Meet Camilo | Elatheo

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

Hi Camilo, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Before being a musician I was an accountant. Having graduated from the business school with only 10 USD in my pocket I established an accounting company from scratch. After several years it has become successful. The turnover was growing and new clients were coming regularly. The company is even nowadays one of the most prominent on the market, having a great opinion among the clients and competitors. However, in one moment I realized – is that all? Is that everything I will do in life? Accounting business is not the most emotional thing you can probably imagine… Of course, managing 100+ employees is always a challenge for any businessmen, especially if we consider that I started from nothing. But there was no passion in my life. I felt I want more, I need more and I am capable of doing more. Accounting can be exciting but the process is repeatable – there is not too much space for creativity. And I always felt there is a lot of creative energy in me that I don’t use.

My mother Teo is a renowned poet, painter and sculptor. For me, she was always an example of passion and desire to create. Then, I decided it’s high time to start my music career. After the first (debut) video hit 1m views on youtube I decided I want to go for it and pursue a career in the music business. I honed my skills in Spanish language which I learnt by myself and as I always loved Latin music – I decided this is going to be my direction. I know all the classics from Daddy Yankee, Nicky Jam, Wisin and Yandel. I love them all since the time of ‘vieja escuela’. Latin music was always in my soul and singing in Spanish, which is not my native language, is always a great fun and pleasure.

I still own the accounting company and manage it occasionally but it’s more a strategic management and the board of directors is involved in day-to-day operations. For the time being I would like to focus exclusively on music.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
The funny thing is that I always wanted to be on stage. To be in front of the people and keep their attention. I have this natural skill and among my circle of friends I am famous for being a magnet on the parties. Frankly speaking I never knew how to use it.

Initially, I felt I wanted to be a scientist. It sounded cool to stay in the big classroom and have a whole bunch of students listening to me. I sacrificed 4 years of my life to complete a PhD thesis in economics but guess what… It turned out that it was not about me loving science (what is actually a little truth) – but I had this weird instinct that I want to be listened.

It took me sometime to figure this out. Since I was 7 years old I had a dream about me standing in the stadium and singing to some large, unspecified audience. When I was first time on the game in Miami, on American Airlines Arena, the first though that came to my mind was: I have been here. This is the place from my dreams. It was a typical deja vu when I felt so strongly that this is the place I belong.

I knew from the very beginning that what I want to sing is Latin music. I love Spanish language and I was dancing salsa since the first year of my university. During the last decade I was traveling extensively and I visited more than 100 countries. In some of them I was living, working or managing my company remotely. I was digital nomad even before this word existed 🙂 Having such a great exposition on different cultures, languages and habits – I always felt that the Latin culture is the closest to me. Hence, I decide – I want to be a part of this world. I want to collaborate with Daddy Yankee, Ozuna, Nicky Jam and all others. I know that I made a first step with those few songs I made and I am ready to go for more.

I had a lot of contact with music since I was a kid. My godfather was playing in philharmonic orchestra and I was listening to classical music. He was also teaching me how to play piano and guitar. On my birthday he always did me a private concert playing my favorite masterpieces of classical music. Also my mother is a painter and poet. From her I received a profound knowledge about art and poetry. There are more than 30 thousand books in my parent’s house and we used to watch albums with paintings of Michelangelo, Picasso, Renoir and many other famous painters. I got familiar with the poetry of world-class authors. It was all shaping my artistic personality and gave me this connection with God’s creative force. I believe we are all connected as humans through God and the spirituality is one of the most vital elements necessary to create any type of art.

The first contact with Latin music was in Moscow in 2006, when I was on exchange program for students. It was the first time I heard about Daddy Yankee when two girls from Catalonia were dancing to his megahit ‘Gasolina’. I used to hear a lot of Spanish music before as my both parents liked Julio Iglesias. But at that time Latin music wasn’t that popular yet. However, from the very beginning I felt that this type of music is resonating with my soul. More than a decade later I realize my dream of being a part of music world.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I was born in a large city and I am quite used to noise, cars, hustle and bustle of the megalopolis. However, deep down in my heart I am totally nature lover. Therefore, I would take my friend for a walk along one of the Floridian beaches. The more secluded, calm and empty – the better. I like to clear my mind, focus on current or new projects and walk along the sound of waves and just feel how connected with the universe we are as human beings.

I love animals and I believe I have a special connection with them. Wherever I go – somehow they always approach me. I would therefore go with my friend to places where we can meet the animals of Florida: pelicans, gators, iguanas etc.

I also love an active lifestyle so I would probably go on a bike ride from Hollywood Beach to Miami Beach.

I once read a book about ‘brick of happiness’. Each of us has their own small ‘bricks’ that we can use so that we can feel happy even in the most miserable day. Those can be: a morning coffee by the ocean, a talk to a friend, a walk with loved one, an hour of reading the book. Anything you want. It’s just as long as you discover your happiness moments – you can manage your level of happiness easily.

Having 100+ employees under my command wasn’t an easy task. I was exposed to an extremely stressful situations where the company could have lost millions. And every time I was facing this type of challenge I knew that at the end of the day my happiness and well-being depends on me. Not on other people, not on external conditions – If I have a piece in my heart, I can manage my world better.

It’s also good to know the opposite – what makes you unhappy 🙂 My first business was a construction company. My father was an engineer and so is my brother. We had a nice garage with all the equipment you can imagine. When I was a teenager I already had many experiences with carpentry, plumbing, roof constructions, bricklaying etc. Until one day after 16 hours of work I told myself: no more. I don’t like it. I want to work with my skills, my brain – not with my body. I still can build a house by myself but I prefer to compose a song and write new lyrics. The latter makes me happy much more 🙂

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I started to practice karate kyokushin when I was a kid and I got my black belt being one of the youngest in the country to receive it. People think that martial arts teach you how to fight but first and foremost – you learn how to overcome your weaknesses. You really fight with yourself. Karate is shaping your body but also the spirit. It is teaching how to respect people and be courageous when necessary.

I think that those who deserve credit for who I am (apart of my parents and sibilings) are the Sensei and Shihan that were my teachers along the years. I was lucky to practice in USA, Norway, Japan, Chile and many other countries under the eye of the best fighters on the planet. I saw how persistence and discipline can make miracles. I saw 80-years old man doing a split. How impossible becomes possible and how a person with no physical training background (myself) can run a marathon as a warm-up.
It’s worth mentioning that karate-kyokushin is the only full-contact karate and the trainings are very demanding. Not everybody is able to bear the pain and a black belt in this discipline is one of the most respected in the world of martial-arts.

Those lessons I was taking along the years shaped my personality. I learnt that you can reach any goal, even the most difficult if you approach it step by step. Black belt is not earned overnight. So are most of the things in life. I think it’s the same with music – you can get lucky and become a star quickly but most of the time it’s a marathon. And you have to be ready to sacrifice and don’t give up easily. As Bruce Lee once said: I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.

I apply this principle in everything in me life. I use 7-8 languages every day but I am native only in one of them. I speak Polish, Russian, English and Spanish to my employees but I also read in Portugese, Danish, Swedish or Italian. I learned all of them listening to audiobooks in the car, waiting in the lines or for the school bus. I believe that persistence and humility are the keys.

Karate says: Keep your head low with humility but your eyes always up with ambition. And that is what drives me: ambition. I want to be a megastar. I want to be successful in music. I do not fear to stand in front of 100-thousand people crowd. I want to feel them and give them the best memories of their life.

The funny thing is that karate has one side effect. As being a young martial arts student – you are wrong most of the times. It means that teachers will constantly say: not like this, do it like this. Or: ‘you do it wrong’. They correct you so many times that you become unsusceptible to criticism. You just keep doing what you can and try to be better every time.
Why am I telling this? Because when the first video ‘Yo quiero mas de ti’ was launched in 2019, we received a lot of support but also some hate. I noticed that I have this weird skill of indifference to hate. I just don’t care. Among millions of listeners there will always be someone who loves my music and someone who hates it. It’s obvious. Why bother about haters? Not every musician is able to bear hate. Some fall into depression whereas others are focused on negative emotions. I was criticized so many times in my life that I simply don’t care about hate. I guess this is a valuable skill in the show business.

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