Interview – Camille Contreras of Novelists

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July 6, 2025

When you least expect it, a unique opportunity can arise that takes you in a completely different direction. Living life comfortably in the port city of Marseille, France, Camille Contreras had sung in other bands before but, seemingly out of nowhere, was asked to take over as the leading voice of the well-known Paris-based Metal band Novelists. A chance to take on a new challenge and spread her creative wings, Contreras accepted the invitation, leading up to the Novelists returning with one of the most interesting Modern Metal albums of 2025, CODA.

Released in May 2025, the album marks a new chapter for Novelists, with standout vocals from Camille Contreas that are quickly turning heads. Unifying her talents with the existing members of Novelists, the band is eager to bring CODA to live stages, with a planned headlining North American Tour in September and October 2025. An exciting time for Novelists and Camille Contreras, who recently sat down to discuss her experience in the band, navigating emotions in music, and much more.

Cryptic Rock – You became the leading voice for Novelists a couple of years ago and have been a significant part of the band’s fresh sound. How would you describe your experience with Novelists thus far?

Camille Contreras – That’s a good question. It has been the best experience of my whole life. It was a high intensity of emotions. It has been a lot of work. It’s been two years since I’ve been in the band. I discovered almost the whole world; we toured the US, Asia, Australia, and Europe. It’s been a big adventure, and I’m so grateful for it.

Cryptic Rock – That is great to hear. As stated, your introduction to the band has created a new sound for them. It is very different than what they have done before.

Camille Contreras – Yeah, totally. We are currently five people. The three original members are no longer the same as they were ten years ago. They have new influences. With Pierre Danel, who came to the band in 2020, the sound had already evolved.

The fact that I’m now in the band means it has five different influences. We are trying to merge everything and propose something creative, something that may shock people a little bit with a new sound. We are really proud and happy about this new album.

Cryptic Rock – As you should be. The new album, CODA, really sounds fantastic. So, take us back to how this all began. How did you become a part of Novelists?

Camille Contreras – If I start from the beginning, I live in southern France in Marseille, in southern France, and the band is from Paris. I collaborated on a dual project with Landmvrks Guitarist Nico Exposito titled Bliss Sigh. We were doing only clean vocals, some ballads, and ambient music.

In 2019, Novelists were looking for a female vocalist to do the harmonies to give another dimension to their album. Nico Delestrade from Novelists texted Nico from Landmvrks and was like, “Hey, do you know a girl who can sing?” He said, “Yeah, of course. I’ll send Camille to Paris, and she will do the harmony.” I spent three days there.

At the end of the recording session, it went well, and they told me, “Okay, do you want to do a feature?” I was like, “Yeah, of course. Let’s do it.” We did the C’est La Vie (2020) feature. After that, I returned to Marseille and continued my own life.

In 2023, Nico from Novelists went to Marseille, and he texted me, “Hey, I’m in Marseille. Do you want to have a drink? I want to talk to you about something.” I thought he wanted to create a new Rock band because I heard that he wanted to create a band like that. I didn’t want to do Rock Band, though, because I was starting my own solo project in French. I just went to see what he wanted to talk to me about. He just asked me, “Hey, do you want to be the new singer of Novelists?” I was like, “What?” I wasn’t even aware that they didn’t have a singer anymore at that moment. I was like, “Yeah, of course.”

It was a good opportunity for me. That’s a good thing that I can sing and scream in the same band.” We spent two weeks doing auditions to see if our creations could match if I could sing, and if I could record well. I think they were happy with that because now I’m part of it.

Novelists - C'est La VieSharpTone (2020) — **Novelists – C’est La Vie SharpTone (2020)**

Novelists - Okapi / Out of Line (2024) — **Novelists – Okapi / Out of Line (2024)**

Cryptic Rock – It is fascinating to hear how it all came to be. It sounds like it was a bit of a surprise for you as well.

Camille Contreras – Yeah, totally. I was really surprised because I knew they had male singers before. At this moment, it was not the trend to have a female singer. It was really surprising for me.

Cryptic Rock – It’s great to see it work out. You have added a new dynamic to Novelists. CODA is now available and is a compelling listen. What is also interesting about the record is that you are not only the vocalist but also an essential part of the songwriting. What was it like putting Coda together?

Camille Contreras – Yeah. When I started writing with them, at first, I was playing a little bit low-key. I didn’t want to impose or force my ideas. They already had songs written before I joined the band. The first EP (Okapi), “Turn It Up” and “Prisoner” were songs that were already written almost. We finished the details together. For this new album, CODA, we did it all together. The boys wrote the instrumental parts. I was working on the vocal lines with Bassist Nico because he’s also a top liner and producer, and Amael, the drummer.

The concept was that I would go into the studio and improvise a lot of lines. They were picking up some good ideas that I was improvising. Then, we structured it. I wrote some lyrics on it. I’m proud of the result of this album. It’s a merge of all our ideas. We are grateful for it.

Cryptic Rock – It is undoubtedly exciting. As mentioned, one of the most significant aspects is the dynamics, where your clean vocals are mixed with the harsher vocals. You said you didn’t want to be a solely Rock band, but you wanted to do something where you could also scream. Is mixing those vocal styles something that you have always wanted to do?

Camille Contreras – Yeah, totally. When I was eighteen, I had a Punk Hardcore band. I was only screaming in this band. Afterward, I joined a Pop band, and I was only singing with clean vocals. My dream was to do it with both, but I didn’t know how to do it, really. I wasn’t in the Metal scene before, so I wasn’t aware of that style. I wasn’t listening to it a lot. When I discovered this new style, I was like, “Wow, I can do clean and scream at the same time during the same show.”

The thing I didn’t think about is the fact that it’s really hard to do it live. It requires you to put in a lot of energy, focus, concentration, and technique, of course. I work on this, and I’m really happy about it.

Cryptic Rock – You get the best of both worlds, as you said.

Camille Contreras – Exactly.

Cryptic Rock – You also raise an interesting point. People don’t often think about how challenging it is to transition from a clean vocal to a scream. It’s tough and must be wearing on your voice. What techniques have you learned to make sure you do not damage your voice and that you can keep your stamina?

Camille Contreras – I’m, how do we say, autodidact; I just learned by myself. I never took any singing class or screaming class. The scream that I was doing when I had a Punk Hardcore band was really different from the scream that I’m doing now. It was hurting my voice too much before.

It’s still a fry scream. I’m only doing fry screams. I don’t know how to play false chords or growl, but I’m trying to learn a little by watching YouTube tutorials and similar resources. To avoid hurting my voice, I try to warm up a lot before screaming, always, even if it’s just a recording session or rehearsal. Of course, when I do shows, I always warm up beforehand.

I think I’ve found the right technique to switch from the scream to clean vocals. I remember that I was talking about this with Flo (Florent Salfati) from Landmvrks. He told me, “It’s going to hurt a little bit when you’re going to switch.” It’s like that. You have to get with it. It’s still hurting a little bit, but my goal is to be able to sing shows in a row every night and be able to scream and sing at the same time. I think I managed to do it because I am capable of doing it. I think I have the right technique, and it’s a fry scream.

Cryptic Rock – As you continue to do something, you learn more about it. That is with everything in life. We always learn more as we go.

Camille Contreras – Yeah. Totally. From the first show to now, I don’t know if it’s 100% or more, but I think I improved my scream level for sure.

Cryptic Rock – Sometimes, the process is the most exciting part. Speaking of the shows, you and Novelists put on a great show. You are very energetic on stage. What is it like for you to perform in front of a crowd?

Camille Contreras – It’s the thing I love to do the most in life. More than creating songs, recording, or doing interviews, nothing personal. The best thing I love to do is being on stage, doing live shows. When I go on stage, everything is for this moment. Every sacrifice, every time, every second that I spend on rehearsal is for this moment. I’m enjoying it on stage. I feel grateful to be able to play in front of so many people who know the lyrics.

In January, we were touring with Tesseract in Europe. We released the song “Say My Name.” I saw a guy singing all the lyrics of this song, and it was only two days after we released the song. He was almost crying. I was like, “Wow. This is so much emotion.” We share a lot of emotion during shows. I love being energetic on stage.

Cryptic Rock – Those connections in a live setting are special. You mentioned the song “Say My Name.” There is a music video out there for it. It is a very emotional song, but honestly, all of CODA is. You could hear the inflections and feelings in your voice throughout the album. Particularly, what was the inspiration for “Say My Name”?

Camille Contreras – The whole album is inspired by the experiences that I had last year. Last year was one of the happiest years of my life. At the same time, the saddest of my life. I experience mourning, loss, disease, breakup. This song, “Say My Name,” is about breakup.

I’m happy that I managed to express all my feelings, emotions, and sadness in the lyrics because now when I listen to them, it feels like therapy for me. I’m really happy. I hope that people will listen to it, and if they are going through or have experienced the same thing I did last year, they will be comforted and feel less sad upon listening to the song.

Cryptic Rock – It is a cathartic release. It is about exorcising the bad energy inside of you, releasing it. Obviously, these songs are very personal to you from your experiences. Like any great music, people can relate to it in their own way. Others may not have had the same experience that inspired the song, for example, “Say My Name,” but it is something that we can all universally feel and resonate with, especially in the way you sing it. There is a sentiment in a song like “Say My Name” that evokes feelings of being discarded.

Camille Contreras – Yeah. This is what I hope: that people will, exactly as you said, resonate with the lyrics or with the song, even though they are not living the same exact experience. Some lyrics and some words can resonate with others.

Cryptic Rock – Agreed. With CODA out now, what are the plans for Novelists moving forward?

Camille Contreras – This summer, we’re playing at many summer festivals. We will also be on a headline tour in the US starting in September. We are also going to Asia for a headlining tour at the end of the year. At the beginning of next year, we have a European tour, a French tour, and others to be confirmed.

Cryptic Rock – It sounds like you are going to be very busy over the next year.

Camille Contreras – Yeah, totally. We want to showcase the new album to the world, and we are very happy to do so.

Novelists - CODA album — **Novelists – CODA / ACKOR Music (2025)**

Cryptic Rock – It will also be exciting to see you come to the US. Most of the songs, obviously, are in English, but you do sing in French as well. It has long been believed that English is the universal language of Rock-n-Roll and Metal. Do you also enjoy singing in French and incorporating it into your music?

Camille Contreras – Yeah. For me, it was important to put a little bit of French. It’s easier to sing in English. For the vocal technique, all the sounds are prettier when you sing in English than when you sing in French or Spanish because there is also a song in Spanish.

It was important for me to write a little bit of French because it’s easier for me to write in French. Of course, as a native French speaker, I find it easier to find rhymes, images, or more poetic sentences. I wanted to include more French, and perhaps there will be a full French song in another album, where people can sing along, even if they are not native French speakers. For the moment, English remains the universal language for Rock and Metal music.

Cryptic Rock – It is interesting you say that. Some artists write in their native language and then translate it into English. When you write your lyrics, do you write them in English, or do you write them in French and translate them?

Camille Contreras – No. I don’t write them in French because we are trying to find some word game. We want to make them rhyme at the same moment. There is the rhythm of the word also that is impacting.

It’s hard because I’m trying to improve my English level. I’m always reading the dictionary to find new words that I don’t know. If I write lyrics in French and then translate them, I think it will be ugly. I cannot do it.

Cryptic Rock – Understood. You said you weren’t part of the Metal scene before Novelists. Singing in Hardcore and a Pop band, did you listen to Metal prior, or were you a fan at all?

Camille Contreras – Now I’m listening to a lot of Metal music because I want to feed myself with Metal music and to be aware of the scene. Before, I was not listening to Metal at all. I discovered this new world, and I really like it.

I like the variety of the scene. You can listen to a lot of different styles, even if they’re in the same genre, like Metal music, where you can see subgenres like Thrash. We toured with Nervosa. They are Brazilian, and it’s Thrash Metal. I really like their energy on stage. I’m discovering a lot of music now. I’m a baby born into Metal music. I just listened to Bring Me the Horizon for the first time five months ago, and I really liked it.

It’s also cool not to have the codes of the Metal music. When I wrote and created the album CODA with the band, I wasn’t influenced by this Metal; it was only pure inspiration and clean from any code of Metal music.

Cryptic Rock – That aspect makes it even more interesting because you do not have that Metal influence. It makes the album even that much more eclectic because you said it is pure influence and not just trying to emulate what you are hearing in Metal.

Camille Contreras – Exactly! That’s the word I was looking for, imitate. I didn’t want to imitate a singer, the way they sing, or the way they create vocal lines.

Cryptic Rock – This makes for interesting music. What are some of your musical influences? What has influenced you as a singer and a songwriter?

Camille Contreras – I really like Rosalía. She’s a Spanish singer, and it’s really Pop, even Reggaeton or stuff like that. She created an album called Motomami (2022), and it was the strangest album I’ve ever heard. She used a motorcycle engine sound for the album. She just didn’t care. It was strange. On this album, there is a lot of sound that, when I first heard the song, I thought, “What did she do?” It’s bizarre. In the end, I listened to it, and I liked it. I appreciate the freedom she experiences when creating songs.

I also like the Hardcore band called Have Heart. They created an album titled Songs to Scream at the Sun (2008). I know all the lyrics of this album. It’s only scream vocals. When I listen to this album, I’m screaming all my emotions. It’s poetic lyrics. I would like to be as good as they are at writing lyrics. I’m inspired by them, also.

Cryptic Rock – You have a very dynamic taste in music. You go from Pop to Hardcore.

Camille Contreras – Yeah. I also even listen to Rap music. I listen to a wide range of music styles.

Cryptic Rock – You mentioned you toured the US and you are going to be coming back to the US. Have you ever been to the USA before joining Novelists?

Camille Contreras – No, it was my first time. I’m from France, and I just went to Italy, which is four hours away by car. I just took a plane for the first time and went to the United Kingdom to go to London, and that’s it. Being in Novelists was the chance for me to discover the world.

I took, for the first time, a long time plane. It was the first time I took a long plane ride, six or eight hours, to go to the US. After, I went to Australia, and it was even longer. I discovered the world with Novelists, actually.

Cryptic Rock – That’s fantastic. Did you have the opportunity to explore a little bit, or were you too busy going from show to show?

Camille Contreras – I try to explore as much as possible if time allows it. When I was in the US, we went swimming in Florida. We went for a walk. The last one we did in the US was with Erra from April to June. The last show was in New York, and we arrived there at 5:00 a.m. We were like, “Okay. We sleep now, and we have to wake up at 11:00 a.m. to go for a sound check and stuff, or we don’t sleep, and we go for a walk.” We just didn’t sleep, and we went for a walk. We walked around Central Park. We walked for three hours, slept for a little bit, and went to the venue for a sound check.

Cryptic Rock – It seems like you are trying to make the most of the experiences. Have you lived in France your whole life?

Camille Contreras – Yes.

Cryptic Rock – You learn a lot about people while traveling. People are different wherever you go. What did you find as far as differences in cultures?

Camille Contreras – I have Spanish family. I was in France, but I also went to Spain. France and Spain are neighbors. It was only a four-hour drive. I always had this double culture with my parents. I also traveled in France and had the opportunity to meet people from other countries. I talked to them. I experienced this different culture with them.

Cryptic Rock – It sounds like there are a lot of positive things going on for you. As you said, last year was a year with mixed emotions.

Camille Contreras – Yes. Totally.

Cryptic Rock – You said you feel like you have released a lot of emotion with the writing of CODA. Do you feel like things are very positive for you at this point in life?

Camille Contreras – Yeah. I’m really a joyful and positive person in everyday life. Even if I have hard moments and tough times, I’m always trying to focus on the positive things. I’m recovering from last year, and I’m enjoying all the opportunities that I have with Novelists and in my life. I had a side job. I’m still working in a laboratory that I own. I’m a chemist, and I decided to stop working in the laboratory because I cannot live a double life. It’s too much.

When I return from touring, I have to go straight to the laboratory, and I never rest. I think my body and mind also need a little rest between tours and shows. Also, to be able to create again, to create new music. I don’t always have to be in a rush. The mindset for the moment is to enjoy every moment, as always, and also to take time to rest.

Cryptic Rock – Of course. Yeah. It is imperative. In our modern culture, we are constantly being pulled in a million different directions, with social media and the constant electronic devices in front of us. It can seem overwhelming at times, and sometimes, we need to step back from it.

Camille Contreras – Yeah. Exactly. It’s always in a rush. You have to be always on the social media. You have to give a lot of content. You have to be everywhere. Sometimes, you need to pause a little bit, make or break.

Cryptic Rock – Most certainly. You said you are a chemist. That is very interesting. So, you studied chemistry in school and kept your love for music alive through it all?

Camille Contreras – Yeah, exactly. Music was always a hobby. I went to a chemist engineering school. I graduated and started working. When Novelists came, I had just created my own cosmetic laboratory. They told me, “We’re going to tour only two months in a year.” I was like, “Okay, yeah. That gives me time to work for my lab.”

It wasn’t true because we toured almost the whole year. I had to stop for a little while, but it was hard because I had taken on contracts. I have to finish the contract to be able to stop it. It just gave me the deadline of September. From September, everything will be in place, and I can pause the laboratory to focus solely on the band.

Cryptic Rock – Those are two very different things to be a part of.

Camille Contreras – Yeah, totally. It’s like a double life.

Cryptic Rock – Whenever someone chooses an artistic path, their families often want them to select something more stable as a career. Does your family support your decisions?

Camille Contreras – Yeah. My family always supported me. They trusted me. They trust in my choice. I started with the easy way. I started by being a chemist engineer, so they were happy. When I told them, “Okay, now I’m going to be in the band,” they were like, “Okay, we follow you. We trust you, and we support you.” They are helping me a lot with the laboratory also. When I’m on tour and receive mail or a package, they are always there to pick everything up for me. They are a big support for me.

Cryptic Rock – Having the support of your family is something to cherish. One last question for you. Looking at the music and the videos you have made so far for the record, there is a cinematic quality to them as well. Do you have any favorite films? Are you influenced or inspired by cinema as well?

Camille Contreras – I really like Wes Anderson and also Quentin Tarantino. They are really different. Also, Luc Besson for The Fifth Element (1997). That inspired the artistic direction for this new cycle of CODA and the music videos. For example, in “All For Nothing,” I was inspired by The Fifth Element for the music video, which felt like a tribute to the movie. We wanted to do something a little bit futuristic, poppy, and energic. I think we did.