Rising Stars: Meet Damacio Villegas

Today we’d like to introduce you to Damacio Villegas.

Hi Damacio, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
It all started when I first gained consciousness. The very first thing that I remember point blank was music. Ever since then, it’s been an integral part of my life. My parents had me doing Mexican Folklore Dancing since I learned how to keep time. I also had an era where I would do Michael Jackson impersonations for parties, festivals and have my own little shows. I couldn’t go a day without diving into music! However, I never thought about making a career out of it when I was younger because I was always a sporty kid. I played baseball and soccer all the way through high school and was excelling to the point where I had collegiate offers. However, something happened in those 4 years that would change the trajectory of my view on life. I had joined an improv comedy club at my school and was invited to do a show with the ensemble. Being nervous would be an understatement. I felt as though I could collapse from the pressure but the second I got on stage everything had disappeared I felt my confidence go up and I started to have fun but once I told my first joke the crowd erupted into a roar of laughter. That moment shot into my bloodstream like a drug. I felt euphoric and in pure bliss. It was that connection with me and the audience that catapulted my love for entertainment and reminded me of what it was like to be on a stage again. It felt natural and where I belonged.

A year later I decided to make the jump to make music. Using a pair of Apple headphones and 2014 Lenovo, I found a free DAW that I could use on a browser and started pumping song after song. With each song, the play count grew exponentially and my drive following suit. I continued to release collaborate and grow in making music. Even so to the point where I put together a backyard show that amassed over 200 people. However, because of sports all that was on the back burner and more of something I enjoyed. After graduation, I began practicing with the college I had chosen for soccer (El Camino College) and things were going great. I was in a beautiful position to have a career in soccer and I was excelling in my position, but I no longer felt the need to be better than the person ahead of me. I was just going through the motions. It was devastating, my passion had gone and I didn’t know how to get it back. So I spent the entire summer in a limbo trying to understand why. Wildly enough towards the end of the summer 1 week before my first game, I got an ad for open auditions for a musical. The musical in question, The Little Mermaid. I decided “screw it I got nothing to lose” went to cvs printed out some headshots and went to the audition. To my shock, I got a role as King Triton and then in that moment, I decided to call my coach to thank him for everything and to HIS shock told him that I was leaving the team and I would not be continuing to play soccer. He respected my decision and hoped for my best. Then came the real challenge; my parents. My father was the most stupefied. The decision to quit soccer really came out of nowhere and we had invested so much time and money into it that when I told him, he was mostly confused, not angry, not mad or anything but really confused and I talk to him about how I no longer felt that passion for soccer and if I kept going I don’t know how far I could’ve gone without that drive. He asked me what I was going to do after I said, “I think I’m gonna focus on music now I made a musical and that’s what I’m gonna do for the season but I will be actively going to school and I’ll be working as well that way I’m doing something.” We hashed out some terms and conditions and finally made a compromise. So within a week, I enrolled myself into another school I got my classes and I was taking the musical seriously.

However, I was not in the best place mentally and I was going down a dark path, getting involved with a lot of vices, getting stuck in my own head, and things weren’t necessarily looking too optimistic for me as I was just lulling around not really getting anything done or having any clear direction. This carried on for the rest of the semester once again just going through the motions with school my day-to-day really focusing in on the musical since it was the only thing that I had to look forward to. The Day the musical came and I killed each and every show it was a very proud moment for me and it was something that I had wanted to do for a long time. Being on stage again was beautiful; all the hard work had paid off. But still, I was directionless and had nowhere to go especially doing music I hadn’t released anything and I wasn’t necessarily making anything. However that New Year’s tragically one of my friends had gone under a drug-induced psychosis. This made me realize that I couldn’t mess around and had to take this music seriously. That same month I applied to The Los Angeles Recording School. Once I was accepted, I enrolled for the next month. Since then I’ve learned so much from school and working at studios like; In The Mix Studios under Dee Kei Waddel and Lu Moreno to BeatBox Studios working with Henry Awad on collaborations and projects, I didn’t even imagine less than a year ago. Now I’m absorbing everything I can hoping to take my music and career to flying heights.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s been as smooth as it can be. I feel as though I’m always where I need to be and I’ve been blessed with the roads that I can thrive on. Most of my usual obstacles come from myself. Intensity over consistency tends to be my biggest problem. I struggle with just keeping things smooth and easier on myself and instead overextending myself. That tends to lead to me being less productive and not enjoying my process.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Well first and foremost I am always going to be a songwriter I think that is always gonna be my strength I love telling stories and I love connecting to people with words. But the more I got involved in the process of making a song, the more I loved every single part of it especially when it comes to engineering. I love working with other artists and when I find that moment that we both click and get on the same page, it’s great because we both know that we’re working toward a great song or a great product. In regards to the music I make though, I love dancing so when you hear my music you’re gonna hear big inspirations from Michael Jackson, Anderson .Paak, Mac Miller. Because of this, my music is very carefree upbeat and very lively, lotta four on the floor. I’m trying to make music for people to fall in love with life again, not necessarily to escape it.

How do you think about happiness?
Honestly what makes me happy is sharing moments with people and especially at like events and performances where you’re forced to be in one moment together and you could see that you’re really affecting people and you really are changing their lives for the better even if it is for like a 15-minute set or if it’s a three-minute song I think that is an awesome relationship between the listeners and the artist and that is what really makes me happy being able to break through that barrier and really be able to touch someone’s heart and make their day a lil better.

Pricing:

• 25/hr to book me as your recording engineer (it’s a fun time)

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Instagram.com/KidDamiOfficial
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@kiddamiofficial
• SoundCloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/szjUpJKiredGN3VY6
• Other: https://linktr.ee/kiddami

Image Credits
https://instagram.com/mrbryangarcia?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== Bryan Garcia https://instagram.com/alexpictures__?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== Alejandro Villegas https://instagram.com/_julianj_?igshid=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== Julian Chavez