HEADS KNOW TAPE 010: LeCamille
An interview and DJ mix from the Brooklyn-based event planner and researcher.
Photo: Courtesy of LeCamille
HEADS KNOW TAPES is our mix and interview series, curated to introduce you to the most exciting innovators, selectors, and artists from New York City and beyond.
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I don't often praise someone's music taste, but Camille Horton—better known as LeCamille—has never disappointed me. Ours are so are so similar, I once went up to check if I left my USB in because she was playing so many songs I had.
Technically, Camille was the first artist to ever perform at a HEADS KNOW show. She opened for Nicholas Craven and Tha God Fahim at SOBs last May—the first time I ever used the HEADS KNOW name. Since then, she's been one of our biggest supporters. She's probably gone to more HEADS KNOW parties than anyone besides me.
Aside from that, LeCamille is an incredibly talented and versatile DJ. Her sets span bass, ghettotech, dubstep and hip-hop. As a founder and resident of MadChapel, she celebrates musical acts of all genres and formats.
To close out Women's History Month, LeCamille delivers a bass-heavy tape packed with hip-hop to honor where she's been and showcase where she's going. Check it out below and read on for our Q&A.
Hi Camille—thank you for being part of this mix series and one of the first people to ever be officially part of the HEADS KNOW fam. What have you been up to lately?
Thank you for having me! Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of resting and thinking. The beginning of the year is always a difficult time for me; my birthday is in January so all I do from November till my bday is just think and worry. And then when I’m done worrying, I plan. I’ve also been trying to get healthier. I used to be an athlete and even was one in college for a short time and I miss being able to just MOVE easier. Mentally too, everything these days just seems so much harder to do than usual so I’m trying to adjust all that. Vitamins, heavy weights, spa days and hopefully a beach vacation very very soon.
You definitely deserve that. For those who aren’t familiar with you yet, can you tell us how you got your start DJing?
When I was 19, I joined this group at my college that was dedicated to teaching and promoting hip-hop on campus. This was mostly through parties and club nights at local bars we had relationships with. These would be big parties too, just hundreds of students and locals alike coming to party and because it was a small town, there wasn’t much competition. About a year into the org, one of our resident DJs, Akash, was in his final year and was down to teach me and a couple of others how to DJ so the org would have more DJs after he left. I had a lesson with him on how to operate Serato, and then Tom, or as you may know them as Sobolik, gave me a lesson on the software Traktor. I didn’t know about Rekordbox for real until I moved to NYC in 2021 and started spinning at bigger clubs.
I'm a Serato baby at heart, always, and I remember carting the group’s communal board around Charlottesville, Virginia with my backpack and laptop to spin at frat parties, brunches for Bank of America, and other DIY parties I’d continue to throw with my friends. The university space was a solid way to get started DJing because it was super easy for your name to spread word of mouth and gigs would just fall in my lap. I was a little spoiled by it. I was supposed to open for our school's end-of-the-year concert which was going to be Meg but due to COVID that didn't happen.
Did you come for a musical family? When did you realize music was going to be a big part of your life?
My dad was in a band when he was younger and played in the Marine core, allegedly. And my mom likes to remind me that she was a Radio DJ in college; but not mixing, she was more a selektor and radio host. My oldest half-brother produces and when I was younger he’d talk to me about it. But my musical interests were really honed by my friendship with my brother Cory and shared love of anime and the opening/ending songs featuring our favorite characters looking really cool and dramatic. To me, the music that I love the most is anything that creates a visual in my brain; like if I hear a song and I spend the next couple of hours fantasizing about a music video for it, that’s a good song.
Right before the pandemic, four years this month to be exact, my Great Aunt Ruby passed away at the age of 97. She had been a part of a long line of my folks who had passed recently and I was a grieving mourning mess for about four years; Aunt Ruby dying hit me hard because she was 97 but so full of life. To an almost ridiculous extent—taking computer lessons just in case “DC became the new Silicon Valley” and having four boyfriends at her nursing home. She also loved a good wine and party. Even though she got older, she never really acted like an old person and would always remind me, a very publicly anxious person, that in addition to being smart and responsible and all those “boring” things, I also have to remember to be happy. As soppy as this may be, it's completely true, but when I left her funeral and was on my way back to finish what I thought would be three months of normal classes and then graduation, I was quite peaceful. I was like, “I don't know what will become of my life and future, but I do know what makes me happy.” It was then I decided that DJing would always be in my life. Full-time? part-time? Hobbyist? I haven’t got a clue but it will be there. And I will be happier for it. I also decided that I wanted to live in a big city and thought I'd moved back to DC, where I was born, but instead, I moved to Brooklyn.
Looking back it was a really beautiful moment of much-needed catharsis which was dramatically disrupted two days later by COVID shutting the Earth down.
That really is beautiful and I’m sure she’s so proud of everything you’re doing. One thing I appreciate about you is that your taste always surprises me. How do you discover new music?
I tweeted a couple weeks ago that Soundcloud’s algorithm is so good it could donate blood to me. It’s kinda scary, and my day job is work focused on exposing the negatives of living in an AI-reliant society, so it’s a weird hypocrisy. But Soundcloud definitely was my first major gateway to smaller artists making music and just popping it on the internet in an instant. I don't want AI taking jobs or stealing artists’ work but I do want it to continue matching me with life-changing tracks.
The other way of discovering new tracks is through going out to parties but HEADS KNOW parties in particular have changed my way of thinking about music for sure. The artists you bring are consistently some of the best DJs I’ve ever heard; I remember the first Daddy Kev show at Paragon and hearing a transition and my friend and I looked each other in the eyes and literally screamed. We’d never heard anything so sonically unique in our lives. I’ve been focusing on developing my sound and not being afraid to do whatever I want anymore and the shows with him, Machinedrum, Bianca Oblivion and Sam Binga were the affirmation I needed to commit to the direction I’m going. Hella hip hop with dubby electronic, bass-heavy tunes. And because all of these are producers, it’s really easy to go down a rabbit hole and spend hours just vibing to their music and similar artists. ESPECIALLY WHEN I GO THROUGH SOUNDCLOUD, cus remember, it just gets me.
You spin everything—I've seen you do hip-hop shows, R&B parties and club nights. What helps you stay so versatile?
I recall open-format being used sometimes almost as an insult but it seems to me that more and more folks are keeping their setlist genre diverse—or some call it genre-free—which is really cool. I think the reason that I'm all over the place sound-wise is because I'm at a nexus in my creative career as I transition from a “top-40s-leaning open-format” DJ to an “open-format electronic artist.”
Music is music. Genres are helpful for organizing a library and pleasing the more purist demographics of the electronic music scene, but humans aren’t segmented so easily in how we both consume and create. Like most of these producers we’re listening to and putting into categories are still being inspired by other genres. I do a lot of research and writing about the political and cultural significance of food and currently, I’m examining what makes cultural appropriation actual appropriation when it comes to fusion cuisine. My more optimistic take on it, as of now, is the intention and actual creation being distinct enough to be its own entity while also making the ancestral elements of the meal being very clear. For example, a bulgogi beef taco (I just had one). I don't wanna live in a world without something as fire as the bulgogi taco AND Lil Uzi’s Pink Tape because folks are too scared or small-minded. I think that’s what keeps me versatile; knowing that taking two things that “shouldn't” work, work. And knowing that means I really love what I’m doing.
One of my favorite things about New York City DJs is they're really able to do it all, but I also understand the power of targeted marketing. Do you think your wide range helps you stay relevant in the club scene or do you feel like finding a niche would be ideal so that you can build a consistent audience?
I’ve been asking myself the same question tbh. I think both options work but they give you two different careers. Both are fine and valid but I have to choose what works best for me. I don’t listen to as much top 40s music as I used to anymore so some of those gigs feel like a job rather than a passion, which is fine, but I feel burnt out more from them. The things that bring me back to life are gigs for certain parties where I play the bass-heavy 140+ tracks that activate the silly part of my brain. I want to build a niche around that sound even if it means I don’t get the same opportunities I used to; I'm learning I don't have to be for everybody. And while that thought would’ve scared me 6 years ago when I first started, today it emboldens me. I’m forever grateful for all the opportunities I’ve gotten but I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what makes me happy in my career and I now know the answer. I feel the most focused I’ve ever been in my life because of this realization.
If the dancefloor clears, what's the song you use to bring everyone back?
A song that tells you what to do. In college, it was “Aye Ladies” (that intro clap and sample gets everybody hype) and now it’s usually something by Megan thee Stallion; anything from her album FEVER activates the crowd because Meg just spells it out for you.
“Bend it over, touch them toes, huh
Make that booty go, uh
Throw that shit back, uh
Like the tootsie roll”
Like there’s no confusion here, just do what she says and I’ll live flip with a baile funk beat to add a more danceable bassline to it. The girlies in particular love it when you flip a twerk anthem with something electronic. Also anything by Wes Flex. The tracks themselves just fill up a room, if that makes any sense. His productions command a lot of attention so anyone with some sense will be like, “Oh shit, I gotta dance.”
If the music, the people and the sound system make a party good, what makes a party great?
I love a party that has like 3 to 4 different life stages in one night and they’re all good. Like a DIY/house party that starts off like a kickback and then a dancefloor develops and then suddenly, it's a rager, and then back to kickback. All in one location, for one cover, and it's been great the whole time? What a deal.
What are your favorite venues to spin at, and what are the best venues to go to as just a partygoer?
Paragon, Bossa Nova Civic Club, and Elsewhere were great because the DJS, the staff, and audiences are all kinda on the same timing; good job, good music, good night out. It feels like a huge amount of trust is put in me when I play these places because the venues themselves command so much authority in the music scene that most partygoers won’t bother me with requests and will just absorb the music being given to them. It’s a level of respect I hope I and other DJs get to have more of going forward because we know we're good at our jobs and just want to deliver what we’ve been working on to an audience that’s down to experience it with us. Mood Ring is also a fave of mine because it was the first place I played on CDJS, ever, for a 10 PM set for She.They.DJ. I was struggling but I pulled it off with the help of the party host Elinah, aka Bossyboots.
My favorite place to play/host/civilian mode is Jade Bar. It’s so cozy, an intimate space with the most aesthetically pleasing interior ever and all the team there are just some of my favorite people. They were the first place to give my collective MadChapel our first residency.
What can we expect from this tape?
Lots of bass and percussion-heavy tracks. Hip hop is how I got started with DJing and it is always gonna be in my music forever and I think this tape showcases how far I’ve come with it.
Is there anything I haven't asked you that you want to talk about? Anything you want to promote?
I’m starting a dubstep/bass party series with my homie Ben Lidsky. My collective Mad Chapel has another concert cooking; last year we threw a concert at the Sultan Room headlined by Philly artists Matt Ox and Jah$tar and we’re finally figuring out what our vision for our collective is. I have some Lot Radio shows this year featuring some really cool DJs from other states that I’ve been dying to spin with.
In non-DJ-related updates, after four long years, I’ll be publishing some video essays I’ve been working on that discuss the various intersections of food, history, politics and culture. I’m happy it’s coming to fruition after such a long ass time so I can’t wait to share that with people and showcase my political opinions more.
Support LeCamille on Instagram, Twitter, and SoundCloud.
TRACKLIST
Ki. - Untitled 140 / It Don't Matter
Deft - Hotpot
2 Chainz - No Lie
Alix Perez, Visages - Circadian
Rinse Out - Crisco
ENiGMA Dubz - You Are Not a Badman (Dub Mix)
Yo Gotti ft Nicki Minaj - Rake it Up (ONHELL REMIX)
Coast 2 Coast - Cimm
Freak 2 Freak – SICARIA
Hypho x Ternion Sound x Pav4n x Strategy - Relentless (DDD100)
Aloka - Young Mighty
Noah Bear - Klinical Dub (NOAH BEAR EDIT)
Ghost Lotus & BoysNotHome - Wheels Of Steel
Doja Cat - Demons
TMSV - Demons
Flowdan - Horror Show Style
Bianca Oblivion/Onhell - Sinais (Thys remix)
Hudson Mohawke & Nikki Nair - Set The Roof (GRRL Remix)
Ice Spice - Deli (Luc Veermeer edit)
Ance - the Jumper
Bastiengoat - double take
Rohaan - Easy For Them
Paris, Texas - NüWhip
HomeSick - Hardcore!
Ivy Lab - N.V.T 01
HIJINKS, Cesco - Attention
Princess Nokia - KITANA (TAZU DUB)
WRACK - BUZZBUZZ
Surusinghe - Likshot
Anna Morgan - Grace
