DellaXOZ: “My music is not about a genre, just a feeling of what sounds good”

Content:

Manchester teen DellaXOZ is a genre-defying newcomer looking for connection and embracing being weird. 

Words: Martyn Young.

This article is currently only available to Dork supporters. Sign up to read now here. If you’re already a member and are still seeing the paywall message, log in to Steady here.

DellaXOZ is part of a number of artists who broke through in the peak creative days of early lockdown with brilliantly creative and instinctive lo-fi alt-pop music. A bedroom producer working on her own, 19-year-old Daniella Lubasu from Manchester started making waves first on TikTok and then with her debut EP, 2022’s ‘THE DELLA VARIANT’, and now she’s back with a brand new EP and an expanded creative vision as the Gen Z alt-pop visionary expands her multi-genre literate alt-pop into ever more creative lanes on her dynamic new EP, ‘DELLAIRIUM’.

Hey DellaXOZ, how are you feeling with a new EP on the way and lots of exciting pop stuff happening? 

I’m excited about it. I’ve been really looking forward to releasing this music for a long time. I’m excited it’s finally happening.

How would you characterise your journey as an artist so far? Things feel like they’re really ramping up now? 

I feel like it’s exciting because I’m building my audience and my small little community. There are so many people when I go online, and I see their videos saying, ‘I love DellaXOZ’ and people are agreeing. It’s weird to see people in different countries listening to me. It’s slightly nerve-racking because I love all the stuff that I put out, and I have to top it each time.

What were your formative musical and cultural touchstones growing up? 

I grew up listening to everything. My parents are from Congo, and being in the UK, I’d also be listening to lots of other random stuff. My parents would always play Congolese music in the car, but they’d also listen to the radio. When I was in primary school my dad would play all the hits of Rihanna and Beyonce. My mum loves old-school stuff, like 70s rock, and she showed me people like ABBA. It’s a lot of different things. 

How have those early introductions to music shaped you now? 

It has shaped me in the way that I don’t listen to stuff because it’s a specific genre. I think if it sounds good, it sounds good. I appreciate a lot of music from different genres. I haven’t shown it so much as my discography is still small, and I’m still growing as an artist, but over time, I’ll show that my music is not about a genre and just a feeling of what sounds good. 

How do you think you’ve developed as an artist since you’ve been doing this? 

I released my first song when I was 15. Naturally, as you get older, your stuff is more mature. The more songs that I write, I’m getting more honest and real with the things that I say. I’m quite reserved, but with each song I release, I let people into my world a bit more. If you look at this EP, ‘DELLAIRIUM’, and the last EP lyrically, it’s more open. I still love the old stuff, but the more I write, the more it expands. 

What about production-wise? 

I’m working with new people. When I first started making music, I never worked with anyone. I still love the stuff, but working with other people, I have fresh ideas coming in. I’m still producing by myself and trying to find out as a producer what is my proper sound with a lot of experimentation.

What’s your first creative impulse? Is it words or production? 

I think I’m an artist, and everything else comes under that. I’m also a producer and a writer. All those things make DellaXOZ. 

When did you think this was going to be an actual thing? 

I kind of didn’t think that at first. I would just make music and put something out. In lockdown, I posted on TikTok that one of my songs was coming out in a few days, and it had a little moment, and I was like, ‘Oh, people actually like my stuff’. I’ve always wanted this and now I can see signs of it starting to happen.

“I’m quite reserved, but with each song I release, I let people into my world a bit more”

DellaXOZ

What’s your vision for DellaXOZ the artist, and how are you bringing it to life, especially on your new EP?

I want to give people something they can relate to and something where they can say that song was there for me when I was going through something. I want to soundtrack people’s lives, and write relatable stuff, and give that to people. 

The EP has a brilliant mix of dance beats and a real emotional core. How do you strike that balance? 

I just want to keep it really human. I hate it when people say this artist is just this thing or that thing. People aren’t just one thing, and you can’t just put them in a box. I see my music as that. I don’t want to just be someone who writes sad songs or happy songs or angry songs. I want to do everything. That’s human. 

The last song, ‘It’s All Good, Kid’, is a really amazing dream poppy song with a positive, uplifting message. Where did that come from? 

I wrote that song for me because I was writing really pessimistic breakup songs, so I didn’t want it to be like, ‘This is the life, and you’re going to be sad all the time’. I wanted that to be visible on the EP and have that balance between sadness and happy stuff.

This is your first collaborative work, so who did you work with, and what did that bring out in your artistry? 

I worked with quite a few different people, like Mack Jamieson and Jessie Munro. I think it sped the process up. When I make music by myself, I’m crippled by perfectionism, and I’m thinking too much about trying to write really good lyrics because I don’t want to write something terrible. When I’m in the studio, I’m not really thinking about that, and I’m in the studio to come out with a song. I always have something I want to say, but I’m not really aware until I’m in the studio. Whatever wants to come out will come out. 

What qualities do you think the most vibrant pop music should have in 2024? 

I think with alt-pop music and current music, it shouldn’t sound like anything. When you look at a current playlist like ‘Our Generation’ and you listen to it, people wouldn’t have made that ten years ago. People have no formulas and are just experimenting. It’s less formulaic and people are expressing themselves more and having fun. That’s what I’m doing. When I worked with Mack Jamieson and made ‘Boring’, I was stressing a bit, and I was like, this needs to be weirder. That’s what I’m doing these days. I want to do something that hasn’t been done before 

More weirdness, please. Weirdness is underrated. So, what are your ambitions for the rest of the year? 

I’m planning to connect and reach more people. In lockdown, that was the height of my TikTok. My top song, the hype for that, started in lockdown, so I want to go back to that and connect with people because if I can do that, I’ll have music that people really like. I’m performing a lot more. I have my first headline show this month. I want to be discovered by new people. 

Where do you possibly see yourself in ten years’ time? 

I think most artists, if you ask them, will say they want to be Taylor Swift big, but it’s not that I want to be famous, but I just want to have a community and know that I have a group of people that are the DellaXOZ fans and come to shows is all I want. 

Do you have any interesting passions or obsessions our readers might be interested to find out about? 

I crochet, but I’m not sure how interesting that is?

It’s very interesting.

I write, but that’s kind of related to music. I just like doing regular things. I go to uni. That’s not that interesting. I do English literature and creative writing. 

What do you like to crochet? Have you made anything impressive? 

I’ve made two tops and jumpers, and I made half a Spider-Man gilet, but I gave up. 

Taken from the April 2024 issue of Dork.

==============================

Image

==============================

URL

Read More

==============================

Source

Dork

==============================

Full content

[#item_full_content]