Beautiful
Screams
The
story of music and love
By
Sengbe
Ben Yosef
This month on the blog, we present one of my hometown’s
hidden treasures, Danielle Lyndsay, a young woman with legendary roots in the Washington
D.C music scene ... With a unique and powerful voice, this young woman has the
stuff that it takes to hit it big in the music industry. I first heard her when
I was flipping through a popular indie artist site. Her voice called out to me.
There was pain in her voice but it felt calm and soothing to my ears. The way
she sang the song stayed with me and I listened, over and over again to the
track, each time gaining a little more insight about this young artist and her
music.
After a few weeks, I wanted to set up an interview
with Danielle so I contacted her through email. I told her how much I enjoyed
her music and asked if she’d like to be a feature story on our blog. She said
she would be happy to share her story with us and our readers. The way she
responded to our request showed how humble and classy she is as a person. This
made me feel good about picking her as our first artist to be highlighted on
the blog for 2016. Now with no further delay we present to you, Danielle
Lyndsay.
We chopped it up a bit and I asked her “when did you
first become interested in music”. [Danielle] “I've always been interested in
music’. “I can remember as a young child memorizing every song I heard and then
performing them for whoever would listen’. ‘I think my love of music is
something that I was born with, not something I just found of interest’. That
was an interesting perspective and I hadn’t heard it put that way before. Next
I asked her how long she had been perusing a career in music. Danielle said, “I've
been perusing music professionally for about 4 years and I've been songwriting
since high school”. She continues, “What started as a hobby in poetry and
creative writing turned into my craft once I married my love of writing with
singing.
We talked about her family and whether anyone in her
family had been involved in music. She said “My father Derrick Ward is the
family musician”. Derrick Ward aka “Dirty D” is a member of the legendary DC
Go-Go band Trouble Funk. Before that he was a member of a few groups & a
solo artist. [Danielle] “I was fortunate enough to grow up with a vocalist and
performer in my home to help mold me”. For those of you who have never heard of
Go-Go music let me explain it as best I can. If the Funk R&B and Afro Cuban
music had baby its name would be Go-Go. To be short I call it Urban Afro Funk.
You would have to experience in a live venue to fully understand.
I asked her, “When did you know you wanted to do
music professionally”. She said, “I came into contact with a relative who also
has a love of music and he encouraged me to take my artistry seriously”. [Danielle]
“Before then, I knew I could write and sing, but I just didn't know the
directions I wanted to take yet”. She said, “We co-wrote my first full song
recorded it and I guess it was fate”. Then I asked if she had any other interest
besides music. Her reply was, “I'm also a professional dancer, choreographer,
and I also recently started acting”! [Danielle] “You'll see me in my first
major role in an upcoming web series called Insomnia”. [Danielle] “My life as
an artist means that I'm a walking art form and a representation of my various crafts
and talents”. “I'm completely drenched in the arts. It’s my way of life”.
I fired off my next set of questions starting first
with, “Do you play any instruments”? Danielle said, “A long ago I played the
clarinet and I kept the skill of reading music”. [Danielle] “I'm teaching
myself to play the piano which has helped so much in the process of producing
my EP”. Then I asked, “Who was the first person to teach you about music?” [Danielle]
“My middle school band teacher, she was the first to teach me about making
music and arranging melodies”. [Danielle] “As far as writing, I feel like life
has been my teacher and I picked up a lessons wherever I went”. She shared some of her fondest memories about
music and she had this to say, “As far as memories, I think I'm making my
favorite memories now”. “I try not to
get caught up in the past moments, I don't want to get stuck in what I've done,
but continue to revel in what I'm doing”.
She went more in depth on her reason for writing the
piece saying, “The song is about wanting your partner to understand the hurt
behind every argument”. [Danielle] ‘It’s about wanting your lover to feel what’s
behind your anger and talk to about the things that a lot of people have trouble
communicating”. [Danielle] “I feel like arguments and heartbreak often comes
from moments of miscommunication and misinterpretation’. “The song is about
saying what is true and genuine’.
Then I asked Danielle what it takes to write a song
like that. She said, “it was incredibly
hard to record the song for me emotionally’. “I didn't know what I wanted to
hear with it, only that I wanted it to feel like a breaking heart”. [Danielle]
“I have an amazing production team that was there for me and helped me bring an
amazing track to life”. “We also recorded an acoustic version of the song that
was so beautiful, even better in my opinion”. “It's also one of my more vocally
challenging songs which I love, because it pushes me to train harder to hit a
lot of those notes and make it pure”.
I asked her to explain what her music was all about.
Danielle, “My music is all about being a powerful woman, reinvention and
mystery”. “I think as a woman, I hold a lot of power and beauty but at the same
time I am vulnerable”. [Danielle] “I love putting those aspects in my music
because I know there are so many women who want to say the words I sing a lot
of times but they can’t find the words”. [Danielle] “The “From the Ashes” project is a
great representation of that. It's all about my "Phoenix Phase". “It’s about the old Danielle dying and a new
Danielle being reborn into a more confident, powerful creature”. I asked her what
makes her music different and she said, “I make music like a dancer. I have to
feel and see the music for it to be a real fit for me”. “My music is rhythmic and it moves and it's a
representation of how I move whenever I dance”. “I love breaking all the rules when I make
music”. “I don't believe in doing things
the same way everyone is doing it”.
Next we talked about what gets her creative juices
flowing and Danielle said, “Anything; when I'm the studio I love it dark and
loud”. “When I'm on stage it's completely opposite”. “I need silence and bright lights”. “I'm quite moody, so whatever mood I'm in
that's the music I'm going to create”. I
wanted to know what kinds of music she listened to outside of her genre. She
said, “I listen to anything that sounds good”. “I listen to rock, country, classical. I also
draw a lot of inspiration from other forms”. “Music is music”. I asked how she would classify her music and
she said she doesn’t choose a style or genre and that she thought the music
world was evolving into a non-genre specific world and that's beautiful. [Danielle]
“The music I make now sounds like contemporary R&B with a little bit of
trance and a lot of classical influence’. “That's just because those are the songs I'm
hearing as of now”. “I could wake up
tomorrow and want to make country music, which is possible because I love
country music”.
We talked about artist she respected and Danielle
had this to say, “There are a lot of artists in many genres I've been listening
to lately”. “Right now I love Banks,
Seinabo Sey”. “I'm a huge fan of Janet
Jackson and I'm so happy she's back”. [Danielle]
“She's (Janet Jackson), has always been a powerhouse performer that inspired me”.
[Danielle] “It’s not because of her name
(Janet Jackson), but because of who she proven herself to be”. [Danielle] “I love the big names like Beyonce,
Rihanna, and Adele. She says some of her favorites are Queen, Guns N Roses,
Prince, Michael Jackson, Celine Dion, and Drake. [Danielle] “There's just so
many”! “My music library is nuts”.
Then we talked live performances. Danielle shared
some of her stage history. She said’ “The first time I was ever on stage I was
4 years old”. She says, “I love
performing. The stage is my favorite place to be”. “What's so gratifying is having people that
know the words to your songs as an artist that can really feel what you're singing”.
She also shared some of her high points
on the stage. [Danielle] “Performing at
University of Maryland Homecoming and being the opening act for Sebastian
Mikael”. “Those were some of the biggest
crowds but my favorite was the first time I played in NY”. “It was in small
downstairs bar with no more than 50 people”. “It was so intimate and genuine, in the one of
the busiest cities in the world; at that moment there was nothing else”.
I couldn’t leave out her personal life so I asked, “How
do you balance your music with other obligations - mate, children or job”. She said, “It's pretty simple right now”. “I don't have any children”. “I'm single”. “I'm married to my career right now”. “I’m very fortunate that I get to pay my bills
doing what I love, whether it is dancing, teaching, etc.” [Danielle] “I used to stay shut indoors, never
going out, because I thought that's what I needed”. “I've gotten so much better at taking care of
myself, allowing myself some free time”. “Time to just live so that my art becomes
better and my creative spirit can expand”. I asked, “How hard is it to be and indie
artist in today’s music industry”? She
says it’s extremely hard. [Danielle] “In
my career it’s just me”. “I'm managing
myself”. “Booking myself in places I
want to play”. “I'm lucky to have a
production to team that works with me to hone my sound, but I'm very hands on
with my work”. “Staying relevant and being my own machine is
the hardest part’. “In today's digital
age, anyone can be put out music, get some hits, but it takes true dedication
and patience to be an artist and wait for your time”.
Before ended I had a few more things to ask. I had a question about the state of music
today and Danielle said this, “I think we're in a revolution”. [Danielle]
“As I said before in this digital age, anyone can put out music”. “People are doing more cross genre work”. “Artists
are taking their power back”. “I do
think the art of songwriting is dying because people are so focused on saying what's
hot right now”. [Danielle] “I wish more
artists would put out bodies of work and not just a CD with some hot tracks on
it”. I asked, “What would you like your fans
know about your music”? [Danielle] “I
want them to know it's real”. “I'm real’.
“My vocals & words are real”. “I don't make music because it's the hot thing
to do”. “I do because I need to, in
order to survive”. “My music and I are one”. [Danielle] “I'm fun, I'm bold, and I’m sexy”. “Listen to my music and you'll get to know me”.
Next I asked her, “If you could reach
your fans with one message, what would that be”? She said for them to Inspire, Dream, Believe
because that's what Danielle Lyndsay is all about.
I predict that we will hear more from this power
artist in the future. Her voice as well as her mind is beautiful and artist.
Danielle Lyndsay gives us all new hope for music. She is the total package.
Danielle is smart, talented, and sexy. I
hope this story will encourage you to support this delightful young woman who
is trying to make waves in the music industry.
Below you will find links to Danielle’s music and more. Again I ask that you find time to support
this hidden gem who is every bit the expression of music and love. It has truly
been my pleasure to write about such a talented lady and I am doubly proud
because she is from my hometown of Washington D.C.
Website:
Music:
Youtube:
Social Media:
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