Shiadanni
17th August 2022
Interview: Amy Bell
Dropping two outstanding music videos and an EP this year. We got to chat with Shiadanni on the creation behind 'Facing The Mirror', what inspired her to write music and re living her childhood.
Hi, thanks so much for talking to ReVamp, in 3 words describe your sound?
Hi There! I would describe my sound as transcendental, moody, and ethereal.
Growing up, did you always know you wanted to go into the music industry and who were your inspirations?
I always knew I wanted to make music and work in the creative field. My type of music has definitely changed with time though. Growing up I was getting influenced by a lot of rock bands, from System of a Down to Radiohead then a lot of amazing hip hop artists like Nas. Of course I listened to all the greatest pop divas as well. I think slowly I started growing as a musician, mixing all of these influences into the type of music I am doing at the moment, and I think this will continuously be changing and evolving.
Congrats on your new EP ‘Facing The Mirror’, how did this EP come about and how did you know what songs would make it into the EP?
I started creating songs in a way of instant release and self expression, this has been my medicine and the source of my artistic confidence. I started producing by myself and this was a process of just creating while having fun. This led into having a lot of songs done, which motivated me to create a project for them. I realized they were all different but had the same essence, I discovered the direction and the title of it realizing the songwriting was created in an introspective perspective, they were naturally creating a story that followed my own spiritual journey discovering myself.
Your new EP focuses on empowering your younger self, growing up, what was your childhood like?
It was complicated, I keep my family stories really private but I could say generally it was very lonely, I was always daydreaming in my own world, I was a very shy girl at school, very sensitive, and I suffered a lot because of this since a young age, never really felt understood and didn’t have friends at all, for some reason kids never wanted to be around me so I was spending all my time alone, always drawing and listening to music
Looking back, what would your younger self think of you now?
I think she would be very proud mostly of how much I’ve grown as a person, how much confidence my work has given me and helped me grow into the woman I am today,
What were the behind-the-scenes like from the recording to the writing of the EP?
I had so much fun just creating as I pleased with no expectations of the outside world approval, or trying to please anyone I was working with. I made decisions that usually don't go through when you’re working with producers. Generally people have a contaminated vision of what music must be in today’s world. I decided to follow my intuition and make the songs with instruments I wanted to hear. The freedom in having this approach to making music is you can stay as many hours in the studio, you can try a million different embarrassing things before you get to the right one. You just take your time with art as it is supposed to be. This will always give you an authentic result, and since discovering what I could create this way it changed everything for me.
If you could tell your younger self anything, what would it be?
Don’t ever think of giving up because you’re stronger than what you think, and you can easily handle anything that comes your way, always keep going.
Finally, what is next for you?
You can follow me on social media at IG: @shiadanni and TikTok: @shiadanni to stay in touch for what's next.