Camille Sledge: 'We play We Are Family at our own family reunions, at weddings'

Growing up surrounded by some of the most defining voices of the disco era, Camille Sledge always knew she was going to end up ‘Lost in Music’.

The daughter of Sister Sledge founding member Debbie Sledge, Camille has spent years touring with the We Are Family hit-makers alongside her brother Dave and cousin Thaddeus, helping carry the group's legacy into a new generation.

From an early age, she saw from the front line how Sister Sledge's music was made, heading to recording sessions with her mom and aunts.

"I remember being in the studio with my mom and my aunts," Camille Sledge told the Irish Mirror. "My mom, Debbie, I remember going in the studio and just kind of watching them, and me being in awe of everything.

"They're just so professional, and they're really good because of all the experience, and they're just amazing in the studio. They just have these strong voices, and it always inspired me to be better and better and better."

While Camille initially thought she may go into a career in law, the mentors that she had growing up turned her towards music - but wanting to form her own path, she went into hip-hop.

"I completely thought I was gonna be a lawyer," she said. "I had wonderful mentors to look up to, and I got to see a lot and learn a lot, which made me really, really want to do this.

"I really wanted to be different, I wanted to stand out. From my mom and my aunts, and do something different, so I went into hip-hop.

"And I still really hang out in that realm, I have a nonprofit, it's called School of Hip Hop, and we actually teach kids how to embrace their creative side. So it's really a lot of that same world."

The iconic group have played countless shows in Ireland over the years, and it’s always an "awesome audience" for the Lost In Music vocalists.

"We have some amazing memories of playing in Ireland. It’s always an awesome audience. It's always such a great crowd. Everybody here, everybody knows how to party."

"Just the accent is a little bit different," she joked. "When we ask the crowd to sing along, we hear the accent… To us, it stands out, it's really fun though. It's a beautiful accent!"

Sister Sledge are the voices behind no end of iconic songs, most famously the 1979 hit We Are Family. Camille says getting to perform the legendary disco track on stage with her family brings an immense amount of joy.

"I do feel a sense of responsibility," she shared. "Because I want to make sure that we're showing that joy that we get from knowing our family and being close to our family and treating our family with love and respect.

"And I think that that joy really stands out on stage, because it is fun. It's fun working with my mom and working with my cousin, my brother.

"And it's a lot of fun to really just perform these types of dance songs, and the songs that really are meaningful to everyone in the world, actually. They have that line of history behind it that makes it so important to every family in the world."

She added: "We play that song at our own family reunions, at weddings. We play it all the time…. because it’s something that's meaningful to us."

For any aspiring young artists, Camille says being authentic will let you shine. "Same advice that I got when I was little," she said. "Just be yourself and you will stand out, because God made each and every one of us individuals, He made us very special, each of us.

"So, if you be yourself, I think that that's your best chance to succeed, because I feel that when you're being yourself and you feel authentic about what you're doing with your art and your music, and even dance and movement arts, and visual arts. You will still find your lane and your path, and you'll be proud of the work that you put out."

Sister Sledgewill play Beyond The Pale this Saturday. The festival kicks off at Glendalough Estate in Co Wicklow Friday, June 12, until Sunday June 14, with Primal Scream, Father John Misty, Soulwax, Groove Armada and more playing over the weekend. Final tickets are still available here.

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