Cami Petyn turns pain into power once again with new Song & music video

If you haven't heard about Cami Petyn before, you sure are in for a treat. The Beach Town girl from San Diego pulls no punches as an artist, wielding an edgy pop sound that takes cues from her headbanging metalhead formation, imbuing many of her songs with electrifying riffs and aggressive rhythms that make her stand out from many of her contemporaries.

The dark accents that Cami weaves into her music aren't just for show, and in her latest single/music video we find out exactly why. "All My Friends Keep Dying From Drugs" takes all the heartbreak and disillusionment that comes with tragic death and lays it bare on a track that is confident, charismatic, and catchy as all hell.

Don't mistake the catchiness for a lack of seriousness. Cami is talking from the heart, and sadly from experience too. After hearing about yet another old friend dying from an overdose, she showed up to her studio session as emotionally devastated as you might expect. The phrase came from her lips just like that, and upon hearing it, her friend and producer Phil Simmonds -who has also experienced a similar situation- realized that it's something that definitely needed to be turned into a song. "Phil and I decided not to sugar-coat the subject," says Petyn "It was a heavy song to write and an even heavier song to record, but it was unexpectedly therapeutic. I hope, if anything, the song inspires listeners to continue the conversation about addiction. We need to talk about it more." she finishes.

Today In America, Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 18 to 45 years old. The harshness of this reality is not lost on Petyn, who has spent the past few months since writing this song researching the topic and using her vast social media reach to further promote discussion and education on the topic. Perhaps her dynamic presence and kick-ass music are what is needed to really reach not just a young and vulnerable audience, but also the widespread reckoning it deserves in the public discourse to get some positive changes going.

The visceral music video was brainstormed by Cami Petyn herself alongside Director Chad Narducci. And if you’ve given her one of her 3.3Mil likes on TikTok then you won’t be surprised by how well she takes to having a camera in front of her.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Samuel Aponte is Venezuelan-born raised and based. 

I joined Rival Magazine after a few years of doing PR work for independent musicians of all stripes; understanding their struggles to be heard in a sea of constant  ADHD noise and paywalled access to platforms, I now bring a willingness to always appreciate and encourage the effort and creativity that artists put into their work . Can also find some of my writings on LADYGUNN and We Found New Music.