Today we’d like to introduce you to Chanel Dela Cruz.
Chanel, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. As a child, something that I always was attracted to was singing. My mother often talks about how I was singing at age one before I could even form sentences. I loved putting on home concerts for my aunts & uncles, cousins and grandparents. My repertoire included LOTS of Britney Spears. My papa on my mom’s side was always so supportive as he was a singer himself. I remember his calls as he’d sing happy birthday to me every year.. and his warm voice singing Frank Sinatra and Elvis songs. I wrote my first song in the third grade and continued to be involved in music by taking piano lessons and teaching myself the ukulele. I was known as the girl that always had her ukulele on her in middle school. Lunch breaks were meant for jam sessions!
I auditioned for performing arts high school in Las Vegas called LVA and was involved in their choir program. I traveled halfway across the US to continue studying music at McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul, Minnesota. Unfortunately, in it’s the third year, the school was forced to close due to a lack of funding. It was a huge hit on our little music scene in St. Paul. It was the first time I felt like music had abandoned me. However, I knew I couldn’t give up, and I enrolled in Berklee Online’s songwriting program, where I finished my degree. I now work and perform in Los Angeles and am so happy to be surrounded by so many other creatives and like-minded people.
Can you give our readers some background on your music?
I write indie-pop and R&B inspired music. Usually, it just starts with a melodic/lyrical idea in my mind. I get a lot of ideas while I’m in the shower, or right before I’m about to go to bed. I then take those ideas and write chords around it and try to create a lyrical story. As for why, I feel like I’ve never had another purpose. My purpose was always to create and share it with others. It’s something I’ve been drawn to since I was a little girl. When I watched my idols, I saw how much their music inspired me to dance and jam out or even cry. That was what I intended for my music as well. I wanted to write music that made people FEEL, not just create mindless art that doesn’t last.
In recent years, I’ve struggled with anxiety and experienced the loss of loved ones and friends, and so I wrote music to cope with that. I wanted people to hear it and know that they’re not alone in their loneliness or depression or whatever pain they’re going through.
How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful?
I’ve always struggled with the idea of success because, to the average person, only the big stars in music are “successful.” Over the years, I’ve had to work to find what that means to me. I feel like a success for me would be that I can fully sustain myself and a family, one day, completely off of writing songs. It would be able to play to a few hundred people in the cities that enjoy my music most, every once in a while. I realized I don’t have to be a Demi Lovato or Miley Cyrus to be successful as long as someone is hearing my music and being inspired or helped by it. I think the key quality that is essential for an artist’s success is perseverance. Being in this industry isn’t easy and success isn’t instant. There are going to be many “failures” or setbacks. No one reaches success by giving up or settling.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
People can listen to me on most streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, etc.! If anyone would like to support directly, I’m also on Bandcamp, where the money from downloads goes to me instantly, unlike streams. (https://chaneldelacruz.bandcamp.com) I also post covers on my Instagram and Facebook artist page: @chanelmdc.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chaneldelacruz.com/
- Phone: 7025349296
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chanelmdc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chanelmdc
- Other: https://biglink.to/streamchanel
Image Credit:
Marlowe Teichman @lowetakesphotos
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