Meet Vocalist, Songwriter And Producer Stella Santana
Stella Santana is an artist that has been surrounded by music all her life. As the daughter of legendary guitarist Carlos Santana and author Deborah Santana, the songstress had a creative and arts-filled upbringing. Her colorful childhood helped formed her sound, with the emerging artist pulling influences from the soul, pop, dancehall, and R&B genres. She eventually made her music debut in 2015 with her single ‘Switch’. Wasting no time, she started to work on her debut album ‘Selfish’, which was released in 2016. The soulful record not only showcased her vocal talent but her skills behind the scenes – with Santana self-recording and writing the album. Since then, Stella has steadily released impressive singles and music videos, all leading up to her upcoming EP Yayaya. Creating material that warms the soul, Stella Santana is an artist that needs to be on everyone’s radar.
We got a chance to chat about everything from her earliest music memory, collaboration with KAMAUU, the release date for her EP, and more…
What is your earliest music-related memory?
My earliest music-related memory is probably dressing up in Mexican sombreros with my dad and older brother and dancing around my living room, playing little congas and bongos and shaking maracas while repeating random things my dad was saying in Spanish.
All The Time is such an intimate track, what inspired the song?
For “all the time” I was reminded of times in past relationships when both people kind of know the relationship is coming to an end but maybe aren’t ready to accept it yet–so they keep trying to get back to when being together felt good but when one person is trying, the other is over it and visa versa… it’s about taking that scary step forward and away from something that is hard to let go of, but all signs are pointing to separation is the answer.
I think we’ve all been there, definitely in relationships, but also just with experiences I general–knowing when to let go and move on is such a difficult but rewarding lesson to learn.
The collaboration with KAMAUU is pure magic. What was it like working with him?
Working with KAMAUU was a dream, yes! We got connected through twitter by a mutual fan, and we met up a few days after that in NYC. He already had a concept, so we just built off that and had the best time!
Did you two have a particular image or message for you in the video?
We didn’t wanna have real fighting/angry energy in our video, I don’t think. We both were chatting about how we’re actually quite calm and don’t really fight when we’re in relationships, haha–we more just remove ourselves from the situation! Which I guess could be infuriating for the other person, so we kind of went with that idea. We kept it playful because we both are playful–that was such a fun shoot.
Will you be releasing an EP or album before the end of 2019?
The EP will be out November 20th 2019! and I’m so excited 🙂 🙂
What’s your favourite aspect of recording new tracks?
Being in the studio, building, developing, and shaping a song is my favorite thing in the whole world! I love that me + one or two other people–may be even meeting for the first time that day!–can walk into a room with just ourselves and some gear and walk back out of that room a few hours later with a whole song that didn’t exist that morning when we woke up. My love for this process will never get old!
Is there an album or artist that you look towards for inspiration?
I am always inspired by artists who are unapologetically themselves
What are you most looking forward to in 2020?
I feel like I’ve been building my own little machine for the past couple of years, and in 2019 I experienced a lot of clarity about the kinds of pieces I need and don’t need to make it move. I’m letting things fall into place now, and they are quite beautiful, so I’m just looking forward to watching my path unfold before me.
Make sure to check out Stella Santana new video for her track All The Time below and pre-save her debut EP Yayaya here!
