Stemming from San Diego, California and currently residing in Flagstaff, Arizona — serving as a student-athlete at Northern Arizona University — it looks like Diego Campisano is trading in his basketball for a microphone as of late, ready to take the music industry by storm.
“I’m born and raised in San Diego, California. I’m a current division one basketball player — I play for Northern Arizona University — and I got started in country music when I grew up going to a horse ranch during the summer every year and was surrounded by country music, and I kind of just fell in love with it over the years,” Campisano told Music Mayhem in an exclusive interview, prior to delving into the details of his budding country music career.
First Viral Videos
In the summer of 2023, Diego Campisano first achieved viral success via TikTok with a series of videos that took place in the Northern Arizona University locker room.
In said videos, the rising superstar would walk around the NAU locker room while singing some fan-favorite country songs, garnering a great deal of engagement. Some viewers went so far as to call him a real-life Troy Bolton in the comment sections of said videos, making a cheeky reference to the High School Musical character who split his time between basketball and musical theater.
Nevertheless, some of the most notable videos in this series feature Campisano singing “One Number Away” by Luke Combs, “Take Your Time” by Sam Hunt and “Break Up In a Small Town” by Sam Hunt, amassing 2.1 million views, 1.5 million views and 1.4 million views, respectively.
“It was excitement,” the talented singer-songwriter gushed when asked about his initial reaction to his unexpected social media success. “I had been posting for about a year with no real traction, so it was satisfying to see a video get some attention.”
Social Media Success
From then on, Campisano continued to post on TikTok, sharing some covers of not only country songs, but also tunes by artists like Taylor Swift.
“I lean towards songs that I have a connection with,” the student-athlete dished when asked how he chooses which songs to cover via social media. “Any time a song makes me feel a certain way is when I’ll put my own twist on it. I grew up around a lot of different genres and a lot of different artists, so I love putting my own twist on, you know, different types of music that maybe my audience hasn’t been familiar with.”
Naturally, the California native continued to garner a great deal of engagement from his supporters throughout this endeavor, prompting him to tease some original music via TikTok as well.
Original Music
“I have no original songs out on any of the streaming platforms yet,” Campisano admitted, however, he undoubtedly has some in the works.
After teasing an original song via TikTok earlier this year, the budding superstar has “been blessed with positive interactions and feedback,” admitting that “it’s going to be an exciting day” whenever he is able to release some Diego Campisano originals to the public.
He continued by delving into the details of his writing process, which he has been experimenting with since 2020. “I started writing when COVID happened — about when I was a senior in high school — and you know, most of everything that I’ve written since then has been by myself. I take real life experiences and feelings and do my best to create an authentic story,” Campisano explained.
“Each of my songs has come to life differently, but a lot of the times it starts with a title that I’ve written down or thought of, then I kind of mess around with the melody and see where it goes from there,” he continued.
Campisano’s Sound
For those who have yet to hear any of Campisano’s original songs, he described his primary sound to Music Mayhem, “Being surrounded by a lot of different genres, country is my favorite, and I want to lean towards the country sound. I think describing my sound, I think I’d go with just authentic and real.”
He continued, “It’ll be fun to see how my music and my sound develops over my career, but I hope to have it be authentically me in whatever stage of life I’m in.”
Growing up with artists like Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean, Brooks & Dunn, Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks, Campisano is said to draw similarities to Cody Johnson, Connor Smith and Sam Hunt at this stage in his life, however, it is clear that some of his early influences shine within his music.
Support from friends and family
As a whole, making the jump from basketball to music was a huge risk for Campisano, but fortunately, he has supportive friends, roommates and teammates who helped him chase his dream.
“I was blessed with roommates my freshman year of college that really pushed me to get my stuff out there on social media, and you know, I always loved music, but it would attain to usually just me in my room playing the guitar,” he prefaced, prior to delving into the details. “My roommate really pushed me to get out there and start singing in front of people, start posting on social media, and yeah, I think it relates a lot to that athletic standpoint of being a college athlete… Getting repetition in front of real people.”
Although he has achieved a great deal of social media success — amassing 116.9k followers solely on TikTok — the soon-to-be country star has been performing in front of “real people” as well, selling out his first-ever show in Flagstaff, Arizona earlier this year.
“I did my first show after my season last year, and I was grateful enough to sell it out in my college town,” Campisano reminisced. “Just seeing that support from the community and the support from the athletics program with Northern Arizona University just gave me a lot of confidence to go up there and have fun and be myself.”
What’s next?
As far as what’s next for the country crooner, Campisano teased “some really exciting stuff in the works” that he is eager for his supporters to finally hear. “I’m taking my time with the process and the journey, but you know, stay tuned and keep your eye out for what’s to come for sure.”
“I think 2025 is going to be a really big year for my artist journey, and I’m very excited to see what that year is going to bring,” he manifested, and we cannot help but hope that his talent gets the recognition it deserves in the new year.
To keep up with Diego Campisano and his musical journey from here on out, you can connect with the artist via TikTok @diegocampisano and Instagram @diegocampisano.
