Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and how your childhood impacted your musical direction?
A: I am Daimy Lotus, artist and songwriter from The Netherlands. I make empowering rock- and punk influenced pop music about themes like heartbreak, mental health and self growth. I’ve been bullied through my entire school time and growing up with a biological father who didn’t acknowledge me as his child, I really know what it’s like to not feel seen and heard. To feel left out. I guess that’s why my music has so many layers and why I find it important to make the people that listen to my music feel seen and heard through my music.
Q: How are you planning on growing your fan base and sharing your music with the world? What message do you have for anyone who is about to discover Daimy Lotus?
A: I’ve released a single every six weeks this year, 8 in total, completely independent. So if you haven’t heard my music yet there’s a lot to check out online! If you wanna feel empowered and are into poprock/poppunk I’m sure you’ll like it 🙂
I’ve been touring through the Netherlands, doing festivals and support-shows and I’m currently writing for my first album and getting shows in for 2024.
Q: Who is the most inspiring artist for you right now? And where do you find inspiration for making music?
A: Yungblud. The way he connects with his listeners and the way he opens up about mental health and traumatic experiences is really inspiring to me. Besides that the music just freaking slaps. I love it. It’s artists like him that motivate me to keep speaking up and to be open. But I do find inspiration in everything around and inside of me. I write from feelings, thoughts and experiences.
Q: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your new single, “So Excited”?
A: It’s about the day I was so excited about but never came: meeting my biological father. Growing up without him acknowledging me as his child, had left a void inside of me and loads of questions from a very young age. I thought that meeting him one day would solve all my problems, all my doubts but at some point I realized it wouldn’t solve anything, meeting up with a drug-addicted stranger that I didn’t want in my life anyways. I realized I was the only person who could give myself the closure I so desperately needed. So I decided to forgive him for all that he’d done, for the trauma his actions caused and I decided I didn’t want to meet him in person after all.
Writing ‘So Excited’ was a vital part of processing my trauma. It helped me heal and I hope it will do that for other people who recognize themselves in this song too.
Q: What was the creative process like for writing and producing it?
A: I wrote it with Kevin van der Tholen and Jara Narayan de Werd December last year during my first self-organized writing camp. I rented a lodge in the middle of nowhere to write songs for my project. I had this idea in my head of myself or someone else being excited for something that was never gonna happen. Kevin started playing the guitar riff and I immediately came up with vocal melodies. That’s how the song started. It wasn’t my intention to touch this subject as I had already written about it and I thought I had left it completely behind me but I guess I didn’t otherwise I wouldn’t have written this song haha. After writing and recording it, Jara (aka Narayan) worked on the production. We had my drummer Sven van der Meer play drums on it, Jara mixed the track and then we sent it to Pierce Johnston for mastering.
Q: How does it differ from your previous music in terms of style and sound?
A: This is the last release of 2023 and it is different to the other songs I’ve released earlier this year in a way that it is more emotional. My biological father has always been a super painful and difficult thing for me to really open up about emotionally and it’s only after writing «So Excited» that I feel like I have truly worked through the trauma and came to peace with myself and the situation. I freed myself from the pain I’ve felt for over two decades and I can feel that weight falling off my shoulders in this song. It’s heavy and relieving at the same time.
There’s also a couple releases that are online from before 2022 that I released with my old label. I still love those songs but they are different in a way that they’re way more pop and soft. My current sound is more raw and punk/rock focussed.
Q: Were there any specific musical influences that played a role in shaping the sound of “So Excited”?
A: At the time I was listening a lot to Fletcher. She’s a great artist and writer. We’re fellow pisces, so very emotional and dreamy haha! I guess her music has influenced my mood at that time.
Q: Who is your dream artist to collaborate with? (dead or alive)
A: you know I’m an overthinker and it’s questions like these that I find SO hard to answer so I’m just gonna mention a few names that I’d be honored to collab with:
Fletcher, Gayle, Yungblud, The Used, Blink 182
Q: What is your advice for people interested in pursuing music as a career or for those trying to enter the industry?
A: A wise woman once said (Dolly Parton): ‘figure out who you are and do it on purpose’. I feel that, and also: work hard, enjoy the ride, protect your energy and don’t let anybody stop you or dim your light.
Q: If you could go back in time and give a younger you some words of wisdom, what would they be?
A: do it your way
