Written by Kate Paterson
YouTube sensation turned talented and recognisable musician, Daniela Andrade sat down with us to talk about her passion for music, and her latest single ‘K.L.F.G‘.
Photo by Jean François Sauvé
Originally from Alberta, Canada, the Honduran-Canadian 28 year old musician first realised that she was destined to be in the music industry when she started her hugely popular YouTube channel back in 2008. ‘I knew I loved music since I was a kid but didn’t think it was going to be my career. My YouTube Channel started to get some traction and when I graduated from High School it felt like music was the right thing to do. I was 18 when that happened.’
Summing up her music as ‘melancholic‘, Daniela’s musical knowledge has been growing and developing both through live music but also in her virtual studio. She explained to us that her lyrics tell stories of the world around her. Starting to write lyrics from a young age, her love for music and talent for playing the guitar progressed from there. ‘My environment mostly. I was a pretty lonely kid for the most part and Edmonton has these really long, cold winters. I got curious about playing guitar and writing my own songs when I was 13 and it became an outlet in the winter months that spilled over and became what I loved most.’
Daniela’s soothing voice carries lyrics within her melodies that take the listener on a vivid journey. She told us that her about her modern twist on a nostalgic way of noting memories and ideas. ‘It changes depending on phases but recently a lot of times I get melody ideas and record them on my voice notes or a word sticks out for some reason in conversation or a book, and I save it in my notes and come back to it later. I think of it like scrapbooking vocal sketches and small thoughts. They come together somehow.’
Photo by Jean François Sauvé
While 2020 has been a hard time for just about everyone and the creative industry in particular, music is a constant source of happiness that has carried on as always. A sense of contentment or escapism through music is essential in hard times. Daniela told us that the music that kept her feeling somewhat normal this year was; ‘Giveon’s EP ‘Take Time‘, that was a real saving grace when it came out. And Lianne La Havas new self-titled album‘. Daniela also divulged the pressures she felt during the pandemic to be creative and productive.‘I did feel them at first. It was the first time in my life where staying inside alone was held within such a strange context. I hit a wall eventually however and realized that this idea of productivity or business was doing more harm than good. Eventually, I was able to feel fine with spending entire days just processing or enjoying a good film or book. It was an important lesson in balance.’
Since gaining a loyal fanbase through her YouTube channel, Daniela has gone on to release an uncountable number of singles and covers, as well as several EP’s. Her most recent EP to be released ‘Nothing Much Has Changed, I Don’t Feel The Same‘, sees Daniela’s undeniably recognisable melodies mixed with new sounds and textures which only solidifies her place in the indie singer-songwriter world more. One of the tracks that has become the most popular from this EP is her single ‘K.L.F.G.’ Daniela explained that this song particularly came very naturally to her. ‘K.L.F.G came about really quickly. I made the keyboard loop in Ableton and went back into my notes to the first two lines, which I had already written down a few days back. The rest followed really quickly. I knew I wanted to keep the first part of the song clean and use the end space to explore distortion with my voice, which I’ve been loving to do often.’
Daniela is currently working on her album and waiting for a safe and secure time to go on tour, so in the meant time head over to her Spotify page to hear more of her unique and catchy songs.