The WiMN’s Front and Center is a weekly column that showcases accomplished women who work in the music and audio industries. We spotlight successful female performers, manufacturers, retailers, educators, managers, publicists, and everyone else in between. Want to be featured? Learn how here.
Front and Center: Vocalist, Bassist and Songwriter of Dash|Ten, Sergeant Corrin Campbell
By Gabriella Steffenberg
Corrin Campbell is truly a model citizen and leads by example in the world of amazing female musicians. An active duty Sergeant in the United States Army, Campbell serves our country all while pursuing her dreams in music.
Along with her new band, Dash|Ten, Campbell will be embarking on her fourth personal year performing at the well-known summer festival, Vans Warped Tour. With Dash Ten’s album coming out May 21, we know this is only the beginning of Campbell’s new chapter.
Find out more about Dash|Ten by visiting their official website and Facebook page, and continue reading below to get to know this week’s Front and Center, Sergeant Campbell.
WiMN: In what ways were you/are you involved with the United States military and music program?
CC: I’m currently active duty. I came into the Army as a bass guitar player and was a part of Army bands for about 5 years and deployed to Iraq with the 1st Cavalry Division before I came into the job I am now.
Where I am currently is called Army Musical Outreach. The biggest difference here is that my group is one-of-a-kind in that we play our own original music, and we don’t typically play for Soldiers. Our job is to tour the United States, play our music, and show how our individual pursuits are being utilized to further the whole organization. It’s pretty cool!
WiMN: How has your military background inspired your musical growth?
CC: Firstly, I have way more focus and drive to succeed. I came in right out of high school, and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do when I “grew up.”
I loved music, and the Army gave me a place to pursue it where I wasn’t going to be starving to having to make ends meet. Then I started writing and recording my own music, and it just kind of developed into where I am now. I have less than a year left in the Army before I move on to do other things, but my time in has been an eye-opening one.
Deploying to Iraq for a year, having to learn many different styles of music on bass and vocals, traveling to places I’d never been with people from many different backgrounds… All of these things helped me develop as a musician and a person while giving me the freedom to take it all in. I think varying your personal exposure to many cultures and many genres of music can really impact how creative of a person you develop into.
WiMN: You’ll be back for your fourth year at Van’s Warped Tour. How have your experiences playing at such a well-known tour influenced you?
CC: Ah, Warped Tour. It is the most grueling and most incredible experience. I have made SO MANY friends, bands, crew, and fans alike. It has also been really incredible to see so many parts of the U.S. and experience all the different crowds and scenery. My experiences at Warped Tour are also a lot more similar to my experiences in the Army than most would expect, I think.
There’s a community, lots of people pulling together from different places that feel a sense of ownership and belonging. The camaraderie to SURVIVE, ha, because if you’ve ever been to Warped Tour, or toured on it, you know survival of those hot days is a real thing. ☺️
WiMN: Are you working on an album with your new band, Dash|Ten? If so, when are you looking to release new music?
CC: YES. We actually just got the physical products yesterday. Holding that album in our hands and knowing all the work that went into it feels amazing. The album comes out May 21, but it’ll only be available in hard copy at Warped Tour until August. It’ll also be streamable on our Soundcloud, but we wanted the hard copies to be an exclusive for Warped Tour fans until the tour is over.
The first two singles are streamable online now, for those fans who saw on the Warped Tour kick-off broadcast, or anyone who wants to get an idea of our sound before the album comes out. We’re also planning a “bonus” single. Warped Tour is doing a “90 Days to Warped” thing, where they feature one band a day until the tour kicks off, and ours is June 5, so we’re releasing another new single that day.
It’s atypical from the way most bands do it, but that’s the beauty of being unsigned… We don’t have to follow the standard industry release cycles and can just bring new music to the fans as we write it.
WiMN: What piece of advice would you give to women who are looking to go into the music industry?
CC: Know that you’re special, but don’t be entitled. Know that you’re different, but don’t let people treat you differently. Know that supporting other female artists and musicians is 100 times more valuable than getting competitive or catty.
There’s a power in being a woman in this industry, even with all the struggles that come with it. With great power comes great responsibility, as one superhero’s uncle once said, and I live by that mantra as a woman in the music industry.
WiMN: What has been one of your most memorable touring experiences thus far?
CC: Honestly, just meeting people on the road. And more specifically, keeping in touch. I’ve been doing some solo artist work for a while, and the band is a new venture that I’m SO EXCITED about.
The people who have supported me all this time deserve my attention and loyalty as much as they give me the same. So when I meet a fan for the first time, keep in touch with them on Twitter, and then see and recognize them at another show in the future – that is just the most miraculous feeling. We are in this adventure together, and nothing feels better than that.
WiMN: What are your music goals for the next five years?
CC: After Warped Tour, we plan on touring in the Northeast and Midwest in the Fall. We’ll also be heading back into the studio for ANOTHER full length, because we’ve been writing up a storm, and hopefully a new album will be ready for Dash|Ten fans in Spring/early Summer of 2017.
We already have so much more to say! I would really love to tour or share a stage with some of my all-time favorite bands like Hoobastank, Paramore, or even the Foo Fighters. Lofty goals, but hey. Five years is a long time, and shooting for the stars to hit the moon is our M.O.
