In such an uncertain time it can be extremely difficult to continue working and to be as productive as you can at home or as you would do in a normal working environment. This can be especially true if much of your work is based around content creation, as in times like this inspiration and positivity may be hard to come by. Yet, it can be provided in abundance by following the story of the meteoric rise of digital entrepreneur, DJ, fashion guru and as it is aptly phrased in his Instagram bio ‘Jack of all trades’ Cameron Glasgow.
For those of you who have read the previous article that we did together way back in 2018 (a quick search for Cameron Glasgow in the search bar should bring up the piece aforementioned), you may recall Cameron had amassed over 50,000 followers on his Instagram, (his follower count now stands at 57,000) he had done some promotional work with JD (which he has continued to do) and launched his own clothing brand Eternal Youth (with Chapter 1 selling out he is currently in the process of developing Chapter 2) whilst also trying his hand at DJing (more on that later). An illustrious list of achievements for anyone never mind a 20-year-old.
Almost two years on, I caught up again with Cameron to see how life has changed since our last encounter, his plans for the future and how he is currently coping with life in lockdown.
Well Cameron, what have you been up to since the last time we spoke?Â
I have to say 2019 was a hell of a year, and I guess 2020 is also a hell of a year in a much different way. I’ve been focussing a lot on music, and have been able to play at some great places around Belfast such as The Palm House, The Art Department, Filthy McNastys and more!
With this newfound focus, I’ve managed to set up a new event with my friends, called ‘SYSTEM’ which puts on raves across Belfast. Both collaborative events which we threw in October 2019 and February 2020 sold out which I was ecstatic about. We hosted superstar DJ icon Partiboi69 and the extremely talented Cork massif, Sons Of Charlie and trust me both shows were absolutely mental!
I’m also excited for what’s in store for my new venture Rave Residence which is actually Northern Ireland’s very first house & techno community and you can find us on Instagram and Facebook. We’ve already released a track through our SoundCloud from Berto (which is great!) and we’re looking to release plenty more this coming year. Our community is really starting to kick off with over 500k people on the page every week, we have BIG plans.
Aside from music though, my love for networking has taken me to the beautiful city of Los Angeles in both 2019 and 2020. I have been able to meet so many great individuals ranging from the marketing to the entertainment and even the music industry who have inspired me massively to take bigger leaps. Huge shoutout to the lads at Cookies N Kicks LA for always showing me love whilst I’m there and a massive congratulations to them for one year in business! I could go on forever about this trip and the experiences but I’ll spare you the sore head, peep my Instagram for more!
How are you finding life at the moment in lockdown?
I won’t say good but also won’t say bad. I’d say a lot of people are finding time they never had before because of other commitments like work, school, university, etc. With all this free time, I’m able to hone in on skills and sharpen them which is always a positive I guess. I sometimes find myself feeling super stressed but I know we’re all in it together and we have to do this to save lives and help the NHS, which my mum actually works for (she’s a superhero).
Are you working from home?
Absolutely, I’d feel lost if I wasn’t doing something to keep myself busy. The good thing about the marketing industry is that no matter what goes on, marketing is always going to be needed by businesses to get word around. With everyone being ever so connected and online during this crisis I feel as though some businesses are capitalising on people’s hugely increased screen time and putting a heavy ad spend on promoting their e-commerce side of the business.
For myself, I’m able to work with my marketing clients just the same, with ever so slight adjustments to suit the market as of right now. Although a few influencers I help manage have stopped pushing their marketing for the meantime due to content creation being a struggle, I’m just hoping we’re out of this sooner rather than later and back to normal life, but until then I guess working from home is a new way of life for everyone.
Do you have a routine you like to stick to during lockdown, or what kind of things do you do daily?
Not really a routine so to speak, if I’m honest, some days I end up waking up at like two or three in the day, my sleeping pattern is all over the place right now. I just take each day as it comes and work when I feel like it, whether that be marketing work, recording a set or whatever else. I need to focus on getting my sleep pattern back on track but for now, my main priority is keeping busy in general and not finding myself slacking and lazing around too much because I’ve got all this free time to be productive.
How do you ensure that you are motivated to continue working during this tough time?
I think breaking up any schedule you have is the best way to keep motivated. I would say try not to spend hours on end looking at a screen or writing notes out. Some days go sit outside, go have a beer, FaceTime your friends, it’s things like this that you would do in real-time that I’d love to stress not to forget to do now. You have to do things, find a hobby and make yourself busy so you don’t go mad. I feel as though this pandemic will have a huge hit on a lot of people’s mental health situation which is a horrible thing but you really do just have to think positive.
A lot of teens these days are in their house the majority of the time playing Xbox or sitting on their phones anyway, it just seems that now there is an official lockdown, everyone is getting so uptight. It’s almost like when you have a dummy’s meeting, you’re supposed to be quiet but it makes everyone else want to do the complete opposite. My advice would be to try to keep connected and don’t bury your head in the sand.
What are your plans for after lockdown?
I can’t wait to get back to DJ’ing again and pushing myself that little bit further. I’m actually 21 in July this year and I’m just hoping that we are out of lockdown, even if clubs aren’t open, I’d just love a big party with all my friends. I was planning to get out to Ibiza and Amsterdam for Dekmantel festival this summer but both these trips are on the rocks after the year we’ve had already so I’m just hoping for the best really. I certainly plan on getting back over to LA for a good while once this is all over and making some new connections. LA is somewhere I’m setting my focus on these next few years, I love that place more than anywhere else!
I’m sure that this will not be the last we hear of Cameron as he continues his rapid ascent in various spheres of the creative world.
