Meet Camilla Vaitaitis and Alec Wenzel of Specific Ocean

Today we’d like to introduce you to Camilla Vaitaitis and Alec Wenzel.

We met as jazz students at the University of Denver in 2013. Hoping to explore other musical areas besides jazz, we formed Specific Ocean in late 2014. Our personnel has shifted extensively through the years, but core members Alec Wenzel, Clayton Vye, and Camilla Vaitaitis remained active throughout. Recently, Clayton made a move outside of Colorado, so the band is now run by Camilla and Alec.

In 2018, Specific Ocean released our first self-titled EP comprised of four original songs. This was followed up by our sophomore release, “Muscle Memory” in November of 2019. Working through the pandemic, Specific Ocean has released multiple socially-distanced videos, including a cover for the 303 Magazine Cover Contest that placed us in the top 10 and a NPR Tiny Desk live submission of our upcoming single, “Killjoy”.

Specific Ocean is looking forward to getting into the studio this fall to begin work on our upcoming full-length album.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest struggles we have faced have been the shifting personnel changes. While we’re always able to write new material as the core members, the changes in personnel have made live music promotion more difficult.

Another obstacle we have faced is that due to our busy schedules as working musicians, we cannot always find time to rehearse as often as we’d like, so our process can at times be slower. However, we both constantly write new music, so when we do find time to come together, there is no shortage of material.

Can you give our readers some background on your music?
Specific Ocean writes and performs original indie music that is reflective of our diverse musical backgrounds. Jazz, alternative, hip-hop, and funk are all notable components of our sound. We’re known for energetic live shows that allow for a lot of improvisation within the structure of our writing.

Camilla: I am most proud of the community of friends and musicians who I have been able to connect to through my time with Specific Ocean. I am also proud of our new single, “Killjoy” which will be released soon!

Alec: I am most proud of Camilla and I’s ability to write together so freely. Our long friendship gives us the ability to feed off each other’s ideas really easily. Plus, the community around is really strong so we’re able to call together musicians to help us realize these ideas and I think that’s really special that we all rely on each other as artists in that way.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Our second EP release show on Nov. 15, 2019, was our proudest moment. This show took place at Lost Lake and was nearly sold out. We were able to perform with two of our other favorite Denver bands, Amazing Adventures and Panther Martin. This show was a great night where our community came together to support us and the release of our EP “Muscle Memory”.

Contact Info:

• Phone: 303-928-9026
• Email: specificoceanband@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/specificoceanband/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/specificoceanband
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/specificoceanco

Image Credit:
Caroline Baker, Athena Wilkinson, Annaleisa Friednash

Suggest a story: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.