This year, Camila has been nominated in the Premio Lo Nuestro Awards for "Best Record of the Year", and "Best Group of the Year"
About Camila
Founded by multiple award-winning composer and producer Mario Domm (Torreón Coahuila), Camila was born one day while recording Reyli’s first album when Samo (Veracruz) was called in to do the back-ups. When tested, his timbre, power and tuning impressed Mario so much that he invited him to work in a new ensemble where their voices would compliment each other. “I heard Salmo through the speakers and they were booming because of his vocal power,” remembers Mario.
Having just one piano, they decided to add a guitar. The first to come to auditions was Pablo Hurtado (San Luis Potosí). “With just one year left to graduate, I received a call from Mario inviting me to an audition in his studio,” says Pablo. “I went to the studio and there I met Mario and Samo. The sang ‘Abrázame’ with just the guitar and then told me, ‘OK, now you play, join us.” We went at a number of songs for a few hours, and two days later they called me and invited me to be part of the project, as a fellow band member”.
The rest of the story would write itself live, backing up compositions for a first album that would go on to win multiple awards, Todo Cambió. Parallel to this and in a curious way, Camila’s name would fortunately come up to be filled with meaning, thanks to its alliance to Sony Music and Westwood Talent. As such, with the thought of doing 30 concerts in the Mexican Republic during 2007, Camila did not imagine that the success of its singles Abrázame, Coleccionista de Canciones and Todo Cambió would take them to more than 300 performances over the course of two years. “To arrive at a place where people don’t know your face, but they know your songs, is a privilege; as well as playing twice at the Metropolitan and the Auditorio Nacional, to sold out crowds in less than two months,” says Mario.
Without a doubt, the formula to this trio is how well they compliment each other: “I admire Mario a lot for his way of writing songs, for his perfectionism when he produces and how attentive he is to everything,” explains Pablo. “I think he is a genius. Samo is a virtuoso singer with amazing feeling. Despite not knowing music theory, he has the intuition and the ear that allow him to create incredible harmonies. He is very creative and has a huge vocal range.”
Having experiences in the Nokia theaters in New York and Los Angeles, and the Coliseo in Puerto Rico, all over Central America and at the Barquisimeto, in Venezuela (where they packed 100 thousand people), in multiple forums in Colombia, at the Ferro and the Gran Rex in Argentina, and finally at the Viña del Mar Festival in Chile, Camila never dreamed of a better closing to their cycle: “We took home the two Antorchas and the Gaviota! We were supposed to perform three songs and ended up doing nine,” they recall.
Keeping in line with the title of their song, Todo Cambió, life changed for Camila during their inaugural tour. This is how Pablo remembers it: “I went from a sedentary life to seeing myself involved in a tornado of activities and emotions. I traveled more than I had traveled in my entire life. I have learned so much. Now I enjoy this wonderful opportunity to make music with talented people and I have the luxury to live doing what I love most.”
Camila Band Members
Mario Domm
Having total consciousness of his mission in life, this composer and producer knows how to always invite reflection on love from innovative points of view. This is what Kalimba, Reyli, Alejandra Guzmán, Paulina Rubio, Alejandro Fernández and Thalia believe, having contracted him as musical creative on numerous recordings. In the same way, working on these and other projects, like Sin Bandera, Domm has become one of the most prominent producers in Mexico, something that he particularly highlights in Camila.
Having the philosophy of not abusing technological resources for the sake of believing that a song pretty much births itself, and that being a good producer means being able to tell that fine line between both worlds, Mario says, “The protagonists of each album should be the composers and the singers, not the producers.” This idea has made him winner of the following awards: Six SACM (Song Most Played on the Radio) Awards for different compositions written for Alejandra Guzmán, Kalimba and Camila; two Billboard awards; three Lo Nuestro awards; five GRAMMY nominations in four different categories (engineer, producer, composer, and musician); four MTV awards and five ASCAP awards for the Most Played Latin Pop Song on US Radio.
Samo
Choir member at a church from the time he was five-years-old, Samo saw how each Sunday that space of Veracruz transformed into his very own Auditorio Nacional. Pushed by his parents and siblings, he later aimed to become an opera singer, and finally was recognized as one of the 100 Best Voices of Mexico in a talent contest. As such he arrived in DF. He was back-up singer for artists like Reyli, which he met Mario Domm through. Presently he is vocal figure and he is evolving as a composer:
“My career as an author is on the rise,” he explains, “the first tracks I have ever coauthored have been professionally recorder with Camila, yet there are other singers that are recording my songs. The fact that Ednita Nazario in Puerto Rico and the United States; and Diego Schoening in Mexico selected tracks that I wrote, not only for the repertoire of each of their latest albums, but also that as first singles, they have had a favorable response from the public, gives me the clear proof that I am doing things right. Also, the fact that Gloria Trevi, Christian Chávez and Yuri worked with me to choose songs written by me is another indication that I have all the talent to become a more well rounded artist for the public.
Pablo Hurtado
A graduated producer and audio engineer from the Fermatta School of Music, Pablo was born in San Luis Potosí, at the heart of a musical family. He started playing the piano at age five. His father introduced him to the guitar during adolescence and thanks to The Beatles, Brahms and Andrés Segovia, he learned the love for sound quality. He went on to have cover bands and play in musical theater. At age 21, in dire circumstances, he arrived at DF to study his bachelor degree, which he finished with a scholarship for his high achievements. This is how he describes his role in Camila:
“Mi role within Camila is more than just ‘the guitarist’. I make all the arrangements for the acoustic and electric guitars on all the albums, working as co-producer alongside Mario Domm. Additionally, I am co-author or co-composer on some songs. On the personal end, my partners tell me I am the balance of the group”.
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