Daily Inspiration: Meet André

Today we’d like to introduce you to André.

André, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Music has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I grew up in Colombia in a very musical family. My dad is a choir conductor, and I started singing in his choir when I was around four years old. From there, I performed with the National Youth Choir of Colombia, studied musical theater, played in bands, and eventually moved to the U.S. to attend Berklee College of Music, where I studied Voice Performance, Contemporary Writing & Production, and Contemporary Conducting.

After college, I started asking myself what I really wanted my own music to sound like. I had spent years studying and performing so many different styles, and I wanted to take everything I had learned and experiment with a sound that felt more like the artist I was becoming. That’s when I started developing this dance-pop project, pulling from the music I naturally gravitate toward: disco, funk, R&B, Latin rhythms and big pop records. It wasn’t an overnight change; it became a process of writing, experimenting and slowly figuring out how all of those influences could exist together in Spanish and still feel like me.

At the same time, I’ve always had a more intimate side to my songwriting. In 2024, I released Si Hay Un Mañana, a completely acoustic project that was very personal and stripped down. I love that those two sides of me can coexist. One is intimate and vulnerable, while the music I’m releasing now takes many of those same emotions and puts them on the dance floor.

That evolution has brought me to the sound I’m creating today: Spanish-language Latin dance-pop that blends pop, disco, funk, R&B and club influences with the storytelling I’ve always cared about. I like to describe it as “pop disco queer, pa’ bailar el amor, el drama y la vida.” I want the songs to have something real underneath them, but I also want you to be able to dance to whatever you’re feeling.

My latest single, “HELLO,” feels like one of the clearest expressions of that vision. It’s a breakup song, but instead of staying in the heartbreak, it reaches that moment when you finally choose yourself and walk away. I started developing the song years before its release, so seeing it become a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition and a winner in the Unsigned Only Music Competition was especially meaningful.

Today, I’m building this project independently here in LA, releasing music, performing, creating visuals and continuing to push this sound forward. For the first time, I feel like all the different pieces of who I am — Colombian, queer, a musician, songwriter, performer, and someone who genuinely loves pop music — are living in the same place. I feel like I’ve finally found the world I want André to live in, and now I’m excited to see how far I can take it.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. I think one of the hardest parts of following a dream is accepting the sacrifices that come with it. For me, one of the biggest has been living far from my family in Colombia while trying to build a life and career here in Los Angeles.

Building a music career independently also means figuring out a lot on your own. I didn’t arrive in LA with an established network or industry connections, so a big part of the journey has been creating those opportunities myself. Meeting people, booking shows, releasing music, promoting it, building a team project by project, and learning the business side while still trying to protect the time and energy it takes to actually be an artist.

There’s also a very real financial side to being independent. Making music, creating visuals, performing and promoting releases all require investment, and there’s a constant balancing act between putting resources back into the dream and wanting to be able to help the people you love back home.

That has probably been one of the hardest lessons for me: understanding that sometimes the best way I can help the people I love is to keep going, invest in my craft, and give myself a real chance to succeed. It can feel selfish in the moment to choose your own growth when you want to do more for everyone around you, but I’ve learned that becoming the best version of myself, as an artist and as a person, is also part of what allows me to give back in a bigger way.

So no, it hasn’t always been easy, but those challenges have made me much more resourceful and intentional. When you don’t have a huge machine behind you, you learn how to create opportunities instead of waiting for them.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and performer creating Spanish-language Latin dance-pop that blends disco, funk, R&B and electronic influences. At the center of everything I do is storytelling. I love taking experiences like falling in love, heartbreak, desire, confidence and letting go, and turning them into music you can move to. I always say I make “pop disco queer, pa’ bailar el amor, el drama y la vida.”

My identity is naturally a big part of the music I make. I’m a queer Latina artist, and I want to tell stories about the human experience from that perspective without feeling like those stories always need to be explained or treated as something separate. A love song about a woman can simply be a love song. A song about heartbreak can simply be heartbreak. I want queerness to exist naturally in my music, my visuals and onstage because that’s how it exists in my life.

Representation is also really important to me. There are still young people growing up who don’t see themselves enough in the artists on big stages, in music videos or in the stories we tell about love. Some are still being judged for simply being who they are. I want someone to discover my music and feel like there’s a place for them in this world without needing permission to be there. At the same time, I never want the music to feel exclusive. The emotions I write about are human. They’re just being told through the eyes of a queer Colombian woman.

I’m incredibly proud of “HELLO,” my latest single, because it feels like one of the clearest expressions yet of the artist I’ve been working toward becoming. The song took years to develop and went on to become a finalist in the International Songwriting Competition and a winner in the Unsigned Only Music Competition. Having that recognition meant a lot, especially for a song that represents this new chapter of my sound.

But I think what I’m most proud of is how far I’ve come. My entire family is in Colombia, and building a career in another country has required me to learn how to advocate for myself over and over again. When you’re an emerging artist, there isn’t always someone waiting to open the door for you. You have to keep showing up when very few people know your name, create your own opportunities, and constantly prove that what you’re building deserves a place, and navigating that as a woman, a queer person and an immigrant has added its own layers to the journey.

So when I look at what I’m building now, I’m proud not only of the songs or the accomplishments, but of the persistence behind them. Every release, every show and every person who discovers the music represents another step forward. I want to build something big, but I also want the people who find me along the way, especially those who might not always see themselves represented — to feel like they’re part of it.

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
One of my favorite childhood memories is from La Feria de Manizales, a week-long celebration that happens every year in my hometown in Colombia. For that entire week, the city comes alive with music, concerts, parties and parades. Beauty queens from around the world come to Manizales for the international pageant and take part in different events throughout the city, including these huge parades.

My family was always involved because my grandfather’s music school had a marching band. I was probably three or four years old, and I would march with them playing the cymbals. I was always performing and wearing costumes as a kid, which I absolutely loved.

One year, the parade had a Spanish theme, so my mom dressed me in this tiny traditional Spanish costume. The parade passed right in front of our house, and when the beauty queens came by on their floats, my dad lifted me up so they could see me in my little outfit. Apparently I looked cute enough that one of the queens invited me onto her float with her! I got to ride for a couple of blocks, waving and saying hi to everyone along the route.

I was used to being down in the street marching with the band, but for those few blocks I was one of the queens, and I thought it was the greatest thing ever. Looking back, it also makes me laugh because I guess I’ve always loved performing, dressing up and having an audience — although the dresses definitely didn’t make it into my adult wardrobe.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://andremusica.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andremusicaa/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andremusicaa
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@Andremusicaa

Image Credits
Lizzie Green
Amanda DiMartino