Lizette Camarena was the star of the show growing up. She stood out by dressing up in costumes to perform for her family and guests. 

She never let go of that love of performance, and today, she’s a performer who sings about honesty, vulnerability, and the intimate moments of being a teenage girl. Her EP “Cavities” was released on April 10.

Camerena is a popular commercial music sophomore from the border of San Diego and Tijuana. She said she always wanted to be an artist, but growing up her parents were not music enthusiasts like her, and it was her brother that exposed her to the music realm. 

“Me and my brothers, we all very much found music on our own,” Camerena said. “One of the biggest influences for me growing up was my brother when he started getting into music because he would be on aux. ”

Camarena’s single “Teeth” leads into the chorus with the lyrics, “its unsavory /that i’ll let you touch me/ four days to find a new warm hobby/.” Her voice is backed with a sweet slow acoustic melody. These lyrics are just one example of the vulnerability she shares with the audience.  

Camerena said she realized she could write her own music when her piano teacher gave her the idea. 

“I was like, what do you mean? I didn’t know you could just write your own songs,” Camerena said. 

Her musical identity was influenced by women and being surrounded by women growing up. 

“I very much just have been surrounded by women all the time and I think that very much made me who I am,” she said. 

Camerena’s sound is personal and allows the listener to peek inside her brain, she said. 

“I think everyone is an accumulation of everything they’ve ever experienced,” she said “And I think my sound is kind of the same, where it’s like a combination of everything I’ve ever experienced in life,” Camerena said. 

She said her music comes from a desire to be honest. She discovered this at her all-girl Catholic high school.

“I had like this one year specifically, where I decided I was gonna be super honest,” Camerena said. “I’m literally just gonna say exactly how I feel about everything.”

She said that leading a Catholic retreat of 15 year olds inspired her to be “an open bleeding heart.” She learned through being vulnerable with others, she was able to be more honest toward herself.

Camerena said singing songs about her personal life is easier than talking about them in conversation and singing is a gateway to connect with herself. Throughout her life, she said she struggled to feel understood and writing helped her understand the complexity of the feminine identity. 

“I think when you write, you control the narrative,” she said. “I mean, I’m a teenage girl. Of course I feel misunderstood.” 

She is able to take control of her story when writing music. 

 “I get to sit with it and marinate with what I’m thinking and like exactly how I wanna say things, I wanna control the metaphor,” Camerana said. 

Camarena released her first single “Clothes” in 2024. Followed by “ROT!” and “Teeth” in 2025 which are part of her first EP.

In the second verse of Teeth, Camarena sings maybe this is stupid/maybe call me crazy/ I can’t have nice things, highlighting how she felt when writing the song. 

Camarena said when writing Teeth she was not planning on releasing it. 

“So I genuinely was not planning on ever, like letting that song to the light of day,” Camarena said. 

The song is about a failed relationship, she said, and how it affected her and her self image. 

“The situation itself wasn’t even that deep, but everyone around me was acting like it was just like a very normal thing that was happening and I was like, like this is insane,” she said. 

Camarena said the situation allowed her to take a look inward and decide who she wanted to be. 

 “After that whole situation, I was like I really need to take a step back and really evaluate what I’m doing with my relationships with others,” she said. “Because clearly this isn’t working out how I want.” 

Camarena said she considers herself a very strong person and this song helped her explore how it feels to not be in control of a situation. 

“Admitting that to myself was so heartbreaking,” she said. 

She leaned on her writing to analyze how she felt and move forward. 

Camarena said she writes all her lyrics on her own but works with others for the musical arrangements. 

Sebastian Brown and Izzy Gruner are sophomore popular commercial music majors who have worked with Camarena since their freshman year. 

“Her recording sessions felt like sleepovers. Everyone there was your friend, and we just went all night recording,” Brown said. 

Brown said that Camarena’s clear vision for her sound is something he respects and helping her achieve it makes him happy. 

Gruner had similarly good things to say about working with Camarena. 

“I would say working with Lizette is like working with your best friend, in the best way possible. It feels like we get to hang out and get work done all in the same rehearsal,” Gruner said. 

Camarena knew who she was from a young age, but being at Loyola has helped her  find her voice. 

“Her sound has shaped her as a being, and her being has shined through her generously expressive, intimate stories,” said Camarena’s vocal teacher, Mercedes Diamond. 

Diamond said Camarena is focused and her hard work is evident in her music. “Her voice is still and always emerging,” Diamond said. “I have appreciated listening as she learns to master her powers. I hear less of her influences and more of her authenticity each season.” 

Camarena has an ability to tell stories through her lyrics, expressing emotions that listeners can empathize with. 

“I think what makes me different is what makes everyone different.  Everyone has their own unique set of experiences that they bring to the table,” Camarena said. 

Diamond agrees that her storytelling makes her unique. 

“Her ability to sonify her life experiences, and the free and fiery spirit that fuels her powerful voice,” Diamond said. 

Performance isn’t just about being the star of the show for Camarena, performance and storytelling are ways for her to connect to herself and with those around her. She hopes that her music will provide empathy for others, leaving them feeling seen and heard. 

“There’s that feeling of listening to a song that is so specific and then it hits you and you’re like, holy shit I feel that,” Camarena said.