Camila Cabello

With hits like Havana, Señorita, Never Be the Same, and Don’t Go Yet, it might be surprising that as a kid Camila Cabello hated being in the spotlight. In this interview, Camila and Eric talk about overcoming her shyness, how she’s built her career since The X Factor, and finding her own voice.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Pushkin. Your shyness is something that can be worked through
for people that are listening that are singers that have
stage fright and are shy. It's not something that necessarily
has to stop you from doing what you're passionate about.
It's an opportunity for you to grow from that. That's

(00:36):
Camila Cabayo, the artist behind hit songs like Havana, Never
Be the Same and Don't Go Yet. And if you've
heard her sing, she certainly doesn't sound shy. Just listen
to her in the most stream song of twenty nineteen.
Her duet was Shawn Mendez Senoritas. A lot of singers

(01:04):
I work with grew up really loving being in the
spotlight and performing in public, but not Kamila. I've heard
stories of so many great artists being like, you know,
when I was little, I would put on shows from
my family, and I would go around my house and
whoever was willing to listen to me singing, I would
sing for them. I remember hearing that, especially when I
was younger and kind of feeling a little bit of
imposter syndrome or like I was like, oh my god,

(01:26):
I don't have that. Does that mean that I won't
be able to achieve or do as much as they did.
Michael Jackson or Beyont. They're like singing since they were little,
and they don't look shy, and they love it and
they want to do it in front of people. And
I was not like that. I would get so embarrassed.
Sometimes I would start crying. I was so shy. This

(01:47):
is backstage passed with Eric Vitrow, and I'm Eric Vitro.
I have to say I love my job because I
get to coach some of the most talented and famous
singers working today. On this show, I talked to them
about their lives, their craft, and how they overcome the
anxieties and insecurities to so many of us experience. I

(02:08):
actually auditioned for the chorus in school when I was
in fourth grade. I got so nervous. I forgot the
words too. I think it was my country. Tiss of
Thee was the audition song, and I just kind of
like froze, and my teacher was like, it's okay. He
did a great job. And I looked next week at
the list outside of my homeroom class to see if
I'd made it. I didn't make it. The first person

(02:30):
that really made me feel like I could sing well.
Was my drama teacher when I was in seventh grade,
because we had this thing where you had to audition
for the school musical, like it was like part of
your assignment. You couldn't not do it, and you had
to do a monologue and sing a song of your choice.
And however, this was in private, so it was just
you and a teacher, So my shyness slash stage fright

(02:55):
wasn't a thing because it was just me and the teacher.
And so I sang Listen by Beyonce. I was like
in seventh grade. I was like thirteen, and he was like, wow,
like you can really sing, and he knew that I
was shy and like I wouldn't voluntarily do something like that.
It was part of my grade. And he was like,
if I give you like a large part in the musical,

(03:17):
will you do it? This is how bad fear can be, guys.
I was like no, and he gave me a smaller
part in the musical. And I just like had that
shyness early on in school. And it was really through
like growing up and kind of adopting the mentality of like,
you know what it can take five seconds of bravery

(03:38):
to change your whole life. Her five seconds of bravery
came when she auditioned for the singing competition The X Factor.
I remember when I auditioned for X Factor. My family
was like, this came out of nowhere, because I didn't
even sing for my family, So they were like, how
are you going to sing for the first time ever
by yourself in front of an audience of a few
thousand people. Then I just pushed myself to do it.

(04:00):
My knees were shaken and I'm sure my voice was cracking.
I remember seeing black dots. I felt like I was
going to pass out from nerves. But I felt proud
of myself because I pushed myself to do the thing
that I was afraid of, and those five seconds of
bravery really paid off. Her performance on The X Factor
led to her joining the popular all girls singing group

(04:21):
Fifth Harmony. I remember like work from home when I
was fifth in Fifth Harmony, and I had this one
high note like in the last chorus that was this
ad lib? What was it? You ain't gotta go to work?
And I did that ad lib in the studio. But

(04:48):
then when I would get up on stage and do
it in front of people. I remember we had to
perform in front of the Billboard Awards. I would get
really nervous and crack on the note and miss the note.
And it wasn't until I started working with you that
we were like, okay, you have you know, the front
and back support. You open your mouth, you don't tense
your throat, and then I was consistently hitting that note.

(05:09):
I actually remember saying, I want you to enjoy doing it.
I don't want you to fear it totally. I remember
being on stage and when that note would come up,
I would be like, oh my god, it's coming, It's coming,
and you were like, instead of doing that, just be
like all right, here we go, like I'm ready. And
it's crazy because it's like all of your thoughts have
a physiological response. So when you're saying, oh, the note

(05:33):
is coming, the note is coming, my throat would tighten
and my mouth would tighten, and that's why I would
crack because I would tighten too much. What's that thing
you said to me recently? You were like loose but focused. Ye.
That whole mentality definitely change things for me a lot.
And I actually I bet that that happens to a
lot of people that are singing too, is that they

(05:54):
sing in their room and they are so comfortable and
having the best time, and then they get in front
of a lot of people and that kind of stage
fright comes with a physiological response and then they're like,
oh my god, I don't sound as good as I
do when I'm in my room. And that's like a
whole other craft's performing in front of other people and
being able to like to do it well. Yeah, our

(06:16):
motions take over and that's one of the things we
have to learn to deal with. But that's what techniques
all about. And you know, I feel like people need
to hear. Yeah, you might get nervous now and get scared,
but you can overcome that. There are techniques you can
learn to use, and there's mental techniques as well as
vocal techniques. As you're saying it, I'm thinking back and

(06:37):
I hadn't really processed this in my mind before. But
I used to see you get nervous and you would
always say to me, I'm really nervous, and so we
would do things like the breathing exercises in your dressing room.
But it's so strange now I'm realizing that I never
really was that nervous about you and your anxiety about performing,
because I always knew somewhere inside of me she's gonna

(07:00):
get on stage and she's gonna kill it. I've always
had like a really really vivid imagination, and I think
that that's really good but also incredible fuel for anxiety
and nerves, because your mind is just like, here are
all the scenarios that can go wrong, and suddenly your
body is living it and you're nervous and your knees
are shaking. I do remember when I was younger seeing

(07:20):
Beyonce say something that I was really affected by, where
she was like, actually, if I'm not nervous, I'm worried
because it means I don't care as much. So if
I'm nervous, it means I care about this. My heart
cares about this, and that nervousness, which is just energy,
actually just becomes fuel and it makes me hit the

(07:41):
dance moves with more hunger. It makes me hit that
note with more hunger. And I hundred percent applied that
to me, especially an X factor and like in Fort
Harmonia and still now I kind of say this thing
in my brain like where I'll feel nervous and I'll
be like, you know what, great, I want to be
more nervous, Give me more nerves. I mean, it's honestly

(08:02):
so crazy how much performing is a mental game. After
the Great, Kamila talks about the big performance where she
was able to reframe her anxiety into something positive. Welcome
back to backstage pass. So when Kamila and I sat

(08:24):
down to talk, I was curious to hear when things
changed for her, Like what was the first performance where
she really felt like she came into her power as
a singer. The two times that I most remember feeling
like that were both at the Grammys, especially Havannah. I

(08:49):
remember for days before that, just like mentally preparing, because
I would kind of have these little bursts of thoughts.
That was like before I was meditating, and my what
if thoughts kind of still had me by the balls,
and so I would have like these little thoughts of like,
oh my god, what if I forget my dance break movements?
And I would just be like I would just kind
of return it back to gratitude, like I'm so thankful

(09:11):
that I get to do what I love today, my
mission and my personal intention for that performance was this
is for my team, because it was kind of like
the end of that first album cycle and felt like
my team and I had just like worked really hard.
I remember saying to myself, this is a celebration. It's
a celebration, and just like giving it a new context
as opposed to, oh my god, I'm opening the Grammys

(09:32):
and this is so nerve wracking, just changing it to
my personal mission. And I remember at that time too,
using that philosophy of like, you know what, great, I
want to be nervous. I want to be nervous. Give
me more nervous energy. The more nervous energy, the better.
And I remember really being present when I was on
that stage. I find that when I'm really nervous, like

(09:54):
what helps me too is just taking it one second
at a time, one note at a time, and before
you know it, you're at the end of the performance.
But you can't be thinking about that. You have to
be like, Okay, it's the first few seconds of the song.
I'm going to open my mouth, use my breath support,
focus on this note. Now, I'm going to focus on
this note. Now, I'm gonna put my emotion into this sentence.

(10:15):
So if you just take it like one second at
a time, you just have to trust that that carries
you over. When you don't have the right mindset, it's
like you can practice more than anybody and your mind
won't let you even enjoy the fruits of your labor.
If you look at it emotionally, you're like, oh my god,
and there's a bunch of people, But objectively you're like,

(10:36):
I literally have done this a million times. I've done
this song with Eric like a million times. In the beginning,
I didn't hit all of these notes. Now I know
exactly how to so now it's just like, just do
it and enjoy it. I've bombed performances and cracked on
national TV. I did the best with what I could
at the time, and then I FaceTime do the next day,

(10:56):
and then we worked at it, and then next time
I didn't mess up anymore. Everybody messes up. Everybody has
had stage fright, everybody's nervous before. Everybody let their nerves
get to them at some point. That's not failure, that's
just a part of living. A huge part of becoming
a singer is dealing with nerves, but another big part
is finding your own voice. I'd never had voice lessons before.

(11:20):
When I first met you, that's the first time I
really was introduced to the technique of singing, and that
completely changed my life because before I feel like I
had like stylistic stuff that I liked and that I
integrated into how I sang, like from other people like
Demi or Justin Bieber. But I definitely feel like I

(11:43):
incorporated a lot of the stuff they did stylistically from them,
Like I know, like Demi used to do when I
was younger, like decays a real decais me, like kind
of do this breath thing at the end of words
like me, and I do that still like I've always
done that. So there's kind of like different inflections that
I feel like I've taken from those people, Like now

(12:03):
I'll be like you babe, and I'll like do that
like breath thing, because I learned it from her. That's
just like how I grew up singing. I feel like
I couldn't say that that's all me because I feel
like probably so many people influence to me and like
keep influencing me. You taught me, like really the technique
on how to you know, make my voice sound less

(12:25):
nasally and more clear, or be able to have like
a longer range of notes and be able to hit
high notes consistently and not hit them because I was nervous.
I look back at, you know, some of the songs
that I sang, especially when I was younger, and it
was like more nasal than I wanted it to be.
And I told you that. I was like, you know,
I would be like and I would be like, I

(12:46):
don't want to sound that nasal. And we worked on
that to the point where now in that part of
my tone, I took that out and I don't feel
like I sound nasal anymore. Like the technique of singing
really changed how my voice sounded, and I remember liking
how my voice sounded so much better. And it's crazy
how you can have, you know, like a seed of

(13:07):
like a talent or whatever, but the technique is truly
like what makes you grow a craft? Do you have
a favorite vocal exercise? My favorite vocal exercises are just
the very simple, stretchy ones like he or just like
the simple ones that you start me out with, like
what's like that, Mama that we start out with, Mamma, Yes,

(13:31):
that's my favorite one. That's my favorite one really, Mamma, mamma.
Love it. Just stretchy, simple, nice, feels like a little
massage on my vocal chords. I like that. I like
that a lot. So if I played this, that's the
one you would like. Love that. Sing it. Let me

(13:52):
hear you sing it. We love that. And that's so
funny to me because I always think of you as
someone who loves being challenged, and you always say to me,
challenge me, challenge me. So it's so funny to hear
you say you really enjoy that one. It's such a
simple one. And yet I guess I shouldn't be surprised
because so many people have said the same thing. I

(14:12):
love being challenged. The whole philosophy of stoicism I love
and like one of the things about stoicism is the
obstacle is the way, Like whatever's challenging you, whatever you're resisting,
whatever's making you afraid, that's the way, Like that's what
you have to do. So I do love being challenged
because I know that, you know, with the ear training
and like with the you know, the complicated patterns, or

(14:32):
with the notes that are minor and a little bit weird,
I know that's going to change my ear in good
ways and probably going to change my songwriting and the
melodies that I come up with. So I'm like, okay,
that's the way forward. However, the most relaxing, nice thing
for me are definitely the simpler ones, but I know
the challenging ones are the ones that I have to
do more right, So we keep a balance of both. Yeah, totally.

(14:54):
I was trying to think about it the other day.
Do you know how long we've known each other? I
found a photograph of you and I that dates all
the way back to twenty thirteen. That's insane. I mean,
you are one of those once in a lifetime teachers,
like in all ways, not just vocally, but just like
as a person and your soul that you come around

(15:17):
and you like really change lives and you improve the
lives of all of your students. I mean, you've literally
seen me go from nervous wreck to less a little
bit less of a nervous wreck, way less of a
nervous wreck. Your shyness is something that can be worked
through for people that are listening that are singers that
have stage fright and are shy. It's not something that

(15:38):
necessarily has to stop you from doing what you're passionate about.
It's an opportunity for you to grow from that. If
you don't do what you're afraid of, that thing suddenly
has power over you. That thing suddenly has a hold
on you. And that's something that I carry that helps
me a lot in my career nowadays too, because I
think that a lot of people don't realize, like in life,

(16:00):
it's not like you do the thing you're afraid of
and then you're never afraid again. Your whole life, you're
going to be afraid of things. And I think what
makes the difference and how I define successes pushing myself
to do those things that I'm afraid of and proving
to myself, not for anybody else, but proving to myself,
I'm not going to let this thing have a hold
of me, and you know what, I'm going to go
out there and feel the fear and do it anyway.

(16:24):
Stay tuned and we'll be right back with our vocal
tip of the week. I think probably the most familiar sound,
the most familiar musical exercise that everyone has heard at

(16:47):
one point or another in their life. When someone is
practicing the piano or practicing their singing is scales. Everyone
has heard a major scale like that at least once
in their life, but there are many variations that are
valuable when you want to stretch yourself and reach your
full potential. I'm going to show you one of those

(17:09):
variations today. It sounds like this. I would recommend practicing
it and holding the top note, sometimes with vibrato and
sometimes without, so that you get used to being able
to do either easily. Bases, baritones and tenors. Why don't

(17:32):
you start on a sea below middle C? Sopranos and

(18:29):
alto's A good spot for you to start would be
on a B flat right below middle C. That's it,

(19:36):
nice and simple. If you want to share how you
sing your scales, I'd love to hear you. Use the
hashtag Backstage passpod on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or wherever you
like to post. I can't wait to see your videos.
I'll see you next week maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe
maybe maybe maybe maybe maybe. Backstage Pass with Eric Vitro

(20:04):
is written and hosted by me Eric Vitro and produced
by Morgan Joffee. Katherine Gerardo is our showrunner. Emily Rosstek
is our associate producer, Kate Parkinson Morgan as our editor.
The show is mixed and mastered by Ben Holliday. Additional
engineering help is from Jacob Gorski and Martin Gonzalez. Mia

(20:25):
Lobell as our executive producer. Our development team, Litl Mulad
and Justine Lange helped create the show. Thanks also to
Jacob Weisberg, Heather Fame, John Schnarz, Carl Migliori, Christina Sullivan,
Eric Sandler, Maggie Taylor, Nicole Morano, Daniella Lacan and Royston Deserved.
The original theme music is by Jacob and Sita Steele

(20:46):
for Premier Music Group. We record at Resonate Studios. Fred
Talkson does our videography and the photography is by Ken Sawyer.
A very special thanks to Michael Lewis for his inspiration
and the best guidance anyone could ask for. Backstage passed
with Eric Vitro as a production of Pushkin Industries. If
you like the show, please remember to share a rate

(21:08):
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(21:32):
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