Domiziana has always been on a quest to be free, as a person but also in her music. Having grown up in Sicily, the artist already knew at a young age that the Italian island was not big enough to let her run free. In search of trying to find her place in the world, music has been a tool to process life. Her first ever released single Ohne Benzin already made its way to the German charts instantly last summer, leading to the singer gaining a lot of attention and popularity; but all at a rapidly fast pace. Even after a year in the music business, Domiziana is on her own path trying to find out how to navigate her new-found life.
SLEEK talks to Domiziana about giving music meaning, her home Berlin and her latest release Amore.
SLEEK: Your first single Ohne Benzin was a viral hit last summer which meant that with all the people you have reached, the same amount of hate also came with it. How did you handle that situation?
Domiziana: Everything that is going mainstream and is reaching a bigger platform will get hate. Still, it was the first song I ever released and I have never learned nor had experience in how to handle being exposed to that many opinions. To be honest that is still something I struggle with to this day. Being in the public eye and consciously knowing that everything I release will get critiques is something that can get scary and I am still figuring out how to handle it.
S: Would you have done anything differently?
D: Sometimes I do wish for everything to have happened at a slower pace but at the same time then, I couldn’t have performed at Berlin’s Olympiastadion last year and I would have never traded that experience for anything else. With everything happening, I just need to find my own pace in which I want to move in.
S: How are you figuring it out so far?
D: I am continuously trying to find ways to manage those situations. It is still a challenge to know what works for me but with my song SOS with Blümchen, I noticed how important it was for me to create something with cultural impact for any doubting thoughts to fade. The music video included a lot of people from Lunchbox Candy which is a queer event in Berlin and preaching those values of inclusivity made all the opinions others might have about my music irrelevant because I created something with social impact.
S: Your music is quite fast-beat and it seems that nowadays, a lot of music is doing well that pokes a little fun. Why does this upcoming genre of music work so well nowadays?
D: A lot is connected to how our generation handles societal issues. With social media everything happens so fast and gets easily transformed into memes which can be dangerous on the one hand but on the other hand, our generation deals with trauma through humor and it is a form of a coping mechanism. All of this is also mirrored in the music scene and the fast-beat fun music that doesn’t take itself too seriously is only a reflection of the current state of mind.
S: TikTok has also been a rising tool in our digital age. How far does social media influence your process of music-making?
D: Actually it is not that important when creating music for me but more so a useful tool when marketing new releases. It opens so many new doors to express yourself visually to invite your audience into your world. There was a time when I put pressure on myself to viral but to be honest, you can’t really control the algorithm and the most random shit goes viral.
S: Has using social media always been a part of expressing yourself?
D: I was a tumblr girl through and through. The platform gave me my first experience of what a community feels like and it confronted me with so much poetry, topics of mental health and sexuality. Even though the space it created needed much more protection and awareness, I wouldn’t be the person or artist today without tumblr.
S: Are there two versions of yourself, one that you display to the public and one Domiziana who only exists in your private life?
D: Domiziana is actually my real name and lately I have been trying to differentiate a little more between my on-stage persona and me in my private life. When I perform, it is fully myself but still I want to separate both characters more because if not, it would be like working 24/7.
S: Is music therefore also an outlet to freely express your feelings?
D: Creating music means being in touch with my emotions to me. It is like reaching inside a universe of feelings which I did very strongly with my latest release Amore. I wrote that song really in the moment about a night that had happened two days prior because it had such an inspirational impact on me. Writing it all down and creating a song out of it is my way of processing life because I don’t know where else to put that story. We live in such a fast-paced life and it is so important to find an outlet for your feelings.
S: To express your feelings through your music also means making yourself vulnerable to the public. Is that scary for you?
D: Definitely, especially when having conversations afterward asking what the song is really about. It can get a little awkward at times but I wouldn’t have chosen to be an artist if couldn’t keep my work honest.
S: Your latest release Amore gave an insight into short-lived romantic relationships which is also a topic that sounds inevitably Berlin. What does that song capture for you?
D: Amore happened in Ibiza but I think all of my songs still revolve around Berlin. You can have a whole relationship in one night and the connection can still be gone the next day. When I wrote Amore, it was kind of capturing the grief after a situationship but also including the magical and mystic part behind it.
S: Would you call Berlin your forever home?
D: I have recently seen a TikTok that Berlin’s zodiac sign would be Aquarius and I am also aligned with Aquarius in five planets. It all finally made so much sense to me, Berlin is so terrifying but inspiring for me at the same time. A part of me will always call this city home.
Listen to Domiziana’s latest release Amore here.
Credits
Photography and Creative Direction: Valerio Amato
Styling: Esteban Pomar
Nail Artist: Peachynails
Artist: Domiziana
Domiziana wears Nur Hektor, Camila Maldonado and notsick.6.