Meet Camilo Salas | Music Producer and Composer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Camilo Salas and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Camilo, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I would say that there are three very important things: One is to never underestimate a project, always do your best, and strive for excellence. A project may have more impact on people and in the industry than you imagine, and only if you do good work, future generations will learn from it and a project can lead you to another. The second thing is to never underestimate the audience, it is better to think that writing a better melody, getting a better recording, and, in general, making a better production will be valued, this will make you push the limits. Now, if you think that people won’t notice the difference, that will make you settle very easily.

As well, deadlines are important in an artistic career. It happens to me that I cannot sleep if I feel there is something I can improve within the production of a song even when I know that a minor change may not ensure the hit, so to me, it is crucial to let it go, deliver the work on time and respect the time of the rest of the team members because there are always people waiting for the song/piece to be ready to start working on the video clip, content for social media or things like that. Another habit I have is exporting bounces of the songs many times a day so I can hear the music in the car, on AirPods, or a random speaker, or anything outside of the studio environment, that way I can tell if the progress I’ve made is hitting and aiming my vision.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Well, I feel lucky that I realized early in my life that music is my greatest passion and that there are many ways to make a living from it. I also feel privileged to have been able to access music education since I was little and thus meet people whose lives and careers have inspired me.

Here’s my story:

I started as most of my pairs in the music industry, with an instrument in my hands. In my case, it was the piano that stroked my fancy when I saw it for the first time at my mom’s friend’s house. I was only 7 years old when I had to walk two blocks to meet with a piano teacher at that place way before my parents gave me my first keyboard. Then, after 4 years of taking classes at home, I decided to enroll in a music institute because I wanted to compare my progress with other young musicians’, that institute I attended for almost 8 years which was enough to apply and get accepted into one of the best colleges in my country. My father was excited about my decision to pursue a professional music career while my mom was a little bit nervous. I’m pretty sure that nowadays they both are proud of what I’ve reached so far.

Throughout my college years, I composed and produced all kinds of music: classical, folklore, Latin, jazz, rock, electronic, and hip-hop. I also got to meet so many talented people who are now top musicians in the music industry such as the tenor singer Eduardo Escolar who won a major economic prize in a National TV show with a song I wrote called “No Estás”. By that time, I also acquired the music technology knowledge and professional skills required to take a basic music idea into a major production: sequencing, recording, editing, mixing, and mastering audio. But it was when I graduated that I knew the best was about to come…

I am from Barranquilla, Colombia, where we have one of the most important carnivals in the world, declared as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO (2003). It is a massive cultural celebration that gathers hundreds of events and thousands of attendees. In 2019-2020, I had the opportunity to be the main music producer for the carnival of Barranquilla, only by then I did understand the endless effort of hundreds of artists: musicians, dancers, and writers, among others, who are behind the shows, concerts, and parades. Only by then, I got to see how the magic happens to make the Carnival possible every year. Undoubtedly, it was such an honor to have served my hometown by creating original music and conducting many of the events, including the crowning ceremony where we had more than 20.000 people in a stadium watching the show that I created along with amazing artists. This experience opened the doors for me as a music producer and I was invited to produce the music for major artists and events in Colombia such as the Miss Colombia Pageant and India Catalina Awards.

During the pandemic, I took advantage of not working to have quality time with my family, but I deeply believed that the bad days were going to end, and we had to have a plan moving forward so I decided to apply for a graduate program at the University of Miami. Months passed without any news until I got the call from the director of the program saying that they were granting me a Teaching Assistantship to pursue my master’s degree. It’s been two years and a half in Miami now, and there is no man happier than me. I graduated with my master’s and my final project was a music production audio workshop for visually impaired musicians that is available online and at the Frost Music Library (UMiami). I am working as a music producer and composer for amazing artists such as Andrea González Caballero, Issa Raye, Lola Astanova, among others. I’ve worked for major events in Miami such as the Coconut Grove Arts Festival and Christmas Wonderland, and I am also teaching music production at the Frost School of Music (UMiami) and Abbey Road Institute Miami.

It has been a wonderful path, with many efforts that have come with beautiful experiences and rewards. Something significant is that since I started learning music, I have also had the opportunity to teach, this cyclical process has made me remain humble since there is always something to teach others but there will also always be something new to learn if we remain attentive and receptive.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
This is quite an easy question because I have been able to visit fantastic places in Miami. If a friend visits the city, it is a must to have breakfast at a Spanish place called Calamillor, they have delicious fresh ingredients. I would take him to see the campus of the University of Miami, where I did my master’s degree, I think that sitting and having a coffee in front of the lake is a great experience, you can feel the energy of the students and also find families of ducks and iguanas walking around. We could visit the Vizcaya Museum, Winwood Walls, Coconut Grove, and Coral Gables. Since I’m a musician, I would introduce you to some friends from the industry. Who doesn’t like hanging out with celebrities? We would also go to see the sunset in Miami Beach and to finish, we would visit Calle 8 to listen to live music and dance salsa!.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to thank God, my family for their infinite support, my mentors, and all the artists and institutions that trust my work.

Website: https://camilosalasmusic.com/

Instagram: @camilosalas__

Youtube: https://youtu.be/Res0e6nGbPw?si=q1g71-VfBCosDQpK