In this interview spotlight, I chat with DeTeresa about her latest music, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
Hello! I am a Spanish but I am based in the UK.
This may be a tricky question for every musician to answer, especially nowadays that the boundaries of the music genres are dissolving, while at the same time adjusting to one an other. But I think I can sum it up in a few words.
I would say is a Charismatic pop/urban soaked in my Spanish roots and accompanied by all my musical theater references.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
Creation and music give me health. I am a highly sensitive person, and I’ve been dealing with mental issues since I was very little. Getting overwhelmed by small external stimuli has always come natural to me: a gift or a curse, call it however you want. As cheesy as it sounds, music has been there for me on the hardest time: to help me express myself to those who couldn’t understand me and to turn frustrating and uncomfortable feelings into something special.
Plus music makes me happy and I am terrified by the idea of being unhappy.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
The last two singles I released are perhaps more upbeat tempo and “poppy”. In this one I wanted to focus more on the message and in showing the vulnerability of the human´s mind. My main intention with “CATASTROPHES” was to help normalize certain thoughts and to create more awareness around mental health, especially in Spain as it is sadly still a very stigmatized subject.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
Oh god…where to start? Like everything else, it is a double-edged sword. I am extremely grateful for the existence of streaming digital platforms, and the accessibility that we artists have to share our art with the world. It is no longer necessary to go through “gate-keepers” or labels to be heard by millions of people. However I believe this creates a hyper-capitalism in the music industry and an extremely wide range of offerings. I don’t consider this to be a bad thing, but unfortunately (and especially today with social media) it leads to comparison, and many other negative aspects artists have to struggle with.
In this century any opportunity to stand out or make yourself be heard is good even if it is for free. Many big music companies know that, so they take advantage of it, leading to an economic and ethical “mistreatment” of independent artists.
What was the last song you listened to?
XS by Rina Sawayama
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
My inner 13 year old self would say CDs, my today “me” says Vinyl haha
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
As a user I appreciate very much Spotify / Apple Music´s playlists, and sound quality wise TIDAL. But as an artist probably BandCamp and Apple Music since the seem to be more supportive and fair with the artist´s work.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
Instagram and Spotify mostly. On instagram you can find me as @deteresaa, in Spotify by my name: DeTeresa
Once a month you may find me on TikTok as well , maybe…
Anything else before we sign off?
Thank you for having me and to the reader for getting to the end. I also just released the videoclip of “CATASTROPHES”, if you wanna take a look haha you can find it on my YouTube channel.
