Dani Josie: The Transcript
This interview was recorded on the 24th of September 2024
Dani Josie was the second interview I did for Roots, after I met her outside San Fran promoting her new music. Here's the transcript from our interview:
What is your name?
My name is Dani Josie.
Where are you from?
I'm from Wellington, New Zealand.
How old are you?
I'm 19.
Where did you go to high school?
I went to high school at Scott's College in Wellington.
What are you studying at uni?
I'm studying commerce at Vic, I'm doing finance and marketing in my second year.
Do you think your degree has had any influence on your music?
Um, the marketing side of it has definitely been a bit useful. Like just learning about PR and like digital marketing. But other than that, it's really different to my music.
What was the first time you ever played to a live audience?
The first time ever was when I was three years old. .
Oh wow, you can remember that?
I do actually remember it. 'cause it was some singing show and they like brought me up on stage and I sang to like 300 people. That was kind of cool. We got a video of that.
So you were destined for talent at a young age.
Destined for talent. And then, the first time I performed like, properly, was probably at Rockquest. I've definitely done a few more performances, but that was the first main one with a proper music audience. My band came first in Wellington, I think.
Oh wow, that's good. And you just played a show on Saturday. What was that like?
I did. Uh, it went really, really well. Sold out show. Awesome. And amazing crowd.
What inspired GO, GO, GO? Any behind the scenes stories that you can share?
GO, GO, GO is about like chasing red flags and like the bad in people. It's like kind of interesting and attractive. But I actually wrote it, wrote it like originally because I watched a TV show and one of the girls on the reality TV show said, “I always tell myself there's so many red flags, but red's my favourite colour.”
I was like, oh my god, that's such a good line, I'm going to write a song on it.
I would describe your track GO, GO, GO as a cross of between Lorde and Paramore, but how do you like to describe yourself?
Yeah, um, well I definitely think my voice is quite similar to Lorde. Um, and my music is definitely very similar to Paramore and Olivia Rodrigo.
It's quite pop punk. But I'm not very punk myself, but my music is definitely, I love like 2000s punk music.
Yeah, very nostalgic. That was kind of the vibe I got listening to it.
That's good. I'm glad you got that vibe.
And then what have been your biggest influences in music making? That 2000s kind of vibe?
Um, definitely Avril Lavigne in terms of like my own style, and then obviously Taylor Swift. I know it's generic, but like when I was a kid, I loved Taylor Swift. Yeah. Going to her concert was like, “oh my god, I wish I could do that.” So then I just went at it. Also like, Ed Sheeran, Dua Lipa, and Olivia Rodrigo. She's close to my age. But yeah.
And what's your next big milestone you'd love to hit as a musician?
Hopefully getting on some festivals, and hitting some good streaming numbers. Um, definitely going to be releasing some more songs soon.
Got one more coming out, I reckon, for this year.
Exciting. Do you think you could get it on the radio?
Yeah, oh yes, I am actually going to be on the radio. ZM have told us that we're going to be on the radio this week or next week I think.
And anything big on the horizon we should keep an eye out for?
Yeah, my next single. Probably early November it's gonna be released. Yeah, it's a good one. It's a real good one. You're gonna love it, right?
I hope so. Well, thanks for coming on.
Cool. Yeah, thank you
