“It’s a funny thing because a mask is an important form of protection for us to be able to function in this world; we need masks to survive. But I think to have real deep vulnerable relationships—with others and with yourself—it requires even a small experience with the mask-less version of yourself. A lot of my favorite songs and novels have this feeling of someone pulling away the curtain for a moment and letting you glimpse what’s been hiding behind it.”
As I listen to the new song by the young artist Camille Schmidt, I am deeply inspired by her reflective words. She speaks many truths, and even though truths are often mutable and open to debate, there is a point where, I feel, one comes close to the essence of understanding. How much freer it feels when we don’t have to pretend, when we can simply be ourselves while still striving to become slightly better people. These are the thoughts that accompany me as I continue to listen to her song, light and buoyant.
Camille’s journey into music is strongly rooted in her artistic upbringing. As a child, she sat at the kitchen table with the models who posed nude in her parents’ art studio, pondering why such intimate portrayals were given impersonal titles. This early exposure to vulnerability and authenticity profoundly influences her own art.
Her latest release, “XOXO,” continues this exploration of self and identity. The song opens with a drum machine and softly layered synths, introducing her voice—distorted yet somehow stronger through its digital warps. These layers of electronic manipulation serve as protection as she reveals the hidden corners of her inner world. “I was really just playing around with my vocal transformer and my guitar, and this song came out,” she shares. “There was something about even that first version of ‘XOXO’ that felt like such an anthem to me at that moment. As in, I needed it. Badly.”
In our interview, we talk about the masks we wear, the journey of self-discovery in her new album Nude #9, and the importance of embracing the full range of our emotions.
photography by Bao Ngo
Camille, congratulations on your new release! How does it feel to release a new song to the world?
Thank you! It honestly feels great. XOXO and the other songs on this upcoming album feel very urgent to me right now. Both personally and politically and I can’t wait for them to be out in the world and no longer only residing in my heart and brain.
You mentioned that your new song, “XOXO,” is “a love letter with different recipients: the people who never really understood me and this character I used to feel I had to play for others.” A lot of people feel they wear a kind of mask in daily life. What’s your perspective on that?
Mm. I spent a lot of my life not being an authentic version of myself with other people. And it’s taken a long time to feel comfortable being around others while not wearing that mask. And also to re-find the version of myself that was sheltering inside the whole time. It’s a funny thing because a mask is an important form of protection for us to be able to function in this world; we need masks to survive. But I think to have real deep vulnerable relationships – with others and with yourself – it requires even a small experience with the mask-less version of yourself. A lot of my favorite songs and novels have this feeling of someone pulling away the curtain for a moment. And letting you glimpse what’s been hiding behind it.
When was the moment you realized you wanted to write this song?
It was never a real decision I would say. I was in a period of heavy songwriting, writing a few songs every week. And I was really just playing around with my vocal transformer and my guitar and this song came out. The verse lyrics were slightly different when I first wrote it. But there was something about even that version of XOXO that felt like such an anthem to me at that moment. As in, I needed it. Badly. When I went to LA a few months later to record I had this song in the back of my mind. I was sitting at a cafe in Highland Park going between reading My Meteorite by Harry Dodge and listening to a Kendrick Lamar album. I think I took a walk around the block to refill my parking meter and the new verse lyrics came to me while I was sort of running there hoping I hadn’t gotten a ticket. I remember writing all the words down as soon as I got back to the cafe and then rushing home to see if they worked with the melody the way they seemed to in my head.
“True empathy or kindness isn’t possible without being able to feel the full range of our own emotions.”
I love that you describe “XOXO” as a reminder not to take yourself too seriously. I find that idea relatable. Which personal qualities do you think are most important for people to embrace?
Well I think it’s different for everyone. I mean in general as a culture we could all use a little more empathy for each other. More kindness. More reflection – not more mirrors, but more time with the parts of ourselves you can’t see. But I also think that for everyone – and I’m thinking about this for myself, and for a lot of my friends – it’s important to also feel the reverse of those things. To be able to lean into your own feelings of cruelty and anger and resentment and disappointment. To be able to look at someone who has hurt you and yeah feel empathy for the things they’ve gone through and yeah to look inward and be like Ok so how was I part of this dynamic, but also to be able to just be like Ok well Fuck you! I don’t think true empathy or kindness is possible without being able to feel the full range of our own emotions.
I love the rawness of all your videos, and the new one captures that quality again. Could you tell us a bit about the video and how it came together?
I made this video with my best friend Liz. My friend Joe directed it. I’ve been learning to be a little looser with things, to be able to get into a ~play~ mindset whenever I can. Joe and I worked on an idea for the video – this sort of murder plot he came up with – and then we drove around one day in New Jersey searching for a motel that would let us film there. We found this place across from a huge field. And then showed up there in the morning with a whole lot of fake blood and some props my friend Aria brought from her place. We followed a general narrative but within it Liz and I just played and had fun.
“Social media is a mask of sorts we’re all putting out into the world. And then these masks are interacting with each other… What a weird social experiment.”
Nude #9 is the title of your debut album. What would you like us to know about it?
This album is pretty raw. It’s sort of a nude on my terms.
What is your favorite memory from childhood?
My childhood best friend and I affixing a pair of scissors to a bucket and two long sticks and spending hours in the woods (in our pajamas) harvesting wild blackberries from a bramble.
How important is social media to you, and do you feel it’s still “social” enough?
I mean there’s some great aspects of social media. I love when friends post about their shows whether that be music or stand up or fiction readings or plays. That’s the best. It’s like YES LOOK AT YOU GO I LOVE YOU. And then there’s the part of social media that reminds me of Tumblr days. Meeting people who you might not bump into normally. These sort of delightful parasocial relationships. Seeing lives that are so different from your own. But still – social media is a mask of sorts we’re all putting out into the world. And then these masks are interacting with each other…What a weird social experiment. I mean social media is a different type of social, I would say. It exists on a different plane, the virtual one, that interacts with all these other planes of our lives. And I would say it’s probably not “social” enough – in the fullest sense of the word social, which involves the co-regulation that exists in the physical social sphere.
“It’s the people that make it. A city is a city, a place is a place—you can love or hate anywhere—but the people make it.”
You’re based in Brooklyn. What do you love most about this city?
I love the people here so much. I’m writing this from a cafe in Windsor Terrace where I’m co-working with a close friend. So yeah definitely the people. I love to bike around Brooklyn. One of my favorite parts of Brooklyn is this venue called The Owl Music Parlor. But besides that, a city is a city, a place is a place, you can love or hate anywhere, the buildings, the backdrop. It’s the people that make it.
The most important thing in life is?
People + clean air + art <3 <3 <3
Follow Camille Schmidt for more:
www.instagram.com/camillejschmidt
