Issue #32 đ Easy Breezy
HIGH FREQUENCY Vol. 1: "Flavors" by Matthew Chaim feat. Jamee Cornelia
Welcome back to HIGH FREQUENCY. We are still buzzing off last weekâs epic saga âRUG THE BOTSâ by AI death metal band Dadabots. This week, singer-songwriter and Songcamp founder Matthew Chaim delivers a delicious, easy breezy vibe with âFlavorsâ featuring Atlanta rapper and multi-disciplinary artist Jamee Cornelia. Matthew also gives us a sneak peak into whatâs up next for Songcamp. Letâs get into it!
A delicious blend of indie, synth-pop, alternative, and hip hop, âFlavorsâ by Matthew Chaim featuring Jamee Cornelia is pure delight. A sonic affirmation, âFlavorsâ is fueled by atmospheric synth pads propelling a smooth ride across the glassy waters of Matthewâs effortless vocal delivery. âThereâs an attitude on the track of true, truth-telling, and not catering to what people think about you,â says songwriter, artist, and Songcamp founder Matthew Chaim. âA confidence that gives voice to that energy that I think is within all of usâa layer of certainty or assertiveness that I think is healthy to tap into.â
Getting his start as a rapper, Matthewâs singing approach flows thick like honey with embodied, raspy tones that are equal parts sweet and savory. âI had a strong, resonant feeling for the first verse, it flowed out of me really organically. I really like that it was a lyrical snapshot of my life at the timeâliving in the chaos of LA among the creative whirlwind around meâexciting, but also intense.â
Written in 2019 during a session on his birthday while living in LA, Matthew teamed up with producer and Songcamp member Snacks to build the arrangement. âHe has wall-to-wall synths everywhere. We were just playing around getting experimental, which we've always managed to do together.â
Having since moved back to his hometown of Montreal, Canada, Matthew returned to the song but struggled to nail down a second verse worthy to match the first. He finally cracked the code three years later when enlisting rapper, producer, and visual artist Jamee Cornelia, whom he met through Camp Chaos.
âI never really wrote a second verse to it because that first verse felt so true. I wrote something else, but it didn't have the same energy. At one point, I almost put the track out just using the first verse again, copy-pasting it, but then it hit the backburner and I didn't release it. More recently, as the opportunity to put it out came up, I thought of Jamee. And they killed it.â
Matching the vibe flawlessly, Jameeâs approach and tone pairs like the perfect wine. Rapping âI donât chase, I attract⊠down to earth but I am smacked⊠lifted,â Jameeâs verse adds a chill, spiritual tone completing the song with undeniable synergy.
The epitome of easy listening, âFlavorsâ also has a grounding effectâa fitting coincidence with Matthew having just returned from a three-day silent meditation retreat. âGroundedness was a big theme for me. I was reminded to cultivate it, and let go, versus hanging or clutching onto things.â
Seeking a reset when necessary has proven invaluable to him over the years. On âFlavors,â he alludes to needing to get out of LA to find reprieve in nature. Now, entrenched in web3, Matthew knows the importance of taking a break from the internet and project demands so he can return centered and self-assured. âI feel like some veil of a âcommotion of lifeâ melted away for a few days and I'm bringing a more authentic self into the week.â
Having recently closed out the Chaos era of Songcamp with a live Club Chaos event in New Yorkâwhere they burned the remaining Chaos packsâMatthew and the Songcamp community are hard at work on their next evolution.
As they finalize the design phase for their fourth flagship experimentâa camp that will take place in the fallâthey are gearing up to reintroduce the Songcamp brand with a new website currently under construction. With the website, they will also launch their new research arm documenting their findings from the past experiments: Camp Genesis, Camp Elektra, and Camp Chaos.
They are also cooking up âSessions,â which are a new series where they will group musicians in bands of three for one-off song releases. âWe are taking the atomic layer of our huge camp experiments, and bringing them down to one-off releases,â says Matthew. The first âSessionsâ volume will include five bands and five songs. Rumor has it, both Matthew and Jamee will be part of the first volume.
Jamee first joined the Songcamp community as a member of the visual team for Camp Chaos and is now active on the music side as well. Based in Atlanta, they are a multi-disciplinary artist, Head of Artist Relations at Glass Protocol, and have been dropping music NFTs since 2021. They recently released their album Art School Dropout, which tackles the subject matter of breaking from societal norms. The result is an album about âcrashing out along the way and realigning with your purpose,â says Jamee.
Alongside his work with Songcamp, Matthew continues to create as an independent singer-songwriter as well. With the release of his debut album in 2019, The Mathematics of Nature, Matthew established a distinct style blending key influences throughout his life. Initially inspired by Coldplay, Matthew was drawn to emotive music from a young age. âI really connected to some emotion or intimacy or warmth that came from their songwriting. I was a pretty sensitive kid and that music really resonated with me.â Later, he turned his attention to punchline rap thanks to Childish Gambino, which led to his first musical endeavor, the Youtube series âMondays in the Bishi.â When he first started traveling to LA for co-writing, he began listening to Bon Iver, and was heavily inspired by the album 20, A Million.âThat album really shaped my inspiration for the whole time I was out in LA, and was the focal point inspiration for the album I released in 2019.â
This summer, he plans to release a series of singles produced by Rabbit, who he worked with on The Mathematics of Nature. Continuing to hone and develop his craft, Matthewâs innate talent and dedication color every endeavor as his palette continues to expand. Matthew sings, âThese flavors come easy to me, Iâm easy to be.â And we believe it.
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đŁ Collect Music NFTs from HIGH FREQUENCY Volume 1. âFlavorsâ is the tenth track to be released from NOISE, for HIGH FREQUENCY Volume 1. âFlavorsâ is dropping via Sound Swap at 2pm PST on May 12.
đŁ Read and Collect on Mirror. There are 10 editions of this article available for 0.003 ETH on Mirror.