Hotel Books

Cam Smith (Hotel Books)
Cam Smith of Hotel Books in 2014.
Background information
Birth name	Cameron Michael Smith
Born	February 16, 1993
Origin	Porterville, California, US
Genres	Spoken word, emo, post-hardcore, indie rock, ambient
Occupation(s)	Musician, spoken-word poet
Instruments	Vocals, spoken word, sampling
Years active	2011–present
Labels	InVogue Records, Dream Atlantic Records, Dead Letters Collective
Associated acts	Porterville High School

Hotel Books, is an American spoken-word project from Porterville, CA revolving around the poetry of Cam Smith (born February 16, 1993). Hotel Books is commonly viewed as Faith-based, which Cam Smith has confirmed through numerous interviews. The project is often presented on tour as a full band, but has also been shown as a solo project of Cam Smith. They are known for Smith's unique vocal style, which is often the central focus of their work.

The band's InVogue Records debut, "I'm Almost Happy Here, But I Never Feel at Home" was released July 1, 2014 via InVogue Records. The album received mostly positive reviews, as well as earning the band their first Billboard chartings, No. 9 on Alternative New Artists and No. 20 on Heatseekers, for the album's debut week. Their latest effort, "Run Wild, Young Beauty," was released on April 7, 2015, and spent three total weeks on the Billboard charts.

Hotel Books has toured USA, Europe, and Australia, playing with a variety of notable acts, including Defeater, Counterparts, and Title Fight.

Hotel Books began in Porterville, CA when Cam Smith began performing spoken-word poetry accompanied by his friend Matthew Walker on guitar. Their first show was in Paso Robles, CA. Originally, they were called "Sons of Empire" but soon changed the name to "avoid sounding like a viking metal band" according to Cam Smith. Soon after changing their name, they released the independent EP "Call Me Human" which was recorded at a home in Lodi, CA. Matthew left the band soon after the December 2011 release of the EP to pursue school. Cam Smith continued to write and play music with Kevin Glaudel (formerly of See the Light). Soon after, in May 2012, Hotel Books released a new single called "Ghost Can't Love" via their YouTube page. From May to November 2012, Hotel Books played short regional tours to promote the new single, which led to a brand new demo EP called "Amid the Beautiful Devastation" on Dead Letters Collective, a now defunct collective that Cam helped pioneer.

After the street date of their first official album as Cam and Kevin (the longest running line-up Hotel Books has had), they toured extensively, often with guest guitarists since Kevin was a full-time student. Soon after, their second EP "Found Out I'm Not So Brave" was launched digitally in the form of three unedited "one-take" poems. Upon release, Smith stated in an interview, "This album, along with our last, will be released together as one collection, we're just not done writing the story quite yet." 2013 also brought the releases of two split EPs, one with San Diego melodic hardcore band Brave Coast and the other with Massachusetts melodic metalcore band Endure. The former brought Hotel Books their second official single, "Sometimes I Feel Like Nothing" which was free to download on their BandCamp page. During the initial week of the single being released, Hotel Books had over ten thousand downloads.