Bianca Ocampo

photography by TAYLOR ORYALL @it.me.lil.tfeaturing BIANCA OCAMPO @bianca.jpeg

interview by GISELLE MELENDRES @gisellelisabeth

Bianca Ocampo is not your typical college student. Often recognized under the artist name of “Urbanation”, Bianca is a self-produced indie singer, songwriter, and musician whose dreamy bedroom pop music has reached thousands of listeners on Spotify, iTunes, and Soundcloud. With a natural affinity for music and songwriting, Bianca never imagined one of her first original songs “Bitter Pill” would become what an overnight sensation. Today we chatted with Bianca about how she got her start: the challenge of balancing both school and music, getting over heartbreak, and the inspiration behind her upcoming album. Take a look at our interview to learn more about the creative mind behind Urbanation:

Hey Bianca! Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us here at Mad Sounds. To start, tell us a little about what a day in the life looks like for Bianca Ocampo?

Thank you so much for having me! I’m so happy to be a part of the last issue of Mad Sounds. Typically, my day starts with work at my on-campus job. I’ve become more of a morning person for that reason and I also constantly feel like there’s never enough hours in the day so waking up early makes all the difference. I am a full-time student so usually after work everyday I go to my classes, and in my gaps between class I’m usually doing homework, doing emails for intern or music stuff, editing a song, writing ideas, or if I’m lucky and feeling up to it... at the gym. I save weekends for spending time with family back home, hanging out with friends, and catching up on studying.

You currently make music under the name of Urbanation, can you tell us about how that name came to be?

It’s honestly kind of an underwhelming origin story. I came up with it when Instagram first came out when I was in middle school. I used to be really into photography then so i kept that username for my photography Instagram (you can still see my old pictures on there) and it just kind of stuck. I ended up using “urbanation” for everything including my Soundcloud username and that became the name of my music project. I’m hoping to change it though eventually; I don’t know how I feel about it anymore, which is why my album is going to be called “don’t ask me what it means…” The title could be referring to a lot of things but mainly it’s about “urbanation.”

What initially made you want to start making music? Did singing and composing music always come naturally to you?

I started piano lessons when I was four years old and I think that’s where my general know-how stems from. My family is pretty musical as well—my mom can sing really well and I’d like to think I took after her. I also played violin in my middle school and high school orchestras and I actually really enjoyed that part of my K-12 experience.

I started posting covers on Soundcloud in 2013 and I very gradually became interested in the process of composing music. I’ve always been someone who enjoys making things, like photography and film, mostly because of how satisfying it is to piece together something nice from little parts. Once I started noticing feedback on my original music, I thought, “Oh, people like this stuff,” and it inspired me to continue making my own sounds. If you asked me about music theory, though, that’s another story. I’m definitely a play-by-ear type of girl.

You released your first official single “Bitter Pill” back in 2017 and have been releasing music since. What inspired “Bitter Pill”?

Bitter Pill was written about my first major heartbreak. The song’s about realizing that you might have made a mistake, and how you can liken the feeling to when you bite down on a pill and it ends up being really bitter; you can’t really do anything about it but wait for the taste to go away. It’s about being so desperate that you’re willing to let someone else in your life just to distract you from the pain of being heartbroken. Having moved on, I can think about that time now without feeling bad about it, but I remember that song doing so much for me and my healing process at the time. Bitter Pill was one of the first songs that helped me to realize that writing was like a superpower; being able to encapsulate something terrible into something beautiful that you want to repeat over and over again is really profound to me.

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How do you come up with lyrics to a song? What is your creative process for making songs?

It depends, my iCloud notes are filled with ideas. I have a lot of little one liners and poetry that don’t always make sense but I can always remember what I was writing about when I look back at them. I’m also fascinated by the idea that people are made up of stories; I like to people watch and make up little life stories for them, and sometimes I write about those.

It’s important for me to write about things that are personal to me because I feel like that’s the whole point of writing. I feel like I’m having everyone read my diary which is kind of strange but that’s where subtlety, wordplay and subliminal messages are key. Sometimes I’ll expand a lot more on a small experience, but regardless, my music is always genuine to me, how I’m feeling, and my current influences.

You’re also hoping to release an album soon. What can we expect from the music in that album?

It’s definitely been a challenge trying to make a big project that feels cohesive and representative of me. I have a ton of ideas that I have collected over time, and my fear is that they become too outdated that I don’t feel that excitement or connection with them anymore. I have a graveyard folder in my hard drive of “stale songs” that I initially loved that won’t ever reach anyone else’s ears. For that reason, long term projects can be daunting.

You can expect the album to be a genre-bending record. I see myself as an “inconsistently inconsistent” chameleon person and I’d like that variability to translate through (in?) my music. I like variety and I’m always experimenting with different sounds; I love bedroom pop but I’m hoping to transcend the genre that I tend to be labeled as. I want a song to sound like 80’s New Wave and another to be like super poppy or just plain weird. We’ll see what happens. Walking through a fun house and trying out different distorted mirrors... that’s kind of what I want the album to be like.

Who are some of your biggest inspirations for music? Who are your some of your all time favorite bands or artists?

Karen O, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Mitski, Japanese Breakfast, Soccer Mommy, Beach House. I’m definitely missing people from this list and will probably remember who after this interview is published.

In addition to making music you also are a full time college student at UC Davis. How do you balance performing, making music, and still being a student?

Easy, I don’t! I try my best, though. I am the type of person that loves being busy all the time because I feel like I’m living life to the fullest. It can be exhausting, but what motivates me is that everything I’m doing… It’s what I want to do. I call it “good stress.” A lot of people ask me how I balance everything and I assure those people that it’s really not bad. I still have time to spend quality time with family, friends, and pursue my non-music career opportunities as well -- At least I make the time. I’m a big believer in the idea that you can make time for things that are important to you, no matter how busy you are.

It can be difficult to find your niche in a creative scene when you live in a small town. What advice would you give to those hoping to make a name for themselves or get into the music scene while not living in a big city?

In a big city, I feel like you’re surrounded by so many people that are accomplished or at least portray that image, and being overwhelmed by that can stifle creativity. I grew up in quiet suburbia, and now that I’m in an even smaller town, I find that I feel even more compelled to pursue my craft. It’s only natural that being in a quiet place makes you want to fill it with sound, literally and figuratively.

My advice to folks that don’t live in big cities is to be extremely open to meeting new people! Networking is important in all that you do. I’m not recommending to meet people just for the sake

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of self-promotion or to purely milk opportunities for your own self-benefit. What I mean is to seek genuine and personal connections. As a previous introvert, music has led me to meet so many friends and acquaintances, and I’ve made so many cherished memories out of those relationships. If I had continued to be the hermit I naturally am, I probably wouldn’t have discovered the local music scene here. For one, meeting cool people like the folks at the local radio station KDVS 90.3 FM has connected me to gigs and opportunities I’m very grateful for. Being in a college town is great for meeting people so college students: make the most of it while you can.

Personal branding is such a large part about creating an identity for yourself as a music artist. How would you describe your personal brand?

Internet culture tends to be very superficial and terrible for mental health so with that in mind, I try to be as real as possible on social media. I think it’s important to tailor your socials to make them true to who you are, although to be honest I still catch myself being part of the problem sometimes. (That’s what Face Wants is about) I’m working on being more transparent and just using it less. On Instagram, I think the whole perfect feed-perfect life look has died and it’s just cooler to be weird and real with your audience.

Since I’ve been doing a lot more performances recently, I use social media more to promote those things. Being your own marketing team can be really tiresome and sometimes you can feel like you’re in people’s faces, but that’s really something you can’t be shy about if you want people to hear your music and come to your shows. One day I hope to have Frank Ocean @blonded clout-- to be so iconic of a musician that I wouldn’t even have to try.

urbanation has grown so much more than I ever anticipated and I’m really proud of what it’s become. I have so many ideas and I would like to see where this project goes from here but I’m also really focusing on my non-music career. I’ve met a people who do both and I can see myself enjoying that lifestyle very much. Maybe I’m naive, but I personally don’t like the mentality that you have to do one or the other;

to me it’s not practical, and not everyone is privileged enough to pursue their creative endeavors without worrying about the unpredictability of the industry and staying relevant. I like that music is my creative outlet and I would hate for it to become all work. However, I wouldn’t be opposed to doing music full-time if things worked out really well, knowing I’d have my degree to fall back on. So to answer your question...I’m not sure yet, and that’s ok! I’m just hoping it’s somewhere good.

Time for the real questions: what is your go-to coffee order?

My favorite question! I am such a caffeine fiend, it’s really bad. My go-to order -- I’m drinking it right now actually -- is an iced almond milk mocha from Peet’s.

What are some of your favorite brands at the moment?

Lately, I get most of my clothes from thrifting, but Uniqlo is a retail staple for me because I thrive off basics. I also really like Unif, Urban Outfitters, Opening Ceremony, and Dover Street Market. For online thrifts I frequent Grailed and Depop.

Describe yourself in three words:

Empathetic, hopeful, driven. ​

KEEP UP WITH BIANCA: Instagram: @bianca.jpeg

Urbanation on Soundcloud, Spotify, & iTunes