Today we’d like to introduce you to Dani Rene.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
From the age of 11, I joined choir and discovered that I really love to sing! Then, a few years later at 14, my best friend in high school had convinced me to audition for the school musical, “Annie” with her.
After doing “Annie”, I became hooked! It was then that I decided that musical theatre was something that I truly enjoyed and really wanted to pursue as a career. I auditioned for every show from that moment forward, with some of my favorite credits including Sandy from “Grease” and Audrey from “Little Shop of Horrors”.
I also started taking dance classes so I had the ability to pick up choreography in shows much faster, and so that I would have stronger technique. I started spending 10+ hours in the studio every week, joined the dance team at school, and attended dance competitions every year to get stronger.
After graduating high school, I went on to get my associate’s degree in Musical Theatre and spent the next few years thereafter performing in musicals and dance concerts.
Then as we know, COVID-19 happened in 2020. It shut down vast amounts of opportunities to perform and I had to find another way to pursue what I love. This was a blessing in disguise as I was beginning to feel burnt out by musical theatre anyways. I was tired of being type-cast, tired of the lack of diversity, tired of shows being superficially cast based on looks and not talent, among many other things.
For about a year, I didn’t do anything to pursue my artistic side because I had no idea where to go, what to do, or how to even start. But in 2021, I started learning everything I could about writing and recording music. I watched YouTube tutorials, went with my friends to their recording sessions, watched my boyfriend produce for other artists, and learned from their interactions, and overall, just soaked up all the knowledge I possibly could.
At the end of 2021, I released my first track “What Could I Want for Christmas (When I’ve Got You)” just in time for the holidays, and then went on to release my most up-to-date single, “Going Nowhere” in February of 2022.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Starting the journey as an independent artist has definitely been a learning curve.
Doing musical theatre, there wasn’t ever really much room for creativity because you perform music, scripts, and choreography as written or given and you stick to that – versus now, I have all the room in the world to be as creative as I want which is incredible and a breath of fresh air. But that also has its drawbacks like writer’s block, feeling uninspired, etc.
I think the hardest part though has been learning how to promote myself and my music. It takes a lot more work than people realize to get all the material together and to execute it properly. We, fortunately, live in a heavy social media era which gives me more outlets to do so but it’s just learning all the tips and tricks to get more engagement and to trigger the algorithm that’s been a huge learning curve for me. But I’m loving every second of it!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently most proud of?
Right now, I’m most proud of my single, “Going Nowhere”. I opened up a lot of wounds with that one to move forward with my mental healing and I’ve already received a bunch of messages about how it’s helping others. I’m excited to see how many lives that song will touch and I hope it can help more people the way that it has helped me. The recording session for that one was very cathartic for me.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Music and animals are what makes me the happiest!
I love the process of creating music and how every studio session is different! My favorite part is stacking tons of harmonies!!! There’s no better feeling than hearing it all together and seeing how it all meshes. I also think it’s just such a beautiful thing that music brings so many people together. It’s magical to me!
I’ve rescued animals since I was pretty young. I probably drove my Mum crazy with all the animals I brought in the house growing up, from lizards to snakes to rabbits to birds to snapping turtles to kittens, you name it. I was always trying to help the ones that needed it and then once they were healed or cleaned up from whatever mess they got into, I’d release them back out into the wild to live their happy little lives or find them a home if it was a domesticated animal like cats. I have 4 cats and a dog which are all rescues/adopted and they make my life feel so happy and fulfilled. They’re truly my world!
Contact Info:
- Email: Danirenemusic@gmail.com
- Website: Linktr.ee/
danirenemusic - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/danirenemusic/ - Facebook: https://m.facebook.
com/danirenemusic - Twitter: http://twitter.com/
danirenemusic - Youtube: https://www.youtube.
com/channel/UCkfZKQS_ HUGNdM7L36MFwIw?sub_ confirmation=1 - TikTok: http://www.tiktok.com/
@danirenemusic
Image Credits
Katie Ali
