(Photo Credit: Jorge Espinosa M.)
We got the chance to interview De'Anza, of Sante Fe, New Mexico. De'Anza's music is self-described as "Hypnotic, Latin-electronic-alternative funk with a touch of psychedelia". Her music combines great vocal-work with fantastic beats, however there are times where De'Anza's vocals broach into borderline hip-hop territory. On June 29, 2018, she released Cosmic Dream which takes the listener through various stages of the sleep cycle. The EP was co-produced by Grammy winner Andre de Santanna (Ziggy Marley, Jason Mraz, Sergio Mendes) and De’Anza herself.
1. Could you walk us through your process of writing music?
"Typically I’ll start out by programming a drum groove. I might start singing a melody and putting lyrics together at that point or I’ll lay down the harmony and write out the whole song musically before I even think about a lyric. What’s cool about singing and writing to a drum groove is there aren’t any limitations on the melody, I find a certain element of freedom in that. Recently, I tried coming from a different perspective by conceptualizing the song before doing anything musically. This was an interesting approach, as I could sonically sculpt and make conscious decisions to reflect the overall theme. The song was about social media and it’s affects on us, so I spent time sampling phone notification messages and created the harmony with those sounds. It was time consuming but definitely a fun process. I’ve been digging deep into making music on my laptop that I’m sure soon I’ll write some songs just from my acoustic guitar. It’s both fun and challenging to try to find different approaches to songwriting."
2. What artists have inspired you in your career?
"The Beatles, Prince, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Erykah Badu, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Stevie Nicks, Bob Marely, Janis Joplin, and P-Funk"
3. What is one thing that you want the public to know about your music?
"Everyone views the world through his or her own lens. Music is about communicating and connecting with others on this similar journey, life. There isn’t anything I’d like to impose on the listener as everything is already hidden in the music. My only wish is that it resonates with them and I can connect with them through this medium."
4. Do you have any upcoming projects you would like fans to know about?
"I’ll be touring the rest of 2018 and coming out with more music very soon!"
De'Anza will be performing the following dates:
AUG 04 - The Parish At House Of Blues - Anaheim - Anaheim, California AUG 09 - City of Bell Recreation Center - Bell, CA
FMI on De'Anza visit:
https://deanzamusic.com/ https://www.facebook.com/deanzamusic https://www.youtube.com/user/deanzamusic https://www.instagram.com/deanzamusic/ https://twitter.com/deanzamusic