his freshman year of college. Until January 2020, he “hated” every line he had ever written. Then, before and during the pandemic, while taking a break from school, he devoted himself to music and began working on his album.
Camp draws inspiration from everything around him, but only a few of his voice memos turn into something more. From well-formed ideas, he transforms them into melodies and then into songs in the final album. Since returning to campus, he hasn’t been able to find as much time for his music, but he doesn’t see that as a downside.
“To have stuff to write about, you have to live life, and I feel like I’m living life to the fullest right now,” he said. “So maybe the fact that I’m not spending so much time alone in my dorm working on music means that when I finally do it will be better.”
Currently, he feels very satisfied with where he is in his songwriting journey.
“People have been really nice and reaching out to me about how my debut album connected them, and that’s the most important thing to me,” he said. “My goals are just to perfect my craft and be the most honest musician possible, and then share that with the world in a way that hopefully affects people positively.”
As a starting point, Camp recommends people listen to “Hello Time!”, his most popular song. Complete with a funny music video on YouTube, he describes the song as one that captures the joy of life and the fleeting nature of special moments. He is also working on two albums which will hopefully be released in 2022.
“I’m taking Frank Ocean’s strategy of not posting anything until it’s perfect,” he said. “So there’s stuff I’m working on right now that I can’t wait for people to hear.”
And of course, he’s always looking for collaborators, or just new friends to jam with. “If you’re a musician,” he added, “contact me!”
