#135 Danelle Sandoval
After posting a YouTube cover of 'Tuesday' by ILoveMakonnen ft. Drake, the song was remixed and went on to receive platinum awards worldwide while reaching the #1 spot in over 70 countries on iTunes and Shazam. The viral hit has amassed over 1 billion streams online. Following the global success of Tuesday (feat. Danelle Sandoval), Danelle has focused on releasing original music, including her recently released EP For Love, which was inspired by time spent in Toronto, Canada. Live Nation’s Ones To Watch explained that Danelle “has established herself as a polished pop star, and her airy voice layered over hypnotic electro-pop production is something we simply can’t get enough of." Clash Magazine called her track Hands "a beautifully creative pop hymn with some blissful electronic leanings.”
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Transcript
Rae Leigh: Welcome to a Songwriters Tryst with Danelle Sandoval. How are you? Did I say that
Danelle Sandoval: Yeah, he said it right.
Rae Leigh: lovely to have you on the show and we're going to talk to about your songwriting and your career and your music. first I like to get you to introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about who you are and where you come.
Danelle Sandoval: Awesome. Yeah. Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be on here. I am a independent artist and I'm based in Los Angeles, California. I spent time in Toronto time in New York, and now I'm back in my hometown in LA. I just released a single called go. So I'm really excited about that.
Rae Leigh: And did you write that one?
Danelle Sandoval: I did write that one. I wrote that with three other songwriters. So that was a really cool experience.
Rae Leigh: Here's your out with.
Danelle Sandoval: I wrote it with Brendan Mullen, Matt Cain and Jeff Hasan in Toronto.
Rae Leigh: Cool. All right. Well, we'll talk more about that, but I want to find out a little bit about where music and songwriting started for you. When did you start
Danelle Sandoval: Okay.
Rae Leigh: falling in love with music in this whole world?
Danelle Sandoval: Sure. I think when I was really, really young I grew up around a Filipino family, so it was always a big part of our lives. I started seeing karaoke when I was. Really little, probably like two or three or four. And it's just like a big thing in Filipino culture to have like karaoke nights and days where you'd sing together and celebrate together.
And then I don't think it was until I was maybe. 10 or 12 when I picked up the guitar and I started writing songs. I'd always written poetry and like little things like that. I think I used the piano in time to compose a song when I was in elementary school. But I think I started getting really serious about it when I got my first guitar.
And then things just started flowing and I kept writing and writing and writing until now. So it's kind of just stayed with me. Yeah.
Rae Leigh: Absolutely. And when, how old were you when you got your first guitar?
Danelle Sandoval: I was either 10 or 12 and it was on Christmas. Like, I can't remember what age. I feel like everything just blurs. When you look back at it as an adult and it was either 10 or 20.
Rae Leigh: Yeah, that sounds really nice. And I have, I actually have some Filipino friends and I know how serious they are about karaoke. Actually think that would have been a really nice upbringing too, to have that in your culture. And like, no one did that in my house. I grew up around the church scene. So like,
Worship on Sunday morning.
Outside of that, there really wasn't, my mum would put on this like worship CD when we were cleaning the house. You know, and like, but yeah.
I think karaoke is loads of fun and just what a great education to have at such a young age, like an accidental education. That's brilliant.
Danelle Sandoval: Yeah, totally. And it was just kind of like, Hey, put yourself out
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Danelle Sandoval: it definitely helped me with the stage presence as well.
Rae Leigh: Yeah. Confidence as well. Yeah.
What about like moving on from, you know, karaoke at home and with the family and stuff to actually going, Hey, I want to do this as like a career. What was that journey like with the family and for yourself?
Danelle Sandoval: Yeah. You know, what's funny is that I, I really pinpoint a moment where I was like, I want this to be my career. It was more just like, This is what I want to do. And that was kind of the matter of facts. But I did go to, I did go to university and when I graduated and like my English major was English.
And so I think the writing really helped me throughout my entire life. And I think because of my background in singing and my background in music, it was kind of just embedded into my system. And then
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Danelle Sandoval: I just. I like knew that that's what I wanted to do. And I think every time I tried to sway away from it or go into a, more like a career that was.
A job that made sense for my major. I always went back to music and getting back to my art and getting back to my song writing. And my family has been super supportive of that. I don't think they were, I'm very surprised. And I was just like, Hey guys, I'm I want to be a pop star. So I think that was kind of.
Something natural for them too, because of the way I was raised and what they introduced to me. So it's been a really humbling journey and I'm grateful to have support from my family in that sense.
Rae Leigh: It's really nice. And is there a, a goal or a mission behind the music that you write or do you find that there's like a common message or theme in your songs and music that you want your audience to connect to?
Danelle Sandoval: Yeah. I think I've always written about love and it is the one thing that I tend to think about and explore and discover and want to share with others. I think when I started releasing music, Professionally, they were more expressions of my experiences. And now, especially with go, I think I've shifted that to where it stands as a message for self-love and self-empowerment, and self-confidence, especially with everything that's happening right now.
And the violence against Asians and meeting Filipino American. Yeah. Really hit home for me. So music has always been something that I knew I could reach a mass amount of people with just limited time. And that's something that's really beautiful about music and songwriting. So I think now, as I am in this new chapter and releasing new music, I can.
Really focus on love, but in a different way, it's, it's very like self empowerment and self acceptance. And it's funny because go is a love song naturally with the lyrics.
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Danelle Sandoval: Yeah. It's like, you know, I'm, I'm into myself and I'm confident enough to share this love and this experience with someone else. And I think that was a very different take from what I've released in the past.
Rae Leigh: I love that though. I love that. I think everyone needs to learn how to fall in love with themselves. know, like that is something that doesn't necessarily come naturally, but. I don't know. It's like, It's just something that we have to do to be able to enjoy our lives. And like, I don't know about you, but I've definitely lived a life where I didn't love myself.
And I think it's very hard to not grow up in this world, especially the Western world of consumerism and advertising to not have some sort of level of lack of self-worth or lack of self-love. And how do you navigate that as, as a young girl in this world as well? With everything we say, how are we supposed to love ourselves?
If someone else doesn't show us?
Danelle Sandoval: It's it's so true. I actually think about this a lot. And I think that's why I do what I do, because it is very hard and that journey to self-love. Isn't linear and it's not on a timeline. You know, I still struggle with loving myself and I don't think anyone can say I'm completely like in love with myself all the time.
I've completely healed this side of myself. It's an ongoing process. And it's something that takes practice. It's something that takes dedication and it is hard, especially in, in a world that we live in and in this society that we live in, especially. Women young women, women of color. So it, it is important to me as an artist to make sure that I'm bringing awareness to this situation because I'm a human too.
And these songs, these things that I'm putting out, they are a reflection of my self-confidence and my self love, but it took a lot. To get there. And with my newest project, I'm hoping that anyone that listens to it or it gets in touch with it, even with the video can feel inspired or be on that journey or choose that journey to say, okay, I'm going to start loving myself, accepting myself in the skin that I am, am in.
And so, yeah, it's just, it's very nuanced. It's a lot to unpack, but I think that's what I enjoy most about songwriting and being an artist.
Rae Leigh: That's so brave and courageous. And that's what I love when I talk to artists like you that have dug a little deeper, you know, and gone into what is it to be human and what is it to love myself and how do I do that to impact the world around me? I actually curious, you've mentioned Around some of the, the hate towards Asians and stuff.
I I'm a mom of three and don't really listen to the news and I live in Australia, so I'm probably completely oblivious and I want to be, I want to help with awareness and I want to know what's going on. So you, what, what was, was there a particular thing that's happened that sparked this was this like an ongoing cultural thing in LA or.
Danelle Sandoval: I think it's, you know, always been. In society, I think especially with 2020 and everything around the situations that's been happening in the world, it's sort of really become on the surface. Particularly for me as an Asian woman, I felt very affected by the shooting in Atlanta. And it was really, it was really a lot for me to process and understand because.
It almost made me take a look at myself, unlike the narratives that I've sort of accepted and became desensitized to living in America. I really took a look at. Me being an Asian woman, being objectified, being fantasize, being fetishized, that it was, it was a lot. And so with go, I made sure that I wanted to put affirmations in the beginning of the video, just saying the things that I am and.
Sort of defining what society in America has made me feel like. So I think as Asians, there is this model minority myth. There is the thought of Asian women, women being very, acquiescent being very submissive and. This video was very like, no, I'm not, I am liberating myself. I I'm going to do whatever I want to do.
I will initiate things and it was very scary. I will admit for me because it was me dancing in a body suit. It was me being comfortable in my sexuality. It was me reclaiming my sexual identity and for a long time growing up. It was very hard to liberate myself. I didn't want to wear a certain things cause I didn't want to make people feel like I was sort of this trope or this object or this token and it, and it was very harmful to me because.
Really accept or be comfortable in wearing certain things and enjoy wearing a pretty dress or enjoy being in something that was like, that made me feel good. And so this whole video was me coming into acceptance and coming into terms of that, of being like. You know what I'm going to dress in a body suit and heels and dance on this chair.
I'm going to do
Rae Leigh: I'm going to do
Danelle Sandoval: whatever
Rae Leigh: good.
Danelle Sandoval: Exactly. This isn't for anybody else. Yeah. It's not for anyone else. It's for me, it's my own fantasy and that's really it. So that was really. The whole project. And I think because of that particular situation, it really made me think about that. I'm thinking about how it, how a lot of other women may have been affected by that as well.
And not just like Asian women, but women living in America and especially Asian women. So it just, it really hit home. And I felt like I needed to do something about it.
Rae Leigh: You, you're obviously a very inspirational woman and I'm sure you probably will never understand the impact of what you are doing for other people, because by believing in yourself and loving yourself, you're showing everyone else, not just Asian women, all women, that that's Okay.
to love yourself. And actually that's what we should be doing.
And. Leaving that it's possible. And sometimes we have to say someone else do it first to believe that it's possible. And it takes a lot of courage and bravery to do that. Cause I'm sure it'll be very triggering for a lot of people as well. And you know, that that can cause reactions. But I think it's good to make people, especially as women, you know, to question what we have, like you said, just grown to believe it better cells because of just natural acceptance of that's the way the world is.
It's like actually you're human and your feelings are valid. And if you want to be seen and heard in any aspect of your life, whether it's sexual or. You know, strong or confident or whatever it is. That's okay. Just be you, you know, I love it. This is so cool. Okay. So, what has the journey been like since, you know, you've, you've released a few songs and you've had some success, you and I saw you did a cover of one song and it said on the the press release that I got, that you had a billion steams.
And I was like, I love that because I, I have dyslexia and I'm always the one knocking out, whereas a billion streams on Spotify, which is like a huge success. How did that come about? And how did that make you feel? And like the validation that came with that.
Danelle Sandoval: It was a whirlwind motions. I mean, it it's, it's a lot to even just see the numbers on Spotify and on YouTube, all combine to like equate to over a billion streams is just like, wow. Built over a billion people have maybe heard my voice unless they repeated it millions of times in a song. Which would it be upset about either?
So it was, it was a lot. And I feel like, I think knowing that I could reach that amount of people, I think that's what made me feel, gave me a lot of peace. I don't necessarily think it were the numbers, I think were just the fact of knowing. That I could reach that many people without having to ever be like in physical contact with them.
And I think that's really amazing that music can do that and it can make people feel a certain way. It can make people go to a certain moment in their lives. It was just like a recorded thing and I'm not physically there with them, but it's almost like in spirit. I am. So it definitely opened my eyes and gave me even more courage and more Bravo, I guess if he's, we'll say, but like more of that to be like, okay, I can do this again.
Or I can, yeah. This has happened and now I can say it's definitely possible. So it definitely gave me a reason to keep going and to keep pursuing music. For sure.
Rae Leigh: I love that. Well, well done for that. Tell me about your experience in co-writing. So let's go back to the co-write with your friends. And is this something that you've done a lot of or is it a, you.
need to it,
Danelle Sandoval: Yeah. So I've been co-writing I guess you could say I've been co-writing. Since I was around maybe like 16, 17, 18. When I got more serious about songwriting, I think I knew that I wanted to pursue music, but songwriting was also very important to me. And. I had just start writing, started writing with other songwriters, other producers.
And when I was in Toronto, I met many producers and songwriters. And it was actually a camp that I was in and I met three other people and we sat in a room together and we just started writing and then go happen.
Rae Leigh: Wow. So did you have the set idea that that's what you were going to do? Like you wanted that yeah. That message. And like you, or is that just paying naturally?
Danelle Sandoval: no, it really did not. I think the way that I sound right happens very differently. It's not like a formula in my head. It either happens by myself on my guitar, or it happens with a group of people or. Take a voice note down, but for this particular situation I just kind of went into it, not knowing what, what was going to happen.
And I had only known one person previously before this camp and the two other songwriters were completely new to me. But now one of them is actually one of my closest friends, which is really incredible. And it was just. Amazing that we were able to write something that meant so much and just meeting each other for like 10 minutes prior.
So we sat down and things started flowing. I was listening to a lot of Mariah Carey and nineties, R and B. And I think the melodies were just in my head and I started humming stuff. My friend actually has a recorded session of it. And I just started doing stuff and like singing stuff and she started singing stuff.
And then the words came out very naturally for us. And it was a side of me that I had not really seen before because this song actually was written three years ago before the release. And I. I was sort of talking in a way that was very like, oh, I'm confident about this. Like, I'm going to wear this dress because it makes me excited and it I'm going to do this.
And I couldn't really quite comprehend what was happening. I just felt like I was channeling something and then it kept flowing and I was like, oh, it was more of like an aspirational. Song versus what was happening in my life at the time. But it's just so funny that three years later that was the position that I was in, in my head.
And then it all just came the time for it to be released into the world, which was so strange, but really cool at the same time.
Rae Leigh: Yeah. Stars align. I love it. When that
Danelle Sandoval: Yeah. Yeah, it totally did.
Rae Leigh: Tell me what's the best advice and the worst advice that you've ever been given in this career.
Danelle Sandoval: Oh,
I think I actually did. One of the first thing that comes to mind is that I think I was in an interview before, and I think a similar question had come up and I had said that it's important to have tough skin. And this industry, just because of the nature of what happens and what goes on and looking back at it now, I'm like, maybe that wasn't, maybe that's not, it I'm actually questioning my own advice.
Cause I'm like, you know what? Over the years, I think I've learned to really embrace my skin as it is. It doesn't need to be tough. It doesn't need to be anything else. That I think it should be, it should just be me. So if that means protecting myself and being strong in my power, then so be it. But if it also means me crying and being vulnerable with another person, then so be it.
I think the best advice that I could. Now, or what I would have loved to, to hear in this industry is just embrace every aspect of you and your skin. It's like we are human. We're constantly evolving and to have a tough exterior all the time may help for certain situations, but you almost become so into that tough exterior that it's hard.
So you allow yourself to feel vulnerable, to allow yourself to cry it out, to allow yourself to feel that pain or nervousness or shyness. And I think that's actually what makes us stronger. And that's what helps us as artists, as songwriters, as people in any career, it's just humans. So I think in this next phase of where I'm going, I really want to emphasize that.
Vulnerability is pretty much your power, because then you're aware of like, okay, I know that I'm vulnerable, but I can also be tough. I could also be strong. I could also be confident, but you get those two emotions. Those two different sides of you. It doesn't have to be linear. It could just be coexisting because.
Human. And we have multiple emotions, multiple feelings. So I think as a songwriter, that's probably the best thing or the best advice that I want to have or follow
Rae Leigh: Absolutely amazing. Preach it. I don't want to like stand up and be like, Hey man, system,
Danelle Sandoval: I'm actually getting emotional, listening to this right now, too. I'm like, oh, Okay.
Rae Leigh: I could not have Arctic related that any better. That was very, very well said. And I can tell you've thought deeply about this and. That is what we need more of in the world is people who are okay with questioning things and thinking deeply about our humanity and where we fit in the world, or maybe not fit.
And also that being okay. And just joining, being human, which is so freeing. And if you think about that, like how good is it to be free and actually be like, actually I'm cool. The way I am. I'm human and a screw. Everyone else.
Danelle Sandoval: such a power to just be like, I am free.
Rae Leigh: Yeah, it's a great, that's good.
Danelle Sandoval: I am free. I'm my mind is very, my spirit is free when nobody is telling you what you should be. There's so many people that. Into their lives and live their lives without ever accessing that. And if we can't do that, then how can we fully embrace the human experience?
And it's just so important, so
Rae Leigh: Oh chills. It's amazing. Okay. Now, now with the serious stuff, what about, what, what would you say is the worst advice someone's ever, like someone said something to you and you're just like, why would you even say that to me?
Danelle Sandoval: I don't know if I, I honestly don't know if I remember it because I have such a good filter of like, if somebody says something. That I don't agree with. I'm like, man, like I'm not listening and I'm not absorbing that into my body. So I don't, I can't really, I actually don't really know what the worst advice would be.
All I can say is like maybe what I've told myself in terms of having tough skin, that maybe that's something that I would not, or like have changed my perspective on. But as far as in someone else giving me the worst advice, it's probably gone right through my head.
Rae Leigh: Well done. I think it's good that you've had that critical thinking and you've been able to filter through because it can be hard. Like when you're trying to listen and learn, it can be hard to filter through advice. And I had to learn that one. Yeah. Really early on to actually sometimes just not even listen and not even let it go in when you know that it's actually really bad advice, like the unbelievers in the world.
Danelle Sandoval: Yeah, it's definitely, it's definitely hard, especially when you're young too. And I'm trying to think back of, you know, if there were a time when I were young but you know, growing up and in the industry, they will, it's almost as if like, You're kind of having to form to be a certain person, or somebody will tell you what you should be.
In terms of like what music you can do, what you can do, how you can do it. And I think I probably had just heard it so much that I became very desensitized to it and was like, you know what, I'm just going to do my own thing. And that's probably why I can't. Remember, what, what was.
Rae Leigh: Oh, well, that's good. I'm glad that you've gotten that. And you obviously have had to go through some serious, you know, hardship to be the way that you are, but at the same time, I'm so glad that you are the way that you are and that you're on the journey you're on. For you, you were speaking of like when you were younger and 30 younger people who are maybe listening to this, or even not necessarily younger, but people who are just starting out in this industry as songwriters or artists, do you have any advice or something that you would say specifically to those people who are just beginning?
Sometimes I tell people to think about what, what you would say to your younger self.
Danelle Sandoval: I love that.
Rae Leigh: Hm.
Danelle Sandoval: Um, I love that question, especially, cause I just have such a, I think like speaking with your inner child and telling your younger self, you know, certain things. Cause we, I do believe that we all still have that inner child within us. And I think that there are many things to still process and heal in terms of that.
So I'm trying to think like what I would say. And what I would say to others just starting out. And I think it would, I think it would be to just really honor yourself to really honor that you've made the choice to even start songwriting, to even start this practice, to even start having, even, even having an interest in art.
And I think that's already a Admiral thing. To do, because I feel like when you're young, there's so many things to compare yourself where you're like, well, this person's doing this and this person's here and this person's there that you forget. About how special it is that you have actively decided that, Hey, I'm going to pick up the guitar and I'm going to start songwriting.
And that in itself is already an accomplishment. And I think when I started. I was doing it because I loved it, but I was so driven to make sure that I was reaching these goals, that I was contacting the right people, that I was going to make this my thing that even to this point up till now, I often struggle with honoring that, like honoring that I was able to release a song after so long or releasing music video after three years and really taking the time.
To honor that decision, because it's important that we realize that and we feel good about that because that's what will keep us going. That's what will help us with our other creative pursuits. So I think that's what I would definitely say to anyone who's decided to just start
Rae Leigh: Yeah, give yourself a pat on the back just for studying. Cause that is, that is the hottest thing to do and just keep going.
Danelle Sandoval: it is.
Rae Leigh: comparison artists is.
something that everyone has at times and you just have to. Nip it in the bud, I think sometimes because Yeah.
it is, it's a dark, deep windy hole to go down when you start comparing yourself to other people.
Cause there's always someone out there to compare yourself to. I think someone once told me that your day is someone else's worst day and someone else's best day, you know, like the, you can choose what you compare it to and like, I could compare my life to someone who I think has much more amazing and much more affluence than me, or I could compare it to someone who has nothing.
And, you know, when you look at the exact same day and compare it to different things, it's a completely different picture. And so, Yeah.
that really helped me, I think, to learn that just to be grateful, you know, for
Danelle Sandoval: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And it's, it's definitely a human thing to compare ourselves with others and it's natural, you know, so it's okay to accept that and sit with it and realize that. But yeah, having that, that attitude of, you know what, I know that I'm doing that, but I am grateful for this and I'm grateful to be who I am.
And that's such a beautiful thing to have first.
Rae Leigh: And we do learn by watching other people, like there's nothing wrong with watching or even mimicking or. Appreciating other people. I think there's like, I think there's like a fine line between comparing when we're like self hating. And this probably goes back to that whole self-love or comparing because we want to be like that or we appreciate that person.
And Yeah.
it's like, it's a necessity that we watch each other and we support and appreciate each other. And we have people that inspire us. Don't we? So leading onto the next question, if you could co-write with anyone in the world living or dead, who would it be and why?
Danelle Sandoval: Oh, oh my gosh. It's supposed to be one of the hardest questions so far. Cause there's so many I think, well, just for me personally, one of my biggest song writing inspirations would be Carol King. I just think her songwriting. So beautiful and it really gets the point across. So I think it would have to be her.
I think it's very like moving and it's not hard to understand. It's just very, it is what it is. And I've always appreciated that about her song writing.
Rae Leigh: Awesome. I wonder what the collaboration between you two would be like.
Danelle Sandoval: I have no idea, but I feel like, like I watched like when I think it was Amy Winehouse, when she had a duet with Tony Bennett and I was like, wow, that is so cool. I would love to just have a video with someone that I admired or was inspired by and. Just have that. So
Rae Leigh: All things are possible, but yeah. I love Amy Winehouse. She's one of my faves.
Danelle Sandoval: you need to.
Rae Leigh: Yeah. All right. Well, that's pretty much all of my official questions. Why don't you tell us a little bit about what's going on and what you've got coming up in the future.
Danelle Sandoval: Yeah. So I have more music on the way, and I'm hoping to release a full length album. By end of this year or next, but it's just a lot of, so I'm writing right now and things with go and the new music and the new video. I am planning to also put out a live video of Coco soon on work on a new music video.
So this is still a lot going on, but I'm really excited for it for all of it.
Rae Leigh: This is awesome. I'm going to put all the links to like the music video and your socials and Spotify and how people can go listen to your music and just follow you and support your journey. And I really believe in what you're doing and I'm so proud that I get to support and share your music and your message and your journey.
With out my audience, but just anyone out there. And I, yeah, I'm really excited for you. I think what you're doing is so, so filled with integrity and love, like a deep love that is just so sexy. So I love it. I'm very attracted to your attitude and I think that's absolutely perfect. And yeah. Thank you so much for coming on here and sharing.
So adequate Lee, is there anything else you'd like to say before we up.
Danelle Sandoval: I just thought thank you for having me and allowing me to share. Conversation in this space with you. It, it moved me as well on it. It helps me get in touch even more with myself. And I'm so glad that we got to share this experience together. So thank you So much.
Rae Leigh: Oh, no, thank you. thank you so much. And yeah, can't wait to share it.
