Always Use the First Take: Cameron Sharp on Authenticity and Social Media
A musician who hates Instagram explains the one rule that keeps his content real — and why the messy first take always beats the polished second.
Here's a contradiction Cameron Sharp lives with: he's a working musician who has to post constantly, and he genuinely hates social media. "I hate Instagram, I hate TikTok," he admits — even while knowing he's "supposed to be on them" to promote his music.
He's been burned by it, too. He traces one of his lowest periods directly to the phone — the endless comparison, the compulsive checking. "I was so consumed by it every single day. It was probably one of my lowest moments, and I attribute it to the phone and social media."
The one rule that fixes it
So how does someone who distrusts the medium still use it well? Cameron has a single, deceptively simple rule: always use the first take.
He'll film himself talking to the camera — announcing a single, a gig, whatever — and his instinct is to stop and redo it, sure he can do it better. But he's noticed something:
"I always end up using the first take. Because it was the most authentic. When you do it again, you start trying to look better. It's stupid."
The first take is you saying something. Every take after is you performing saying it. The audience can feel the difference even when they can't name it.
Why "be yourself" actually means something
"Be yourself" is the most worn-out advice on the internet, and Cameron knows it — "you hear people talk about that all the time, but I don't think people really understand what it means." His version is concrete: stop trying to look like the other musicians, stop manufacturing a persona, and just say the true thing in the realest way you can.
He learned it the hard way. "I spent years trying to do what other musicians were doing." The breakthrough came when he stopped — when he set the phone up and just recorded, without the polish — and made some of his best content yet.
The bigger point about the industry
Cameron is sharp on why authenticity is now the only real edge. The music world is saturated: "Literally anyone can put a phone in front of them, grab a guitar, sing a song — and they qualify as a singer." When everyone can produce the content, the only thing that can't be faked is you. Being a musician, he says, is "literally 50% music. The other 50% is who you are."
In a feed full of people performing a highlight reel, the first take — flaws and all — is the competitive advantage.
Part of a longer conversation. Read the full Cameron Sharp deep-dive, or watch the episode →.