Marchella Music - mixing sex appeal and personality

After hearing of this artist through a counterpart of mine Marc. Made and hearing the EP they created call For The Summer, I decided to reach out to Marchella. Immediately her bubbly & loquacious personality popped out. I like people who want to express themselves, which she does well; not to mention that she's a talented artist. Tap into the full interview below as as she discusses her musical aspirations, background and family:

Walk us through your background- Tell us more about you and your music

I'm a Dominican lady repping Broward County all daaaaay!!! I've always sang for as long as I could remember. I used to purposely over-exaggerate that tremble in my lips like Whitney whenever I sang one of her songs. I would try to scream all pristine-like when I would sing along to Mariah Carey's high notes trying to break a glass. Although R&B is my heart, I never wanted to limit myself to one category of music. I wrote one of my first songs when I was 14, which was actually a rap song! Friends would ask me for features and that's how I made my way into studios. It wasn't until I started recording myself, though, that I would be more comfortable in the booth. Then, I started singing live and that's when I discovered my love for live music. I moved to LA for a couple of years and started singing with bands of all genres; Jazz, R&B, top 40, Pop, everything. I moved back home and joined another top 40 band, then a hispanic Salsa/Merengue band, and when I moved to Dominican Republic for 2 years, I was in a Spanish Rock band. I also completed a Latin, Urban EP, "Cuestion de Tiempo," in my 2 years there. When I came back home to my family here in the 954, my focus shifted off of the music for a little bit, but the grind never stopped. I would still write and sporadically record myself. I began freestyling over beats (just to make sure I still had it) and I fell in love with Lo-Fi Hip-Hop/R&B beats and omg! The motivation and spark it gave me was all I needed. In 2019, I began working on my next EP, "Free Style," which is coming soon (I'm mixing it myself and I am not a pro ... hence the delay). I also completed a collab EP, "For Summer" with my friend and lyricist, Marc.Made, which is on all streaming platforms. I'm still recording new songs in the process and I'm so excited to release and show to who ever might be listening. I've started performing again at different events and venues and I'm just trying to get myself out there with this new project and new songs. This year I've also ventured into acting and completed my first stage play and currently filming the lead role in a short film. Stay tuned yall, I'm coming!

What inspires you?

My family, man!!! I have a really big family. I've always wanted to be the one to take care of my family and I truly see myself doing that. Since I am not built for a 9-5, I hustle my ass off for my fam doing a million different things that I happen to be good at. My goal is to do this OOOONE thing I love as oppose to a whole bunch of little things that I like, but don't love. I want to be able to take care of them (without being the cheap little lady that I am lol), send my nieces and nephews to school, buy my sis a bigger house, you know, buy my momma a house, and my auntie a house . I get inspired when I see other people's grind too! Like damn, YOU did THAT! I want to do that, too! I can do it! Money isn't the key to happiness but it sure as hell has a big part in making this world go round. I just want to do music full time and actually get paid doing it so that I won't have to focus on nothing else BUT the music and in turn be a better artist. In the movie Selena, there's a part where she is on stage and everyone is throwing her flowers... and when she is a young girl she imagines herself accepting an award saying "I'd like to thank all of the little people!" Those flashes of the movie stuck with me and pop up in my head like a background song every now and then. Lol, my goal is not to get famous, per say, but I doooo love flowers and maybe one day I can thank all of the "little people!" I just want my music to be heard and known - SOMEBODY will rock to it! I just want to make nice shit even if no one cares. It's a soothing release!

What are some of the obstacles you've faced and how has it made you better?

Other than not getting MIXED music back from engineers, struggling with recording, and not being a baller so that I can pay for everything that comes with this industry, I think the biggest obstacle I've faced was having pure confidence in my craft. I've always been a super open woman; very vocal, never shy... you know, like an open-book. Confidence isn't an issue I deal with as I am secure in myself and it shows. But with my music, omg... I used to be so insecure and always doubted myself. "Is this even good?" "OMG this sucks!" "Ugh, my voice is shakey." "Wow, I'm so off pitch!" It got to the point where I hated recording because I thought I sucked. I never liked "yes men" either so it seemed like the people around me were just always like "No..." I realize that the confidence and security was off within myself because I was so pressured to do it RIGHT, not waste time, make sure it's perfect, make sure the "person in charge" liked it, make sure my lyrics weren't wack and cheesy... all of that. Sometimes I would be so focused on writing something about what's going in the world or some deep world unifying song that I would focus so much on trying to be an activist and I would forget I'm writing music to the point where I'm like "OMG I can't even write." So I started doubting myself and I forgot to enjoy the whole ride. It sucked because I would get this feeling often and at random times. I took a long break and after my brother in law passed away in 2018, that completely changed my life and my outlook on things. For one, I was REALLY forced to realize that life is too short. This was everything. My bro in law was never one to live his life for anyone else. I thought I was like that too but if I really WAS, then I would have been further along in my music (I told myself). So one day I said FUCK IT and I lost all inhibitions on whatever I was holding on to. I put all my "unfinished/unmixed" music on my soundcloud, I finally put my completed project on the online stores, and I started going in (at my pace in my journey). Not everyone is going to fuck with you and that's ok! You don't have to make music FOR other people. Yes, you want people to listen to your music but I remembered why I loved to do music... for the soothing release, the emotional outlet, and the adrenaline you feel when you complete something you just freaking love. So I got back to just that and it's been working out!

What is your 5 year plan for your music and for yourself?

In 5 years, I see myself as a stable business woman who can comfortably take care of her family. I expect one of my side businesses to be fully grown by then (import/export). Who knows, maybe I might have some kids of my own. Musically, I don't really want to put pressure on my musical career. I mean, in 5 years, I want to be more well known, even if my songs aren't on the radio, I want people to know my shit. I love to perform so I see myself performing consistently, doing my own shows with my own band and traveling to different cities/countries. I know they say if you're going to do it big, GO HARD OR GO HOME. I'm not saying I'm not going to go hard - but my ultimate goal is not to be Beyonce where I can't go to the store and buy some fried cheese on my own... I don't want to be SUPER FAMOUS. I still want to be happy and not living for social media. I just want to make music for myself and for people who want to listen and then go and sing that shit to everyone. You know, I have a plan and I have goals of what I want to do and how I plan on accomplishing things... but wow, life can change in the blink of an eye. So I know where I want to be in 5 years but I don't have it set in stone because nobody knows the future and I'm down for the ride of life, regardless of what turns my roads may make. I run on the faith that I KNOW I'll get there and that it is GOING to happen even if I don't know exactly how, as long as I stay as real as I am and true to myself above all.

What do you want people to takeaway from your music?

Mannn, I just want them to be like "Oh I feeeel her on that!" ...whether it be my voice, the beat, what I'm saying. I just want them to feeeeel me! I'm at peace with myself when I'm doing music... I want people to feel at least a piece of the peace I feel. If somehow, that inspires them to find what brings them peace (art, poetry, music, cooking, whateverrrr... some creative release), then that's all I want! Find your peace! I've got songs about getting drunk, about love lost and love found, problems, and just life. There's so many ways to feel in this life and so many people don't even know how to let out those feelings. This makes people not even be real with themselves from holding so much shit in. RELEASE THAT SHIT! I hope my music shows how I release shit and maybe in turn, helps them find their release.

Where can people find your music?

MarchellaMusic.com

Updates

Free Style EP - coming soon!

Upcoming singles - will be released on SoundCloud and my site

Performances & events - check Instagram & website

Social media platforms

Instagram: @MarchellaMusic

Twitter: @MarchellaMusic

Facebook: @MarchellaMusic

All digital streaming platforms - Marchella

Check out all of Marchella's unfinished/unedited/unmixed songs below: