Like most things, there is a first step. For senior Charles Campbell, it always begins with a guitar. 

He progressively moves into using more instruments to create a rich sound for the song. 

Then, he transitions into the creation of the lyrics, which are based on his personal experiences. 

He says that this is the section that brings the song to life. 

“Lyric-wise, music-wise, it just happens,” Campbell said. “It’s just like a bomb drops in my head and it just comes out.”

Music isn’t a new field for Campbell, with his passion starting out at a young age, he’s always had a strong connection with music. Now, he’s taken his career to the next level. His development and progression has led him to produce songs that were inspired from his childhood music.

His starting note

When attending sermons as a child, he listened to the beat, rhythm and lyrics of the music. The sound of it left a lasting impact.

His family picked up on his interest early on, and they wanted to build on it.

At the age of 2, he was finding ways to make noise and fill the air. So, they ultimately purchased a drum set, and that was yet another way that started his music journey.

As the years passed by, his passion only grew. 

By the age of 11, they put him in drum lessons. He met with his instructor once a week, but after about two months, the instructor said that there was no need to continue due to Campbell’s already apparent talent.

Throughout his childhood, Campbell worked to learn other instruments as well. In 5th grade, he joined the ukulele club.

Campbell says that his family has been one of the most influential and important factors throughout his musical endeavours. His mother, Colby Campbell, is someone who has continued to support him.

“I believe in exposing kids to whatever they want and what they gravitate to, having everything that they need to be successful,” Colby said.

She would also get him all of the instruments that he needed at any point in time.

By the time Campbell got to high school, he was already using his creativity and instrumental skills to create his own songs. 

Colby liked her son’s creations and wanted to find a way to promote his songs in order to give him a boost of confidence. When he released his songs, she wanted to make sure he received the most recognition possible so she sent them to everyone she knew.

As her son continued his musical journey, Colby makes a visible effort to attend his performances. 

Not only does Campbell have support at home, but he also has it at school. Band director Jeff Maupin has witnessed his progress from freshman to senior year. Maupin says that his progress is due to his

 dedication in and out of class.

“His passion drives him to constantly improve and be better,” Maupin said.

Campbell experimented with instruments in previous years, but he says his teacher has really made him a better

 musician.

“Maupin has been a huge part of my life,” Campbell said. “He has helped me push myself to my limits and motivate me to get better at what I do.”

Maupin says that not only does this show Campbell’s dedication to play, but it also showed his leadership qualities throughout this process. In class, he would often help other students when they needed it.

Pitch-perfect production

Campbell’s music production is a very detailed process.

He starts with trying to figure out what he wants the song to sound like on his guitar. Once he has that decided, he then experiments with a wide variety of instruments, which can range from bass guitar, ukulele, piano and more. He uses that array of instruments to configure the rest of the song.

Then, he figures out the lyrics and eventually puts everything together after recording each section to unveil the finished product. 

The last and final touch is fine-tuning his songs. 

This whole process typically lasts between a few months and a year, but sometimes inspiration prompts him to work much quicker. His song

“Bright Outside,” for example, was completed in only a week.

Along with “Bright Outside,” he has released two more songs under the stage name CEEJAY, which are “Violet Vows” and “Soda Can.”

“Bright Outside” was one of the first songs that he put out, it represents his emotions during a tough time in his life. Within his writing, he used metaphors to be as direct as possible. 

The second song was geared towards his admiration for a girl. 

“Violet Vows is a love ballad,” Campbell said. “ … It’s about a girl that I met last year, and I was thinking about it, and I saw an Instagram post that was like, ‘You are my color purple,’ and I scrolled, and purple meant someone that came into your life and made it better by being there.”

Additionally, Campbell recently released a song that came out on Sept. 19, called “Soda Can.” The sound of opening a soda can was used behind the chorus. His main intention for this song was to use his creativity in a fun and entertaining way. 

Campbell says his songs have deep meaning to him, and he uses his songs as an emotional outlet.

He creates different kinds of music: rap, R&B or pop, all of which convey different messages based on the instrumentals in each genre.

“Violet Vows” is R&B. “Soda Can” is pop. ”Bright Outside” is a mixture of both.

Campbell says none of this would have been possible without the support that he gets from the ones closest to him.

“I don’t think I would have released any of my music already if it wasn’t for my friends and family,” Campbell said. 

Senior Levi Greene, one of Campbell’s ch

ildhood friends, has been there to support him through his progress. 

“I’ve listened to all of his music, even some of the unreleased stuff,” Greene said. “Every single song that he writes just keeps getting better and better.”

He has many supporters among his friends who even helped him get one of his songs played at the Homecoming dance. A group of his band friends requested that “Bright Outside” be played by the DJ. Greene was one of those friends who wanted to get Campbell’s song promoted.

Campbell says that his friends consistently give him words of encouragement and continue to promote his

songs as a way of helping him.

 The finale

Looking ahead, Campbell plans on going to Anderson University to study music and business.

After college, he hopes to continue with music and make it his full-time career. 

“(I want to) start my own record label,” Campbell said. “Helping other independent music artists like myself.”

He also plans to release more music and help others to progress and strive toward their goals in this field like he has.