Good afternoon everyone today on Tunes For Tuesday I’m featuring the fantastic I See You by Ostrom.
Ostrom aka Cam is a twitch streamer from Canada. He only streams once a week at the moment, on a Friday, but his streams are always perfect to unwind with after a busy week. He has a great sense of humour and I always love hearing his stories on stream. He normally streams from his sitting room so his streams always seem very intimate as if your hanging out with a small group of friends which is really nice. Cam was kind enough to answer some questions for me so you can find out more about him from the man himself below!
You can follow Ostrom on social media or catch him on twitch by using the links below.
How To Listen
Ostrom’s beautiful music is available to listen to on most of the major streaming platforms and I definitely recommend listening to it. He doesn’t have any music on YouTube yet but below are some clips from twitch for you to enjoy. The first is his cover of Bittersweet Symphony and the second a cover of So Much by Alanna Matty.
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1104545165
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1047405100
Interview:
Tell us a little about yourself?
I usually introduce myself as a central Canadian music streamer on Twitch, but I’m a very nerdy guy with a small friendship circle who mostly keeps to himself! I like making stuff, and I like seeing people enjoy the stuff I make.
What first got you into music?
It took probably 20 years to recognize it, but my parents had very good taste. They played a lot of records I later came to appreciate and still listen to now. Tom Petty, Sarah McLachlan, Travelling Wilburys, k.d. lang… there are a lot of great songs that throw me back to the days of pillow forts and Popsicles.
Who inspired you to make music?
I remember listening to The Fratellis’ Costello Music at 15, specifically the song Whistle for the Choir. I had to learn it, it was just too good. So that song, and later Radiohead’s song Reckoner, were the first ones I taught myself on guitar.
These days, it’s anyone who makes me jealous, honestly! Listening to Justin Vernon really inspires me to pick up an instrument and try to make new sounds with it. So you could mark him down as a direct inspiration. I go back to Sparklehorse albums when it comes to the production side of things. Being on Twitch and in close proximity with other music makers is also an excellent motivator!
How would you describe the music that you typically create?
I think I’d have a different answer than most people who hear my music. I like the sort of story-forward folk songs just as much as the shoegazey, overdriven jam songs out there, and I like to think I’m slowly finding my footing somewhere in the middle of it. I would love to be able to create an accessible fuzzy folk album that marries everything I love about multi-tracked harmonies with an excessive number of guitar pedals.
What is your creative process like?
I’ll let you know when I’ve figured it out.
I’m only half kidding. Usually a word sparks a musical idea, or a melody will come out from somewhere, and those words and sounds go right into my phone as a standalone note or voice memo before I forget them. In my experience, my note docs usually expand into a lot of lyrics that rarely find music to suit them. So, the music typically comes first, and then I’ll sing gibberish over it in different ways until I find a melody I like. Then, words. Rarely does it all line up right away. Most of the time it’s incredibly annoying, like assembling a jigsaw puzzle and I’ve lost the box art to guide me.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
In the Twitch Music community? MaceJams, Alanna Matty, Crabkeekz, and CA_in_LA. All of them are amazing in their own special ways. I’m going to make it all happen.
If I had unlimited funds for a full-length album, I’d want to work with Dave Fridmann or Jon Brion producing. Or both?? That’d be incredible.
If you could go open a show for any artist who would it be?
Radiohead would be the obvious choice, but touring for Big Thief would be a dream come true. They just seem so lovely and on the same musical wavelength with each other. That’d be a joy to witness every night.
What is one message you would give to your fans?
Oh, my numerous fans! I’d prefer to call you my friends. Thank you for bearing with me. I am always improving as a musician and person because of your presence and support, and I hope I’m doing the same for you.
What is the most useless talent you have?
My pinky fingers are crooked, so I have an advantage when it comes to breaking turkey wishbones.
Although now I’m thinking of the barbaric nature of ritually snapping a tiny bone in two, and I’m kinda grossing myself out about it.
Do you sing in the shower? What songs?
I rarely sing in the shower! I grew up not really singing around others, but I’ll belt songs when I’m driving alone in the car. Usually I’ll sing whatever song I woke up with in my head. You ever have that happen? Where a song stays in your head for days and it hinges on torture? Anyways.
What would you be doing right now, if it wasn’t for your music career?
Oh boy, this is a question better reserved for a thriving musician-type! I work in advertising currently, and it’s a fine gig. I get to do a little bit of everything I love, from writing to graphic design to videography. It took a while and some discomfort and uncertainty to find the right place for me, but at the moment I think I’m there.
Where have you performed? What are your favourite and least favourite venues? Do you have any upcoming shows?
The last time I performed music live was over a decade ago! But I was a very different person then. At the moment, livestreaming music really checks all the boxes for me. I’m in my most comfortable space, singing as loudly as I want with all the chords in front of me, and I can stop a song when it isn’t working out and not risk upsetting a live crowd that’s expecting me to make it to the end, haha!
Releasing my own music has me thinking about what live performances could look like in the future. So, maybe someday!
How do you feel the Internet has impacted the music business?
I’ll speak to what I know. As a user, I appreciate the accessibility and discoverability of new music on services like Spotify and Apple Music, but I detest the way artists are denied their fair share through shady streaming revenue models and business practices.
As a creator, livestreaming spaces like Twitch have completely changed my outlook for what a live performance can be. Every music stream features an individual artist, but each channel is also its own venue with its own atmosphere and regular crowd, and users will choose to seek out the venue in which they feel most comfortable. As a result, now you’re making much stronger connections with people. This has always been an implicit part of livestreaming, but it’s more palpable when it comes to music streams in particular. Go browse that section and find some new music venues to hang out in, you silly goose!
I haven’t fully wrapped my head around it all, but I genuinely love playing music for people, providing a place where we can goof around, and leave it at that.
What is your favourite song to perform?
I enjoy singing songs that use my upper register. Lately I’ve been playing a little more piano (an instrument I am not good at) and I have a chord progression that I plunk out to myself when I first sit down. I’m enjoying the chords, but the lyrics and melody aren’t there yet. I really hope that one comes together the way I envision it!
Which famous musicians do you admire?
I admire people like Fiona Apple and Mark Linkous, artists who are averse to the typical social feedback loop and just let their art guide them. Musicians like that spend a lot of time in their own heads, and the music that comes out of them is so honest and present and self-aware. At least, in my opinion.
What is the most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?
I was a dorky and impressionable kid, and I was also a late bloomer and very short until my late high school years. So I got bullied, and that made a bully out of me. I once got in a full-on fist fight with one of my best friends and his little brother over a bad Pokemon card trade. We stayed friends, but that wasn’t my finest hour. Don’t ever trade your Charizard away, kids. You’ll regret it immediately.
What is the best advice you’ve been given?
It may not be the best advice, but a line I found resonated with me recently came from the movie The Founder, that McDonald’s film with Michael Keaton. “Nothing in this world can take the place of good old persistence. Talent won’t. Nothing’s more common than unsuccessful men with talent.”
Whether I was writing, or making a game, or trying to earn followers online, I had a bad habit of repeatedly getting in the way of my own success. Even before I’d start, I found the first dozen or so hurdles were ones that I’d erected for myself. I’m not experienced enough. I’ll have to learn the software. I’m not the person to tell this story. I’ll fall out of love with it before it gets off the ground. So on and so on. Exhausting. Brains can be real rude sometimes.
In plain words, just do the thing. Just try. If it doesn’t work out, don’t put it out to the world. Just keep it to yourself. You made the thing, you learned something from it, and now it’s yours forever.
Anyway, yeah. Persist.
If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?
I could answer this a few different ways, but I’m going to choose to stay optimistic about it. I would love to see a stronger blending of art and sound at live shows. Like, sure, merch sales in the lobby, show in the theatre, but let’s hang some off-shoot album art and prints in the hall. Let’s allow the crowd to influence the lighting and stage effects. Let’s introduce extended reality elements when someone goes to take a photo. There are so many ways to immerse an audience beyond placing them on a stadium floor and having them face the same direction. This is especially true for larger artists. There’s so much more room for creativity, I feel.
What’s next for you?
I have a new song coming out soon, it’ll be out on every service imaginable, I’m just determining the right visual to accompany it. You can find me by searching for Ostrom. Other than that, I’m gonna keep making music at my own pace, stream live on Twitch on Fridays, and perhaps self-publish some words I’ve written over the last three years or so. 🙂
Playlists:
You can now listen to Ostrom and all previously featured Tunes For Tuesday artists on a special playlist I’ve created on Spotify.
Thanks for reading and happy listening!
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