The Coolest Kind Of Camp
“SHAKING UP THE ROUTINE can lead to great creativity,” says Peter Coquillard, head of international at the management company Milk & Honey. As part of his enviable roles there and at his own firm, The Invitational Group, Coquillard helps songwriters and artists do just that by setting up trips for them to make music together in far-flung locations.
Industry folks know these types of excursions as songwriting camps, and while some involve camping out in urban centers like Los Angeles, Coquillard often sends his teams to far more unexpected locales — say, on an all-expenses-paid trip to make songs in a converted Transylvanian castle, including a private dinner at the location that inspired Dracula (as Coquillard did this past year).
The idea that creatives can thrive — and be productive — when taken out of their regular work environments is one that’s not only spreading but also encouraging more international collaborations. Prescription Songs, for example, hosted a camp in South Korea to acclimate its songwriter roster to the lucrative world of K-pop; Universal Music Publishing China and She Is the Music teamed up to host an all-women writing camp in China; and S10 hosted a stay in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
Placing talent in a totally new environment can do good in more ways than one. Jackson Browne hosted his own camp in recent years with a philanthropic twist, taking over Artists Institute, a Caribbean seaside studio and school outside Jacmel, Haiti, and inviting musician friends like Jonathan Wilson and Jenny Lewis to work with local Haitian engineers and Lakou Mizik, a roots band from the country. The unlikely group ended up creating a full album, Let the Rhythm Lead, Song Summit Vol. 1, and the project’s royalties were donated to benefit both the institute and another school in Port au Prince. “It’s a really powerful, unique album ... interweaving North American indie rock with beats and percussion of Haitian Vodou, Spanish and Malian guitar [and] Tres Flamenco with songs in English, Creole, Khassonké, Manding and Spanish,” says the studio’s co-founder David Belle.
These overseas camps can get pricey, but Coquillard says that, for him, it’s a long-term play — investing in international relationships and building a community of worldwide talent is just as crucial as producing hits. And getting songwriters out of their usual routines is, he says, more than worth the trouble: “Giving them something to alter their normal perspective, and to give them a bit of beauty and wonder, usually translates to great songs.”
The International Group/Milk & Honey songwriting camp team doesn’t plan to slow down. Coquillard’s so-called Bali Songwriting Invitational led to the creation of Noah Cyrus’ hit “July” and Demi Lovato’s “Sober,” and the Transylvania camp led Milk & Honey and songwriter Oak Felder to discover the untapped potential of Romania’s songwriters; together, they launched a joint-venture publishing and production company with Romanian star Smiley’s HaHaHa Productions called Romdrops.
“Truly,” Coquillard says, “you never know where great talent will come from.”