Kamille has been a defining presence in the UK music scene for over a decade, penning hits for the likes of Little Mix and Mabel while building a solo career grounded in soul and empowerment. Born and bred New Yorker Will Sass, on the other hand, is still in his breakout phase — though you wouldn’t guess it from the polish of his production or the conviction in his sound. ‘Happiness’, a feel-good tune with a deeper, more personal meaning, marks their second collaboration after their previous release ‘Into The Blue’. It’s early spring when we speak with both of them, about their creative partnership, their musical endeavours, the definition of happiness, and their advice on finding it in your everyday life.
Producer Will Sass is still introducing himself to the wider world and crediting his hometown for making him want to pursue music in the first place. “I’ve always been learning instruments my whole life, and I’ve always been the kid that’s been annoying everybody with my ADD, banging on pots and pans, but I would say growing up in New York is kind of the reason I got into electronic music. Because when I was younger, I would sneak into raves to see my favourite artists play. I remember when I was 16, I was able to see Swedish House Mafia. And now I’m playing some of the venues I used to sneak into as a kid,”, he laughs. “My take on electronic music is just a bunch of sounds that I love, it doesn’t necessarily fit one subgenre of it. But in terms of my initial spark and inspiration, I definitely think New York is a big reason I got into that type of music.” His idols include Rüfüs Du Sol, Disclosure – “That was one of the craziest DJ sets I’ve ever seen!” – Kaytranada, and, of course, collaborator Kamille. “Just being surrounded by industry legends like Kamille is expediting my growth. Especially in the studio, seeing her process, even just with ‘Happiness’ and ‘Into The Blue’, just playing a record and seeing the words flow out, it’s an incredible experience!” Sass describes his music as “left-leaning electronic with hints of dance-pop”. His next EP includes club, ambient and dance-pop records – “It’s really across the board electronic, but I try to blend in different genres!”
The pair met after Sass reached out, already a fan of Kamille and her unique voice. She “surprisingly” agreed to meet him in London, and from there, a creative partnership blossomed – one grounded in mutual admiration. “Kamille was one of the first people to come behind me as an artist and a collaborator,”, Will remembers. “The making of ‘Into The Blue’ was probably the best ice breaker, we were just recording one idea that we already knew we wanted to record. And then from that it was almost like the pressure was off and we were able to just create freely. That’s when we made ‘Happiness’! I feel like every time I get with Kamille, she is pushing me as an artist, she is just such a pleasure to be around and work with.” “I feel like Will is one of those people who’s just so incredibly talented that you feel lucky to be in the room with him!,”, Kamille chimes in, “He is just such a lovely, warm person. And I connected with him just as a friend, let alone when he started playing stuff. He’s just so incredible, he’s so talented. I think that’s why I love being in the studio with him so much because he just uplifts me!”
The creation of ‘Happiness’ was as instant as their connection. “Will played the track and immediately I just said, I need to go in the booth right now,”, Kamille laughs and further elaborates, “It just made me feel something. Sometimes you hear a track from a producer, a DJ or an artist and you just know when something feels really special, and that’s rarely happened to me in my career. So I just ran into the booth and started singing loads of melodies. And I didn’t quite have all the lyrics yet, but we had this kind of “happiness” thing flowing through it. I was scared to finish the song because I just felt like the melodies and the mumbles that we had were so good I didn’t quite know how to match them with lyrics. But Will kept messaging me to just try some and we finally got there! It was really hard, writing lyrics to match what we created that day.”
Lyrically, Kamille shares that her inspiration came from “the need for happiness”. “The desperation and the statement that I just want happiness. I’ve had enough of feeling down and feeling low. So many of us go through that, you know, a lot of us have so much depression and anxiety. I know that it’s not the easiest thing to get out of, but sometimes you have to kind of decide that “I just want to be happy from here on”. I think that’s definitely how I was feeling that day.”
Sass talks us through the creation of the sound, which essentially is a result of a sleepless night in Philadelphia where he walked near a stream with friends. “I had my tape recorder, I’m a nerd, and I was recording things around the stream. And when I got back in, I was like, “I don’t have enough time to sleep so I might as well try making music”, so I made this little synth, and the chords to ‘Happiness’ but I kind of just put it away. When I met Kamille, I was like, “I got something”. I knew it was a special idea. And in terms of finishing production, I tried to keep the initial feeling of the demo. I never tried to overdo it, I intentionally wanted to just keep the integrity there and let the lyrics shine on their own.” Kamille agrees that the finished product sounds “very organic”. “It’s just a very authentic kind of production style that I think lends itself really well to the actual record. There’s so much synergy between the lyric and the production!”
We last spoke to Kamille before the release of her debut album when she mentioned that motherhood helped her improve her songwriting, as she simply doesn’t have the time to overthink as much anymore – we wonder if that is still the case. “That’s even worse now!”, she laughs. “Due to the lack of time, my brain is on so many things that it’s really fine-tuned my ear. I don’t waste a lot of time. If I hear something instinctually, I go with it. I can tell something I’m doing is really shit straight away, or if it’s really good, straight away. It’s an amazing thing that happens when you’re a parent! You know so much more about yourself that when you’re in a room, you can trust in your own instincts a lot more because you’re just in such a different place in your life.”
Despite the name of the track, both artists are clear: happiness is complicated. For Kamille, it’s finding peace in the present. For Sass, it’s practising gratefulness. Both say they’ve had to unlearn the idea that success or constant achievement equals fulfilment. “I’m someone who can be very anxious and very affected by social media and the outside world, and have been for most of my career,”, Kamille acknowledges. “Now, I don’t use my phone as much, and I know that sounds so obvious, but it’s just given me so much more peace in my every day to be able to not compare myself and not feel anxious, which can easily lead to depression. There’s such a horrible connection between those two things that just taking my phone away has given me so much peace. I think that’s my thing at the moment. And even just sitting there, being present, watching ‘White Lotus’, and being happy in that moment, that’s just a beautiful thing! I know, being present is easier said than done, it definitely takes a great family, great friends around you, to really show you and remind you that you’re doing really well right now and that you’ve had a great day. You haven’t cried today? That’s a win.”
Sass agrees and adds, “One thing that I recently started doing is I spend one day or one night a week just hanging out with friends, doing something completely not related to my career. Because otherwise I’ll sit here all week and tweak things and this and that and it’s nice to just take a step back every once in a while. Another one for me that actually helps is being grateful. It sounds so simple but think about all the amazing things in your life, whenever you’re feeling stressed or anxious because we do live incredible lives and there are always positives. Yes, there are negatives, but there are always positives, and focusing on the positives only helps achieve more positives and just feeling grateful for everything that you have.”
However, the pair aren’t slowing down anytime soon. Sass is deep into a four-part EP series that explores different sides of electronic music. ‘Happiness’ leads EP two, with a club-driven track called ‘Out Your Head’ coming up next. Kamille is just happy to be involved and riding the wave, wherever it takes her. “We literally have folders of tracks, I don’t even know how to get through them all at this point!”, she laughs. “To be honest, when it comes to Will, I’m just here to collaborate with him in whatever way he wants, because I love it so much and it brings me so much joy. But aside from Will, I’m just gonna be writing and vibing and following the good energy, because that is so important when you’re in the studio.” A potential live performance is also on the horizon, and both artists are dreaming big. “I would see us in a Boiler Room scenario! That is definitely the goal, isn’t it?” Kamille says. Will chuckles, “It’s gonna happen.”
In the end, ‘Happiness’ isn’t all about perfection and success. It’s about the connection between two individuals with different stories, finding a shared passion, trusting their instincts, and creating something that feels like sunlight breaking through clouds. And for 3:08 minutes, that’s exactly what choosing happiness sounds like.
Written by Vicky Madzak
GEM Magazine 