Cami Petyn Has No Shame in Being a ‘Psycho Bitch’

Creeps, weirdos, and assholes beware—Cami Petyn is not afraid to take matters into her own hands.

The rising pop star’s newest track “Psycho Bitch” takes us back to those troubling moments in life when we wish we acted differently, but also gives us the inspiration to act appropriately next time around. While we are often trapped in our heads focusing on what we “coulda, woulda, shoulda,” the key to moving forward is being prepared when a similar situation could potentially happen again.

“Psycho Bitch” is an exploration of self-realization, female empowerment, and personal triumph with a little touch of revenge, paired with a gritty music video that perfectly accompanies the track’s themes.

Petyn took some time to chat more about being a “psycho bitch” with OFM, as well as upcoming projects and how she uses her music to turn pain into power.

Can you begin by telling us more about the concept and inspiration behind your latest single, “Psycho Bitch?”
The song, I always explain it as a feminist anthem, although it isn’t geared toward any specific sex or gender. To me, it’s taking back my power against men that I have experienced in the past who have done things without consent and tried to take advantage of me. It’s how I wish I would have reacted when I was younger. I let people walk all over me, and I sometimes wish I would have been a little bit of a psycho bitch.

Also, there are a couple other different concepts. Like, when people try to call you a psycho bitch because you’re standing up for yourself or setting healthy boundaries, it is kind of embracing that. Being like, “OK, you think I’m a psycho bitch, then I’ll be a psycho bitch.” Overall, the song is just about empowerment.

It sounds like writing this song was personally therapeutic for you.
Absolutely! I was so shocked at how therapeutic it’s been. Especially shooting the music video and stepping into this psycho bitch character. In the music video, I may or may not be committing homicide against a guy who tries to drug me (laughs). It’s just a music video—I do not recommend doing that—but just stepping into this character of being like, ‘Oh, you tried to do something against me. I won’t let you do that.” It was just so empowering, and it kind of awoken my inner bitch. I love it.

Can you talk more about how your musical aesthetic is primarily about turning pain into power?
I think my strength is also my, I wouldn’t say my weakness, but I am so painfully honest with my music. I kind of treat my writing sessions as confessionals. Like, what part of me can I dig out of the darkest innards, which again, I find to be so therapeutic. Just turning that pain into power and embracing it. Once I put it into a song, I’m like, I don’t like that part of myself, but I can actively still love myself.

How has “Psycho Bitch” been received by listeners?
Really well! I am super happy how people are reacting to it. It was a completely different sound than anything I have put out before, but this is the first song I put out that feels very authentic to me. I grew up listening to heavy metal and rock, so this is the first time I feel like those influences are starting to come out. I was so excited to hear that my audience also just fucks with it. So, yeah, super excited.

Will this track be on an upcoming EP or album?
Potentially!

Have you always had a passion for singing and songwriting?
I have quite an abnormal entrance into music. While I have been passionate about music my whole life, I have always deeply identified with it and tried to teach myself different instruments, but just to be blunt, I have always been addicted to instant gratification, and music is absolutely not that (laughs). So, I would keep giving up. Every year growing up, I would try to teach myself an instrument or something of that sort, but it would just never stick until I was 22 and got out of an ugly breakup. I was like, I am going to become the baddest bitch possible, but what does that entail?

I was going to finally try to pursue this dream of becoming a musician, so I took a vocal lesson on a complete whim. I was like, if I hate it, I won’t ever go back. After that first lesson, it was like my whole world got flipped upside down. There was absolutely nothing else I wanted to do with my life. I dropped all my other plans and life goals, and music is what I have been doing ever since.

What advice can you offer to anyone hoping to move out to L.A. and pursue music?
First of all, you don’t need to be in L.A. I think quarantine taught us that. I have had so many sessions via Zoom, and there is just so much more availability than we think. Although, I’m in L.A. I’m a hypocrite for saying that because I moved to L.A., but I still want people to know that you don’t have to be here!

What I wish I knew when I first started music is that having patience is the hardest part. You have to keep grinding, keep moving, accept the nos, and accept that it sometimes doesn’t happen overnight. When I first started, I was so convinced that it would happen overnight. I was just hoping that would happen, and pursuing music is generally the first thing that taught me patience. I wish I had learned it a bit faster because I think I would have saved myself a lot of agony.

Also, authenticity. That is the most important pillar of myself as an artist. Just be yourself. Everything has been done already, except for you.

Out of the millions of musical artists out there, what makes your work stand out?
Oh, that’s a great question! Like I said, I always try to be exceptionally honest with my music, and authenticity is literally the most important thing to me when it comes to being an artist. Especially with my new music that’s going to be coming out. I have a new song coming out October 15 called “Careless.” The more I develop as an artist, I feel like my lyrics and music are so deeply personal, and I hope that allows listeners to get a different experience of being like, “Wait, did she really say that? I didn’t know someone else thinks like that!” I don’t know if that makes me stand out from other artists because I know other artists are also authentic, but it works for me.

Care to tell us a bit more about “Careless?”
It’s coming out soon! I went to London recently during those two weeks when everything felt fine and we could travel, and on a whim, I worked with this producer called Phil Simmons. Someone just hooked us up and I was like, we’ll see if anything happens. We ended up vibing really well and created a couple songs, one of them being “Careless.” It is even more rock than “Psycho Bitch,” which makes my heart so goddamn happy because, again, it just feels so authentic to me. It’s a topic that I haven’t talked about before, just being so type A myself, and the song has very honest lyrics.

What does the rest of 2021 look like for you?
I got a couple more songs coming out, so just rolling those out, making more songs; I have several writing sessions a week. I am writing constantly and love it. Hopefully, I will be able to do more shows, and we are just collecting songs for a potential EP coming up soon.

What are some future goals you would like to achieve as a musical artist?
Oh, man. I love performing so much. At my core, I feel I am a performer. I just love to be on a fucking stage, so my dream is to play a stadium. Just go on tour in general, but also play big stadiums. I want to constantly be playing shows, so that is a major goal for me. Get shows booked and stay busy.

Before we wrap up, are there any other upcoming projects or anything else you would like to mention or plug?
I mostly just want to plug “Psycho Bitch” and “Careless,” and other songs will be coming out also. So, stay fucking tuned!

Connect and stay up-to-date with Petyn by following her on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, or visit her official website. “Psycho Bitch” is now available on Spotify, Apple Music and all other digital music streaming platforms.

Photos courtesy of Michelle Shiers and Jesse DeFlorio