UCLA Radio’s Rising Artist Spotlight aims to highlight upcoming artists who have demonstrated unique creativity and
talent through their music. Through interviews and features, we delve into their journey, influences, and aspirations, giving listeners a glimpse into the future of music.
It was by chance that Deanna and I found one another. I was invited by a friend to go to a poetry night in the depths of DTLA and eagerly said yes. What I didn’t know was that this was a chance to see the pop star, Deanna Dilandro. If you ever get the honor of seeing her in-person, you will see her incredible stage presence and the creativity she invokes. Dilandro is changing the pop-indie sound with her innovative sounds (cue the lighter sound in her song “firestarter”) or her thundering beats best featured in her latest EP firestarter. I had the pleasure to sit down with her to discuss the creation of her EP, the music industry, and what it means to be an artist these days.
This interview was conducted in-station in November for Radio’s ISP series & has been edited for clarity and brevity purposes
Interviewed by Chloe Gonzales
Chloe Gonzales: Hello, this is Chloe Gonzales, also known as DJ Caprisun, and I’m here with the lovely Deanna Dilandro!
Deanna Dilandro: So happy to be here!
Chloe: So happy too! We met about a month ago at this cool poetry reading by Car Crash Collective. I think they had you on for prom night?
Deanna: Yeah, it was a prom themed event and I was asked to perform music at this event. And so I did and it was awesome. They hit all of the niches of prom: they got dancing queen in there, they got cringe comedy and poetry in there. I destroyed my prom dress on stage.
Chloe: I remember that! It was a famous prom dress too.
Deanna: Yeah, it was a little bit famous. I had found out after I bought this dress that the year before Rihanna wore a similar dress, if not the exact same one to the Grammys the year prior. So it’s called “the Rihanna dress.”
Chloe: Yeah, it was crazy–my friends and I were watching and saw your stage presence. And I was like, “Guys, we can’t leave, we have to talk to her.”
But I want to get your quick elevator pitch!
Deanna: I’m an artist, singer, songwriter, as well as the co-owner of a record label called Weird Sister Records [now known as Final Girl Records.] I started singing and performing from a very young age of around the fifth grade. I was obsessed with American Idol. I was really into singing pop songs of the late 2000s era and started singing that way. Just loving the emotion and theatrics of pop music, the drama, and just the sound overall, it really made me want to start singing and start performing. I have such an affinity for music, for music discovery, for the culture, people who play music and I started throwing shows at Rutgers in New Brunswick, we had a DIY house scene there. That’s when I really knew I wanted to also facilitate community spaces through shows. I started a band back then as well called Power Lines–we’re still semi-active when I go back to New Jersey. We have a record out called, “All of this is Temporary.”
I knew I wanted to start a record label when I was working in radio. I was working a bit in press and receiving records, and I loved the packaging involved in it. Track descriptions and everything, I got really interested in what went on prior to this record getting into the radio station and getting to a record store shelf. So I really started heading towards labels and it spiraled from there.
Chloe: Being behind the scene and also being an actual artist is nice because you know what singers and artists need as an artist yourself and helping them facilitate that through your record label. I’m sure artists are like, “Finally!”
Chloe: Yeah, and make sure that they [artists] actually get paid–because you hear in the news about Spotify and merch cuts going on.
Deanna: It’s definitely the experience of being an artist and working in the back end; whether or not it’s specific audio specific, or show logistics. It’s really good to just help support artists having that direct experience. I feel like it’s just really helped me be an advocate for artists and live show spaces and also help educate artists on the label about masters, royalty, split, publishing, how they kind of distribute their music–it definitely really lends itself.
Deanna: It’s dreary, the amount of payouts that come from royalties. I was actually doing royalty accounting yesterday and talking to my business partner while I was doing it and was just like, “This is so sad.” But it’s the way it is, you know? I think there are certain unions that are popping up to benefit the interest of songwriters and get people paid. But its a difficult feat. And you know, people aren’t really listening to songwriters, or musicians well enough to be able to give them funding and to give them proper payment for things. I feel like, maybe, we’ll see something similar to the writer strike.
Chloe: And it’s also a question of if you’re able to change that system or do you need to create a completely new one?
Deanna: It’s hard to say because there’s a lot of ideas right now around certain legislation that would help that, but it would be really disruptive to the system. People are starting different types of streaming services. There isn’t really one solid answer or policy I would say at this point, but there are a lot of ideas, from what I’ve seen, and a lot of people that really are pushing for advocacy around it.
Chloe: Speaking of advocacy though, your record label [Final Girl Records] only signs marginalized gender identities such as non-binary and women, right? I feel like that’s very unique about your label and just being able to uplift them.
Deanna: We started a label and wanted to move forwards with this mission because working in the industry. My business partner, Madison and I, were both experiencing just distaste for the way the industry is now. And the way it was even a few years ago, we experience different types of adversity, sexualization, and just not being taken seriously as women. And when we already had a seat at the table, we were just fed up. I had the idea around 2020 to start a label because at that point, I had been label managing at another record label for quite some time, and had a lot of experience, and really just had an idea come into my head and think that I could do this on my own in a way that makes sense to me.
Also around that time, Madison had started a blog called “Indie Witches,” which really inspired me because the blog itself we considered when we started for it to be kind of a sister company to Weird Sisters [Final Girl] with a similar mission. Because when she started, it was a blog that specifically covered women and non-binary artists across the world and I thought that was awesome. I wanted to help her in any way that I could. So I did some interviews for her and as we were building our relationship, she was the first person that I wanted to bring this idea to. At the time, we both had a bunch of different jobs, so it was kind of tabled for a week and then a week later, she called me up and was like, “Actually, let’s do it.” And it was a bit of a silver lining for the pandemic for us because we had all of 2020 to really build the label, get feedback from people we trusted, and kind of understand what we really wanted to do with something like this.
And it’s grown into a record label; mostly digital right now, and a collective space where we want to connect women and non-gender conforming people to each other, help grow their networks, to be able to do projects together, and to sign artists that are not men. We’ve literally had previous jobs, there was one where we [Madison and I] were working together, and somebody said to us that “There aren’t enough women and POC in indie music!”, and it’s like you’re just not looking for them! We were just angry because it’s an uncomfortable system for anyone and to be not a man is harder. So it was inspired by a lot of that and just wanting to spotlight and support artists we love.
Chloe: No, that’s amazing, you physically fostering that community of support, I love it. But I do want to jump into the reason why you’re here today, an amazing businesswoman, but also an amazing artist! And I heard that you dropped a new EP.
Deanna: Yeah, on November 10th I dropped my debut EP, “Firestarter.” It’s been a long time coming for the songs. I’ve tried to make them over the years, like some of them were written in 2016-2018 while I was in college and so they went through a bunch of different iterations. And I finally found a producer, Ro Lorenzen, she’s incredible. She’s based in Minneapolis and she had a sonic palette that blew me away, because I love pop and rock but I really wanted to make it really textural and not have a true traditional feel to the music. I think she really nailed that in our collaboration to make these songs in the form that they’re in. Probably took almost two years as well, so it’s been a long time coming. It’s just been a long time coming and it’s really exciting to finally be able to share them. And what kind of revitalized the songs for me was bringing in the visual side with artist Jacqueline Brockel, all the visuals that accompany this piece of music are from Jacqueline. I love her work, her visuals, her ideas, and just the way she wants to tell stories. I knew she would be perfect for something like this. So I really wanted to have it as experimental as I can make it and when we started working on the visuals, it was like pulling back a new layer. So, it made me even more excited to share them [the music] now because I have this really compelling visual piece to share them with. I also had a show that I got to showcase a lot of the work that she had done in a gallery type space. We did a performance with two incredible dancers, Claire and Obé, and a bunch of really cool people who helped out. It was really cool to have the world of this EP be in a physical space.
Chloe: I love it, creating this environment around the EP. And I love seeing it as a big art project. Something so tangible to people. I also feel like it gives it many avenues that people can get to relate to your music. Did she [Jacqueline] create the EP cover by the way?
Deanna: Yes. I love it. It was actually going to be a single artwork but I just loved it so much. I felt like it really encapsulated the feeling of the EP itself. A lot of the songs were written in dark spaces where the curtains are drawn, a lot of smoke in the air, and trying to just get through depressive episodes and insecurities. All of thes songs were written from dark, intimate places but I think that they have a lot of anthemic qualities that kind of urge me to get out of that mindset. A lot of the visuals are like pulling color out of nothing and bursts of color and flowers.
Chloe: Random, but reminds me of Ratatouille, the scene with strawberries and cheese and he’s trying to imagine it in his head.
Deanna: *Laughs* Yeah!
Chloe: But that’s so beautiful. Do you have a color palette for this EP?
Deanna: Definitely reds or like ambers of fire. Then I would also say the opposite of that like some deep blues, maybe purple even.
Chloe: Like the fire spectrum, that’s so cool! Now, you said it took a long time for you to get through these songs and be like, “Okay this is finished.” And you talked about how it was really shaped with other people and helping you produce this. Was it kind of like an “Aha!” moment of when it was finished and not needing to do anything else? How did you know when it was fully finished and not needing to tweak it anymore?
Deanna: Man, it is so difficult to get to that point, especially as someone who is very specific and a perfectionist. I think it’s hard to say because sometimes I feel like I could’ve done more but I feel like there’s always a moment where you kind of step back and you’re like, “Okay, I think I’ve done all that I can.” Just at one point you take it all in from a bird’s eye view and are like, “Okay, I’m happy with this.”
It’s a kind of surrender, which is hard. I feel like a lot of artists can attest to that, trying to make the best work you can. And, I feel like there’s a lot of things that you would say maybe are just never technically finished or could put more work into but at some point you just gotta surrender.
Chloe: For sure, and I’m sure the reception helps too, being relieved when people enjoy it especially when it’s coming from a dark place and it being vulnerable.
Deanna: It just feels good to have it released and finally kind of introduce myself or have a project that showcases work that I’m trying to do. I would say as an artist, I like having this sonic lane but I have many lanes, songs different from these songs right now.
Chloe: Absolutely, trying to not just pigeonhole yourself.
Deanna: Yeah, there’s a lot of genres and interests so I’m excited to keep showing people what I’ve got.
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Chloe: Last thing I wanted to talk about is first of all show presence, amazing. Are shows one of your favorite aspects [of being an artist]?
Deanna: I love performing and I’m glad that comes across because it’s my favorite aspect of sharing nature. I’m just a performer by nature. I’m a theatre kid by nature. So I love that and some [shows] ended up happening organically, getting asked to play some shows around the month of November. It lined up really nicely with the release of this project, getting to share those songs in a live setting. It’s been cool to play in different spaces in LA.
Listen to Deanna in her latest EP firestarter and catch her in our Rising Artist Spotlight playlist below!
