Conversations with Cameron Ellis

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cameron Ellis.

Hi Cameron, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My name is cre2k. I’m an EDM producer and DJ based in Denver. I’ve spent the last couple of years behind the scenes producing for other artists, including a duo project I helped build from the ground up called Girl Defeated. A lot of the work I’ve done has been invisible, but it’s been essential to learning who I am as an artist and collaborator. Recently I made the decision to redirect my energy to make space for myself creatively and personally. Right now. I’m in this exciting, slightly scary phase of rediscovering my voice. I’m working on music that reflects everything I’ve gone through, especially my journey as a trans artist finding confidence and meaning through sound. Having put so much of my time into other projects, I don’t actually have much of a catalog in my own name. But with my recent pivot and decision to focus on myself, I have a ton of music I’m extremely excited to be releasing soon. And I’m sure by the time people are reading about this interview I’ll have already put out a project for them to know me by.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As a trans artist, I’ve had to fight to carve out space where I could be heard, where I could be me. That struggle has absolutely shaped my sound and my artistic signature. I feel like rave culture being so accepting really attracted me to that space. I literally feel safer DJing at a club than almost anything else. I think that comes through in the music I’m making now, feeling like I finally found a community that appreciates me for who I am and wants me to succeed. All of my recent work is oriented the idea of enjoying it with a crowd of people, and that’s a recent development for me, where I had previously only ever made music for myself.

I went through a several year period of being deeply depressed and having basically no friends, because I truly had no idea who I even was or what I wanted in life. I realized the only way I was ever going to make meaningful connections with people was to be unapologetically true to myself. And when the most significant step on that path was coming out to the world as a trans woman, risking my own safety and relationships, that was a lot more painful that I could have ever expected. I’m on the other side of that bridge now, and those experiences have granted me a level of confidence and compassion that I think will continue to guide me through the remainder of my artistic journey.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I DJ at various clubs around town and I produce my own/other artists music! I like to involve a lot of my own production into my sets, and seeing people at clubs actually enjoying something I created is the most inspiring thing ever. I’m also just good with sound stuff so I get hired to help with spontaneous gigs now and then 🙂 I also work a 9-5 at a hospital that I’m not in love with so any opportunity to make money through my actual interests is everything to me, which has been more and more frequent as of late.

Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
The majority of my more relevant collaborations have been my experiences producing for Girl Defeated. Through that we’ve found a surprising amount of support including winning two song competitions on a pretty massive music review youtube channel called “Hivemind”. I’ve DJ’d for a few artists including That Kid and Destino in Denver, as well as opened for a pretty popular pop artist named Gregory Dillon a couple of months ago at a venue downtown. I’ll also be DJ’ing for an incredible artist at Red Rocks this summer that I’m not actually sure if I’m allowed to reveal yet (I’m not sure how this interview structure specifically works but if I’ll be given any more questions in the future hopefully I’ll be able to announce it by then!), which still feels surreal. It’s a potentially life changing moment for me, even if my stage name isn’t technically on the ticket.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cre2k.bandcamp.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cre.2k/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@cre2k/videos
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/cre2k