Camas High School (CHS) seniors Brandon Palma, Max Yoshida, and Beckham Huynh have spent at least two years producing original music under the name BBM Music. They came together as a trio during their junior year of high school and have spent their senior year trying to grow their platform and take their music to the next level.

Palma and Yoshida have been producing music together since their freshman year at Discovery High School (DHS) and were joined by Huynh in their junior year.  What originated as a hobby between friends then became BBM Music. The three use the app Soundtrap to produce beats and sounds, eventually building them into original songs. BBM Music is working on its debut album and hopes to release it sometime in the next few months.

“I think what’s helped me most across the years is seeing and recognizing my own growth as I go along,” Yoshida said. “Seeing how much I’ve improved since I first started working with Brandon makes me feel more confident and invested.”

Palma, Yoshida, and Huynh all credit a portion of their success to the classes they have taken in the Camas School District (CSD).

While Yoshida and Palma took the Music Production class at DHS as freshmen, Huynh is currently taking the CHS Music Production class. Additionally, Yoshida took Intro to Guitar in his junior year. All three members of BBM also participate in Select Vocal Ensemble (SVE), taught by Ethan Chessin, who also teaches the Music Production class.

“What’s important about music is that it keeps people connected,” Chessin said. “Including classes like these allows students to embody their whole selves in the classroom.”

“In terms of motivation, [CHS] has been really good for me,” Palma said. “Choir has been especially amazing. Music and arts aren’t the main focus of [CHS], but the people here are so focused and inspiring, which has really helped my motivation for making music.”

Outside of music production, the group is close friends and enjoy many activities together, most of which are creative, such as SVE, CHS tennis, CHS DECA, and thrifting. They use social media to document both their musical interests and their thrifting experiences. Their Instagram account (anthem.sounds) is used to promote their music and production journey, while their shared TikTok account (BP_suited) focuses more on fashion.

Working on music together has strengthened their friendship through long hours of remixing, recording, and splicing.

“The two of them are really different people, but they both have my heart, and we all work so well together,” Huynh said. “Brandon has been making music for an especially long time, and it’s really interesting to watch him work.”

“They can both be really rowdy, but when we sit down to make music, it’s like we enter a flow state,” Palma said. “We can just relax and focus on music.”

By combining the resources provided by CSD and their own creative ambitions, Palma, Huynh, and Yoshida are making the best of their senior year, expressing themselves through music and expanding their platform every day.