Renaissance from p 33 He adds, “But more importantly, we think it expands not just food and beverage, and not just entertainment, but just bohemian life and culturalism here in Phoenix, which is what we need. We need to be able to create culture for all of the millions of people that have settled and moved here.” The arts portion includes several, as-yet unrevealed programs that Cameron has cooked up. And his others plans, while still mostly unrevealed, go even further still. “We have really grandiose ideas for entertainment beyond live music,” he says. “One day I’ll share some of those details, but the production and entertainment aspects of some of the things that you might see come out of our camp will be things that will be wildly talked about in the future.” Nash specifically as a place “with the success that I want,” and thinks some mutual admiration can go a long way to help every venue flourish. “So I can’t disclose my big plans, but I have a very large plan,” he says. “One that sort of galvanizes and, in a sense, unionizes musicians and bartenders to work in these locations that are all sort of tied together. I think that if we build it as a core unit, as opposed to disenfranchised operators that do one thing versus the other, then it’s got a lot of value in the future.” Cameron doesn’t “want to be the tip of the spear,” but does hope he can help lead the charge. “Maybe one day I would be a regional operator of small- to medium-size media venues throughout the Southwestern United States, with aspirations to go nationally and globally,” he says. “But you’ve got to crawl, then walk, then run, right? I’m in my crawl phase.” Cameron is The Lost Leaf The Lost Leaf near Roosevelt Row in downtown Phoenix. That mostly culture-centric approach isn’t just about being good for business. Cameron seems to genuinely believe in the power of Phoenix’s artistic contributions. “I had this very weird premonition that one of the most amazing music talents ever would come out of Phoenix one day,” he says. “Whether that’s tomorrow or in 10 years or 20 years from now. Like, liter- ally, the next Michael Jackson or the next Elvis Presley. And I’ve seen so many cool underground local talents that suggest that I’m exactly right.” They’re not entirely pipe dreams, either, and Cameron thinks a prospect like that is another sign for the health of Phoenix at large. “This is a sign that the city is growing up culturally, and that is really great for me,” he says. “As a person that’s not leaving here, somebody who’s built roots, we intend to live here forever. I want to make sure that this place grows ... its population at the same pace as it grows culturally.” Still, it’s not enough that Cameron 34 guides his clubs to success. He’s already looking forward to partnering with other venues and operators. He mentioned The already making progress toward that much larger goal, adding, “I have three other [properties] in escrow right now, all of which have a similar style and components to what you’ve seen as far as my other acquisi- tions.” But one of the more positive devel- opments is the level of support Cameron’s earned among other stakeholders. “There’s been both the naysayers and the supporters,” he says. “There’s so much positive energy in the world right here, and that outweighs the negative. As a state, we’re behind some of these other sort of metropolitan areas. There’s no reason why we can’t grow up to [their level] ... this is a much better place to live than most of the metro cities in the Southwestern region.” There are more changes and additions and the like to come at Lost Leaf. Cameron will also reveal his other properties and projects in the coming weeks. He’s clearly a businessman, and all of the decisions emanate from that experience. Yet Cameron doesn’t see why he can’t make a difference in people’s lives as an added bonus. In the case of Lost Leaf at least, his heart appears to be in the right place. “Will we still have the same demo- graphics of people that come into [Lost Leaf ]? Absolutely,” he says. “There’s a whole myriad of different demographics of people now surrounding downtown — you have your hipsters, you have your college students, you have your business people, you have your local crew. You have a lot of different [groups] intermixing. We’re just going to grow organically; one venue at a time, one experience at a time.” APRIL 21ST– APRIL 27TH, 2022 PHOENIX NEW TIMES | MUSIC | CAFE | FILM | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | NEWS | OPINION | FEEDBACK | CONTENTS | phoenixnewtimes.com
