Interview: Cameron Romance on Arroyo Secodelic and the Magic of Highland Park

As we march closer to the neon-hued chaos of Arroyo Secodelic, we are thrilled to present the second installment of our three-part interview series spotlighting the artists bridging our local scenes. After kicking things off with Valgur representing the haunting sounds of Mexico, we sat down with the enigmatic Cameron Romance to discuss her “Romance Army” and her deep roots in the Los Angeles underground. To round out the trilogy, stay tuned for our upcoming conversation with Axxident, who will be representing the cross-border synergy of the San Diego-Tijuana circuit. For now, dive into our long-form chat with Cameron as she prepares to turn her birthday set at the Cheerio Collective into the ultimate variety show spectacle.

ListenSD: Let’s chat about Arroyo Secodelic! Tell me all about it. Obviously, I knew that you were putting this together and were going to be involved back in December, so we’ve had such a long time to look forward to it.

Cameron Romance: I’m really excited to be part of it. The festival is organized by Guy [Keltner] and Tom [Segal]. Guy invited me to curate and host a show within the festival on Saturday, May 23rd — which also happens to be my birthday. He basically said, “Let’s make it your killer darkwave birthday party,” and I ran with it.

I had played Guy’s Freakout Festival in Seattle. I loved the scope of it [with] bands from all over the world, so it feels exciting to help bring some of that energy to Los Angeles. We ended up booking a lineup I’m really proud of: Valgur (Mexico City), Vinyl Palace (Chicago), and locals Chalk Teeth. There’s also going to be surprises and unexpected performances through the night. I don’t want it to feel like a standard show with a lull between sets. The goal is for the whole night to feel more like a fever-dream variety show than a typical cut and paste concert.

ListenSD: We cover a lot of festivals and those gaps between sets are always the most awkward times, right? So, I really want to know more about this variety show thing.

Cameron Romance: Well for starters, I’m recruiting many friends who are all very simpatico. I see a lot of like-minded people kicking ass and doing their thing. There is a very particular laws of attraction thing going on, and it stands in opposition to the times.

“When it comes to humans, I see things in a bit of a sci-fi apocalyptic way, so who’s got time for people that aren’t giving it all they got, on some level! Let’s inspire each other and not be boring.”

Since I’ve been doing this solo project, I feel grateful to have people on board performing with me and being a part of the other elements that go into putting on a show. Currently, I have Texas-born siblings Sloane and Felix performing with me. I dubbed them Celestial Twins. Together we speak a language that is unique and esoteric, yet unpretentious. It makes being a solo artist feel a little less lonely. I like to collaborate where I can.

ListenSD: I saw some videos of your show with them. They have a band called Lord Friday the 13th, right?

Cameron Romance: Yes! And I tell everybody to check out Lord Friday. They perform with me, not as musicians, but as my dancers. They have an unusual theater background that just works with my antics and so we have a lot of fun on stage. I’ll do every show with them that I can. They are definitely on board for the event. In addition to surreal contortionist extraordinaire, Lena Fumi, I’m thinking about writing myself a birthday song because I think “Happy Birthday” is overplayed.

ListenSD: We can definitely use a new birthday song, that’s for sure.

Cameron Romance: And I’m planning on making a giant cake and either having performance artist Sexorcist jump out of it or I may, since it’s my birthday after all. A bit of Body Horror, yet all glamour. Honestly, anything Sexorcist wants to do I’m down for! It’s going to be the party within the festival. There are venues like The Lodge Room, and Ebell, record stores and bookstores all in Highland Park, as is Cheerio Collective, the space for our event.

ListenSD: Which we would usually not see on the same bill! The Adolescents and Valgur, or Fear and Cameron Romance? But bring it on!

Cameron Romance: It’s in my DNA to just love so much music. I like it when things are a little more mixed up and eclectic. Oh, I also wanted to mention when I was a child, I went to a part of Oaxaca, very close to where Elizabeth and Hugo from Valgur grew up. I was totally transfixed. It looked like my dreams. I plan on returning and also really want to play with them in Mexico City.

That’s been a goal of mine with Cameron Romance: where do I want to go in the world? Life is short. There is Kid Moxie in Athens, Greece. I want to play Paris and visit new friends. I want to go to Detroit because I’ve never been and I want to see first-hand what’s currently happening in the birthplace of so much electronic music. Detroit and Chicago. I’ve been to Chicago, but never played there. It’s the home of House music after all. Oh my god, there are so many places. But yeah, Mexico City is huge. I loved playing there. People there are so enthusiastic about art and music. It really filled me with hope.

ListenSD: I’ve wanted to go to Freakout for a long time. I’ve always been impressed that Guy brings in bands from Mexico and Guatemala. With Arroyo Secodelic, you have the Adolescents and Fear who are iconic, but you also have Automatic, which is the ultimate LA band. I’m really looking forward to your show because it’s always so cinematographic. It’s like a movie. How do you come up with this stuff? Do you plan way ahead or is it on the fly?

Cameron Romance: Thanks for asking. I like a mixture of both. I have so many deep fantasies and ideas that I play around with before they actually make it to the stage. Often, I have a subtle theme I cook up. It’s in the music and the rest of show will all make sense. The sound is in alignment with the vision.

I used to do large-scale installation art and full immersion stuff. I’d like to get back into that one day. I’m always trying to bring that to venues…though I’ve had to learn where to draw the line because you can only spend so much time on staging when there’s a tight schedule.

This past year has been particularly gratifying and I’ve learned so much. I’ve been working a bit with Johnny Jewel and Megan Louise of Desire. I recently had the opportunity to open for them at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, which was my dream show. Johnny prepared these beautiful visuals/projections for me. It was perfect. Now, I’ve knighted three people on stage — it’s the “Romance Army” and it’s growing.

ListenSD: We saw that! We saw both you and Desire at Masonic Hall recently. Sometimes visuals can be distracting, but yours are cohesive. It looks effortless.

Cameron Romance: Thank you! Those visuals were all Johnny — him working with me — and I [couldn’t have imagined] those projections so well. When I graduated from art school at CalArts, I thought for sure that film was going to be the main path I was on. I was honored to be a part of Johnny’s first film and he included some images in the projections.

“The character is so large on stage, and then there’s little me playing synths and dancing underneath. It’s very meta and hilarious. The Cameron Romance persona has way more confidence than I do.”

ListenSD: That is what the stage is for!

Cameron Romance: Yes! On stage, you have no choice but to be in the moment. I don’t sweat the small details. One thing I should mention about the birthday party: the main goal is to have fun. I take that really seriously.

ListenSD: You have to seriously have fun!

Cameron Romance: Seriously, and find a balance…you have to practice, practice, practice to make sure everything sounds great. But it’s equally important to take a moment — even days before a show — to go see a friend perform or hang out with people who make you laugh. That’s just as important as learning the song again. I wrote the song, I’ll figure it out!

Cameron Romance: There’s a lot of “OG energy” at the festival with some new stuff to hopefully inspire the peeps.

ListenSD: We are super looking forward to this. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us.

Cameron Romance: Can I just tell you one other thing? I’ve been working on a full-length album. It’s a process and a story, and you’ll be able to hear a lot of these new songs in person. I’d like to show you something. (Cameron walks back over with the 3-disc vinyl)

When I played Hollywood Forever opening for Desire and Johnny Jewel, this already was a dream fulfilled. Italians Do It Better had put out a single of mine on their After Dark 4 compilation and [the vinyl was available for the first time at that show]. Johnny Jewel plays by no rules — he releases a killer compilation, and then the vinyl comes out three years later! Who does that? Look how beautiful the art is. This is the one I’m on…. purple vinyl. It felt great because I’ve been on a lot of other people’s albums, but I’ve held so much of my own music inside. I can’t wait to release it.

ListenSD: Can’t wait to hear the LP!

Cameron Romance: Thank you! It has a lot of 70s and 80s elements, from new wave, house, disco and I’m sure even my early love of krautrock seeps in. Everything is coming together without compromise.

ListenSD: We both have that electronic background and appreciation for performance art. I always like music that “rocks” in an electronic way. Sometimes electronic music can feel sterile or too “on the grid,” but yours isn’t like that.

Cameron Romance: No, definitely not. Thank you. It’s been such an honor talking with you. I always appreciate your support of art and music — truly, it means everything.

ListenSD: What would I do without all of these people to inspire me? We know Arroyo Secodelic is going to be a success because everyone involved is so beloved. I can’t wait to be there.

Cameron Romance: It’s going to be a fun neighborhood party.

ListenSD: I’m from Mexico City, but in my mind, I’m from the LA neighborhood, too.

Cameron Romance: The world is a neighborhood if you’re doing it right.

ListenSD: I like that. The world is a neighborhood if you’re doing it right.

Interview by Narda Crossley

Cameron Romance photos by @weirdo_music_forever

Cameron Romance live photos by @italiansdoitbetter