Camea grew up in Seattle, Washington, in the US, and even though she was a youngster in the early 90’s during the absolute peak of the Grunge wave that emerged right in her backyard, she was drawn towards completely different kinds of music. In those years, Camea studied piano and clarinet and played in both Jazz and Classical ensembles.
Then, by the late 90’s when Camea was in college, she and some friends heard about an all-night warehouse party in Vancouver, Canada, which was just a few hours away by car. They decided to go, and according to Camea, she fell in love with Electronic Music right away.
Obviously, EM is a wide palette, so we were interested to hear more about which niches in specific Camea was digging during those early years. What drew her in and inspired her to start producing electronic music herself?
“I listened a lot to Chicago House, but also to San Francisco House music and Trance. It was all very rave-y back then and we were pretty hardcore ravers,” says Camea. “If I should mention one artist, who really had an impact on me in those early days, it would be the first female DJ I ever saw: Jackie Christy from Nervous Records in New York. She came out to Vancouver probably the second or third time I went there and she opened with this Aretha Franklin remix R-E-S-P-E-C-T in a hardcore New York House version. I am sure that if I heard it today I would find it terrifying to listen to (laughing), but in the moment back then, seeing her up there, I was just hooked and wanted to do the same. It totally changed my life.”