- Words Notion Staff
- Photography Holly McCandless-Desmond
- Photography Assistant Finn Waring
- MUA Fleur Radford
- Production & Location Studio Notion
From her biggest hurdle to biggest triumph, DellaXOZ reflects on her artist journey so far as part of our 'Co-Signed by Clara Amfo' list for 2023.
DellaXOZ is establishing herself as a voice of her generation. Whether she’s holding a magnifying class to her own feelings, unpicking the experiences of her peers or exploring wider social issues, DellaXOZ’s lyrics are emotive and incisive, questioning the world she sees around her as much as the ever-evolving world she holds within herself. “I think it’s necessary to know what’s going on in the world to not become distanced or ignorant,” she says, explaining how she leans into self-expression and conversation over apathy and ignorance. “Current world issues like hate crimes, bans on safe abortion and poor gun control are things that I feel personally provoked to shed light on, and have already written some rage-y unreleased songs about.”
Having grown up in Greater Manchester, the city’s indie rock legacy carries through in her multi-dimensional sound, as does her Congolese heritage. With a DIY mentality — she wrote her first song at 13 and her first EP, this year’s triumphant ’THE DELLA VARIANT’, was put together on her phone — DellaXOZ is building her own musical wold, reaching out with both hands to pull us in.
Why do you back yourself for 2023?
Because I feel like there’s so many things that I haven’t tried yet. I put my first EP together on my phone and now I’m working with producers, so there’s so many more things that I can try.
What has been your biggest artistic hurdle in your journey so far?
Probably motivation and dealing with expectation versus reality. When you post something on TikTok and it doesn’t do as well as you hoped, it’s easy to get demoralised but you’ve got to not lose hope.
What has been your biggest triumph in your journey so far?
My biggest triumph has been playing shows. It was pretty cool to open for The Wombats.
How would you define ‘making it’?
For me, making it would be playing Alexandra Palace. That was the first venue I went to, so it’s special to me. Also hearing loads of fans singing the songs, that would be pretty cool.
What makes your fanbase unique?
They’re all chronically online but in a good way. They’re all really nice and like to listen to different genres, which is cool because I like to make different music.
Who would you put on Clara’s list if you weren’t on it?
I discovered this American glitch pop artists called brakence. He mixes different genres together that you wouldn’t even think of, like drill and Midwest emo music. It’s crazy.
