Danielle Starz: Be Ok
What inspires your music?
My music is definitely inspired by my real life. Most of the time I’m writing about a real person or experience and something that actually happened to me. I feel like writing music about my life is how I keep it authentic to myself and it’s a good way to vent if I’m going through a tough time. Music to me is about expressing myself and I find that the more true of a story I tell through my songs, the more people can relate to what I’m going through if they’re going through it as well. That’s really important to me as an artist.
How did you start your recording career?
I’ve been recording for most of my life. I actually remember a time in middle school when I recorded a mini CD of covers that I liked at the time and passed out physical copies to my classmates and friends. People really enjoyed it. I started writing original music in high school and my mom would drive me to a record at PRO STAR, which was this awesome recording studio near us. We ended up recording a couple of albums and I think you can still find them on youtube. That was when doing pop music became real for me as a career. I collaborated with a lot of amazing artists at Berklee College of Music, where I went to college, and the rest is history.
How did you come up with your single?
I wrote this song with Jonathan Garcia. We wrote this song with intentions of it being a power anthem for anyone going through a breakup. This song is about surviving. We really wanted to create something that empowered people. We thought that this was the perfect time to drop this record because the world right now is pretty crazy. It’s a scary and uncertain time and a lot of people feel lonely and this song is about just being ok and being happy and strong. “Be Ok” was produced by Prod.AG and he captured the mood of this song perfectly.
What is your genre of music?
My genre is pop but I am also definitely influenced by r&b, indie, and singer-songwriter.
Who are your influences?
At the moment, I would say my biggest influences are Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande and Lana Del Rey.
How do you define success?
To me, success is just someone being able to relate to my music. It means everything to me when someone reaches out and tells me that my song made them feel better or they were able to connect to it. That’s one of the reasons I do this. Music is so therapeutic and has gotten me through so many challenging times in my life, so if my music can do that to someone that makes me feel like I am incredibly successful.
What can we expect from you in 2020?
So many surprises. I have a few more singles in store for this year and some fun ideas for the holiday season too! Stay tuned!!! ;)
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