After first catching our eye with his 2012 release VIVa release "D Man With A Plan" on VIVa Music, it's been a steady climb for Dutch up and comer Camiel Daamen.
Following the VIVa release, which featured on label boss Steve Lawler's VIVa Warriors compilation, Daamen has seen his productions wind up on imprints like Soulman Music, Act Natural, Inmotion Music and Natural Rhythm, which gained him praise from the likes of Darius Syrossian, Maya Jane Coles, ONNO, Hector and Loco Dice along the way.
Gig wise, he's spread his groove-heavy live and DJ shows to the masses at festivals like Amsterdam Open Air and Sunscape, along with Germany's Katerholzig and Wilde Renate, Public Life and Brixton Clubhouse in the UK, and Ibiza's Zoo Project.
This year he sees releases on DJ W!LD's Catwash Records, returns to Malta's Sunscape, and heads to 11:11 to play alongside acts like The Jaydes and Josh Wink.
So we caught up with Camiel to find out more about this promising young live act, DJ and producer, who provided us with a deep and funky Fresh Blood mix.
How did you get into electronic music? I started getting interested through friends in school. My friends took me to a party and I was hooked immediately. Just the vibe and the whole atmosphere of people dancing and enjoying themselves really inspired me to pursue a musical life.
How would you describe the sound of your productions and your musical influences for the people who don’t know? I have had quite a journey through different styles and sounds. I think that is very common for artists to go through. I always call my music house music, I don't care if it’s more techno or more deep or less deep or whatever. It's just house music or electronic music to me.
I get influenced by lots of jazz, house, singer songwriters, pianists – anything really. The last year I've been getting more and more into playing piano. This changed my view on making music so much that I'm working on an album on the side now, which will be electronic music in every way I can imagine it.
The album will be more musical to listen to, so not so much dance floor stuff. I like any type of music as long as it has something that grabs you. Either it is a dance floor tune or a beautiful song…music is music.
You’re playing a number of festivals this summer, including Sunscape in Malta – are you looking forward to the different atmosphere you get at festival gigs? Oh yeah, the Malta gig has a special feeling to it. I played there last year and met some amazing people who inspired me a lot.
I actually came back a better version of myself. Unreal how that island is giving energy to people visiting it. Therefore I think the Sunscape festival will be amazing. It will be very spiritual with lots of good music – showcases by labels, musicians all around and holistic workshops and so on. Festival gigs are always a big adventure I love the feeling of being outside and sharing the passion for music with everybody there.
You often play live – what can people expect from your live performances? How do you set up? I have my computer running loops of my tracks. All the sounds are on different channels on my Akai APC40 so I can basically arrange the tracks on the fly from scratch. I add drum sounds and I improvise on my Native Instruments Maschine.
Then I have an Akai Max25 2octave keyboard from where I play some keys and sounds over the tracks of the loops I create. It’s always a big adventure playing live and sometimes I come home from a gig with fresh new tunes. Got to love live!
What do you have coming up in terms of releases? I've got two releases coming up. One is my new vinyl EP on the London based label Act Natural Records called "Dance With You".
It’s an EP with different sounds than people know me for I think. While “Dance With You” is a real house tune, the other tracks are more deep and techno and dub techno orientated. Me and the label owner Jamie Ward have been in contact since the first release of the label and I'm happy he always has a spot for me to release my music.
Then I've got a release coming on DJ W!ld's Catwash Records. The track is called "In My Heart" and will be featured on a compilation. I'm really happy with the release on his label. DJ W!ld has been a big inspiration for me throughout the years.
Can you tell us about the Fresh Blood mix you provided for us? It contains a lot of my own work, even some little bits I’m planning to release on my album. It also has tracks from my friend Andreas Bergmann his label Moral Viber.
Besides that, just music that really inspires me at the moment. I wanted to make it so that you can listen to it at home or in the office but still have your foot moving to the grooves. I hope people will enjoy it and that it will change their reality for a bit when listening to it.
Thanks a lot for this interview and the chance to express myself, it means a lot to me!