The secret sauce behind anonymous artist and producer camoufly’s music is his ability to follow his instincts. Written and produced at the start of the year, his new track “Airbender” is a sonic reflection of this superpower. “I would describe “Airbender” as a snapshot of my creative mind at the start of 2023,” says camoufly, “I wanted to make something very ethereal, because I love to bring out emotion through organic instrumentation. There's a lot of kalimba, piano, and some distant vocals–which are all sounds I was really enjoying playing with at the time that I wanted to merge together.”
Painting in bright tones, the result is a delightfully whimsical house track balanced in simplicity and depth with crunchy rain-like sounds, airy synth layers, wind chimes, pulsing bass, and a driving kick drum. “When the elements are coming together, you kind of start feeling it.” Indicative of camoufly’s intuitive approach, “Airbender” dances in the sweet spot.
Consistent with his philosophy both in his craft and its presentation, he follows fulfillment and fun above all–a recipe that continues to prove fruitful. Starting to make music in middle school, he discovered a new feeling, and one he wanted more of. “Composing music felt fulfilling in a very different way in terms of expressing myself,” says camoufly. “It's magic for me. It's really something different in terms of feelings.”
Continuing to produce as a hobby, he went to university and found himself on track to pursue a more traditional career and life path. “I hit a brick wall,” says camoufly. “So I was meditating about trying to do something more with my life.” After a period of introspection, he concluded to drop out of school and give music a real go.
During this time, he discovered artists like Sam Gellaitry and Mr. Carmack who both had a profound impact on his decision. “I heard their songs for the first time in 2019, and they shifted me. I was like, ‘Damn, this is so satisfying, even just to listen to.’ As a producer I want to try and do something like that with my life. It's fulfilling for me, and it can be fulfilling for other people as well. That's the path.”
After leaving school, he began releasing bootleg tracks on SoundCloud every few weeks. Having tried various approaches with other projects over the years, the camoufly project not only represented his first all-in musical endeavor, it also represented a release of inhibition and a commitment to his intuition. Whether in the studio or in his approach to branding and release strategy, camoufly followed his gut. “I was starting from scratch. All the past attempts at doing music were a little bit of a failure, in some way or another, but in my head I was like, ‘If I want to make this work, why don't I just hardcore, do what I want? Let my vision guide me.’”
camoufly took on an air of anonymity that fueled curiosity as the project gained traction on SoundCloud and blogs such FUXWITHIT, where writer Alessio Anesi covered the project early on. “I'm like, wow, seems like the anonymous thing is actually really resonating. It's getting people curious,” says camoufly. “I like to let people imagine or have this little gimmick to play with when they come across my project because that's something that really got me curious in the first place of what a lot of artists like Daft Punk started. I wanted to do that in my silly little way. This project is about doing things in a freeing way without too many rules.”
Leaning into the “gimmick”, he began wearing a mask–a green velvet hoodie with long, floppy rabbit-like ears–and embraced the persona of camoufly. Showcasing the playful side of his true personality, his approach is to channel the energy of the young, eager fan he was in his youth. In middle school, he spent hours on an international Daft Punk forum where he first tapped into this side of himself. “I think my presence on the Internet in general is a kind of playful, random, silly presence–I just want to have my little chunk of fun,” says camoufly. “In middle school I was in a Daft Punk international forum, and everybody was older than me. I was just this middle school European kid having the time of my life.”
His songwriting and production approach seeks a similar sense of purity–reaching for a sense of wonder by utilizing simple, yet poignant phrases to drive home a feeling. “I like to extrapolate phrases that are significant and repeat them over and over,” says camoufly. “I grew up with music that was repetitive. The smallest things were precisely put together. The gimmicky things, the synth phrases, the little scattered lyrics–it's a lot of things that really get me in my feelings.”
More than 70 tracks later, camoufly’s natural ability to elicit the same phenomenon is undeniable. “It’s music to dance and cry to,” says camoufly. “Music that can really drive you on the dance floor, but can also hold this kind of emotional heart to it.” Always colorful, and experimental, camoufly’s body of work is a refreshingly intimate and honest reflection of its maker. “My approach is a mixture of ideas that in the end are just me trying to do what I want.”
Unsurprisingly, his approach to web3 is no different. “I've just been having fun and making new friendships,” says camoufly. “And I’ll always appreciate innovation.” Collaborating with longtime friends such as msft, while building new ones with Alexander Lewis, Daniel Allan, bloodywhite, Reo Cragun, sober rob, and others, camoufly stays open-minded and eager to grow. “This project is me building brick by brick, and I love it,” he says.
His recent collaboration with Alexander Lewis, the song “Kaleidoscope” from camoufly’s latest EP In Plain Sight, was the result of one such occasion. “Alexander Lewis found my songs through Sound and was like, ‘Can we collaborate?’ He sent me a whole pack of loops, I grabbed a couple and made “Kaleidoscope”. Energized by the collaborative creative process, camoufly plans to keep the collaborations coming this summer while gearing up for his next EP. “The idea is to create a counterpart to the In Plain Sight EP, that's what I'm working on right now.”
With plans to play his first round of European shows, camoufly looks ahead with excitement and a sense of peace. “It's so much trial and error, and I'm having so much fun with it. I appreciate it a lot. The struggle with finding my own path eventually came to this kind of sweet spot. It's not always easy, but at least I know that this kind of satisfaction is different and is special. It's a cool path that I get to walk every day, and I'm really grateful for it.”
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Collect Music NFTs from HIGH FREQUENCY Volume 1. “Airbender” is the thirteenth track to be released from NOISE, for HIGH FREQUENCY Volume 1. “Airbender” is dropping via Sound Swap at 2pm PST on June 01.
HIGH FREQUENCY Volume 1 is a compilation album curated by NOISE, with 16 tracks released on Sound. The album features new songs from artists we believe represent the values of web3 and whose work will be essential to every music NFT collector’s set in the future.
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