Jam-Packed: These Musicians Made an Entire Album in Just 3-Days!
Co-created by Casey Cope and Marquito, Qamp is a 3-Day writing camp in Berkeley where dozens of Bay Area musicians and producers coming together to create a full length album in only 3 days. It’s that simple. This year marks their third album that they’ve created using this format.
This Saturday (December 16th) you can get your own sneak peek of their new album Qamp III. During a pay-what-you-can event at The Q in Berkeley, you you’ll get sneak a peek at the latest Qamp collab album.
Casey Cope and Marquito, creators of Qamp – all photos by Vita Hewitt
About a month back, I hopped over to Berkeley for Qamp, a 3-day album writing retreat. Musicians laid down lyrics written during the event on beats cooked up by producers. The result? Qamp III – an album born from the collaboration of over 20 local artists who teamed up for the first time ever to create musical magic in just one weekend!
Collaboration and Community are the heart of Qamp – all photos by Vita Hewitt
This marks my second time spending time with the Qamp artists, and it remains one of the most inspiring experiences to witness. Qamp is like that cool squad where everyone’s got each other’s backs, cheering on individual talents. Last year, you may have seen that I wrote a story about the backstory of Qamp, and you met some of the Qamp II artists about what the writing camp means to them.
Tommy Holmes plays sousaphone, laying down tracks – all photos by Vita Hewitt
“Qamp is an event where we hand select 20 artists & producers to come to our studio in Berkeley to make an album from scratch in 3 days, and we shoot a documentary of the process. We don’t allow people to bring premade beats or melodies they’ve already written — Qamp is about creation.Â
We started Qamp because we wanted an excuse to create with our favorite artists around the Bay. There were a few writing camps we couldn’t get into so we decided to just make our own. We thought that a camp specifically designed to create an album from scratch and make a documentary would distinguish it from other writing camps. I feel like we’re doing a pretty solid job at that,” says co-creators of Qamp Marquito and Casey.
They also film a documentary every year and you can see last year’s documentary to get to know what Qamp is all about and why this type of writing camp is so special:
The Artists Behind Qamp III & The Q
Every year, each of the artists featured on the Qamp albums are hand selected by the Qamp co-creators, Casey and Marquito. Casey and Marquito are members of The Q, a collaberative music space with 3 rooms decked out with everything that you’d need to produce and engineer an album.
Anjali Asha all smiles – all photos by Vita Hewitt
“It’s crucial that we hand select folks to fully articulate our vision. We want to create collaborations that haven’t happened before, so we try to make a point to not invite too many folks from the same circles. Qamp also can’t have too many overlapping skill sets. You can’t have 13 guitarists, ya know? Qamp III was especially curated in those ways,” says Casey and Marquito.
I’m not kidding when I say that each artist I met at Q when I was there during Qamp has more talent in their pinky finger than I’ve got in my whole body. And… no shade to you (a little shade)… they probably have more talent than most people. I’m in awe of their ability to throw caution to the wind and find new ways to push themselves.
To hear it is to believe it but the musical talent behind each Qamp album is awe-inspiring. I’m legit surprised every one of these people isn’t already signed to a major label. I just know that these are performers you gotta know. Get ready, ’cause in 2024, I’ll be shining the spotlight on each of these musicians individually.
Full List of The Artists Featured within Qamp III and where to find them online:
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Rittybo @rittybo
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Mungo Baby @mungo_baby
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Kiyomi @officialkiyomi
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SundaY @sunday.fng
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Qing Qi @allhailtheqing
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Oddity @oddity.mp3
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Ian Santillano @ian_santillano
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SuperGood4UThing @supergood4uthing
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Marika Sage @marikasage
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Anjali Asha @anjaliasha_
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Stoni @callherstoni
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Tia Nomore @tia.nomore
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Cin @cinthya.barron
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Tommy Holmes @tommyholmes.yeahman
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Claydough @callmeclaydough
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Sophia Bromberg @sophiiabromberg
MEMBERS OF THE Q at QAMP 3:
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Casey Cope @caseycopesodope
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Marquito @marquitoooo_
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Big Soda @the_real_big_soda
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Kchaya @kchayaaa
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PandaRaps @pandarapsalot
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Criibaby @criibabymusic
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Tope @itstope
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Nick Tasker @nicktaskermusic
You can also get to know the Qamp II crew in our write up of that album from last year here.
EVENT DETAILS FOR THIS WEEKEND:
Like I said earlier, this weekend’s your first chance to snag an early listen to Qamp III during their pre-release show. Swing by The Q at 707 Park Way in Berkeley for a pay-what-you-can event and catch a glimpse of their collab album.
@cinthya.barron
@callherstoni
@anjaliasha_
@marquitoooo_
@caseycopesodope
All artists from the upcoming album QAMP 3
Presented by @qamp__
Marquito (left) @marquitoooo and Casey (right) @caseycopesodope the co-creators of Qamp – all photos by Vita Hewitt
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