Sonoma State University has a plethora of very talented students in its midst, one being Seth Baldwin. Baldwin is a senior in the Communications department who has written and released his own Hip-Hop and RNB album, Camera Roll. 

It began at the start of the COVID-19 lockdown, small snippets of songs recorded and put onto Instagram. While his equipment was still on a low end at the time, Seth released videos until June. By then, Camera Roll’s 10-song set was fully written and was to begin production. 

“Ableton Live software, headphones, condenser mic, external speakers, and a preamp to complete my little setup! I recorded my own instruments, pulled samples, and used my own vocals to do each song. And each song is, give or take, three to five days minimum. They usually take up to a week or two… or three!” Seth explained, talking us through the process. 

Seth has been playing music since he was a child, receiving his first guitar at age 8, though he struggled with it, quitting entirely. That was until Baldwin was 12 when he picked the guitar back up and began again. With some Youtube tutorials, Seth began taking off on his musical expertise. 

Seth said that, “I started playing on the street for small tips and a couple of passerby’s every weekend when I was 15 and that’s when I realized if I wanted to be actually good and get any sort of recognition I had to learn how to sing… [I had been performing live] until this spring obviously. But since, I have only played private events with under 50 people or at businesses that have outdoor seating and very strict social distancing guidelines!” 

Since then though, Seth has focused on creating this album, taking inspiration from Jason Mraz and Ed Sheeran. The creation of Camera Roll embodied Baldwin himself and reflected that into any listeners. Seth was proud of all of his songs, taking the time to write each one with care, even needing to rewrite his songs a plethora of times to avoid being too literal.

Seth wrote each song but said, “In one song titled “In My Heart” it features one of my great friends and very talented musician Marelle. Her vocals were exactly what I needed to take that song to the next level. But in terms of writing and playing the music itself, I did that myself for my debut.”

Seth continued, talking about his other joys of the album. “If I had to pick my favorite and closest song to me, it’s “What It Means To Be Yours”. That song means the world to me. I wrote that song pretty early in my relationship with my girlfriend, like last December. She’s been with me through any and all situations and deserves to be told every day just what she means to me! And I knew even that early that yeah there will be some things that go sour now and then but at the end of the day she’s the only one I truly love. That song to me now is almost living out like a prophecy and I’m noticing the best parts of the song have come true or will come true soon! I know all of that is pretty corny but those who know me know that’s how I think and feel about her!” Stated Baldwin.

Camera Roll is available on Apple Music/iTunes, Spotify, Amazon Prime Music, and CDs are in the works. Seth plans to keep his Instagram, @sethbaldwin_music, and website, www.sethbaldwinmusic.com, up to date with all of his music.