Danny Padilla is a talented singer and YouTube personality from the suburbs of Los Angeles. He first found fame when he and a friend decided to cover famous songs live whilst performing impersonations on the spot that the other was feeding them. This unique concept, which combined both comedy and musical talent, gained loads of notoriety on websites such as Reddit, and Buzzfeed.
Danny Padilla has since expanded into original music and Vlogging. And despite being relatively new to songwriting ,he wrote and co-produced three singles last year, all of which received recognition and praise from fans and industry insiders. And the rising star has just released his brand new single ‘Too Bad‘.
Here we talk exclusively to Danny Padilla about his upcoming album, future plans, YouTube fame and much more.
Growing up did you always know you wanted to pursue music as a career?
Not really! I didn’t really think too much about careers in general until high school, and then when I reached high school, the dream was to do music for a living, but I wanted to be a drummer in a popular band. I didn’t really learn about singing and wanting to make my own music until my senior year of high school, and from then on, being my own artist became the only thing I thought about.
What was the first CD you ever bought?
Hmm probably Blink-182’s self-titled album that came out in 2003. They’re the band I grew up on.
What songs are you listening to at the moment?
I’ve been listening to a lot of the top 40 as well as some more up-and-coming artists. Lately, the songs I’ve enjoyed overplaying are songs like ‘I Miss You’ by Grey ft. Behari, ‘Guillotine’ by Jon Bellion, ‘Call Me’ by NEIKED ft. MIMI, and ‘I Like Me Better’ by my buddy Lauv. There’s so much good music out there though, so it’s hard to just choose a few songs.
If you could collaborate with anyone who would you choose?
Oh wow. My dream collaborations would be with Ed Sheeran, Jon Bellion, Tori Kelly, John Mayer, and definitely my man Justin Bieber. I can’t choose just one! We’d all be able to create something musically unique together!
When writing a new song where/who do you turn to for inspiration?
Honestly, anything I’m currently feeling becomes inspiration. I think it’s important to capitalize on the true feelings you’re struggling with to create art, rather than formulate a song based on something that’s a little bit more of a stretch to imagine. When it comes to a certain person though, I’ve been really looking toward Jon Bellion for inspiration. I watch a ton of videos of him in the studio, and you can just tell he genuinely loves music and works incredibly hard.
You’re also a YouTube personality, do you think you can use your platform to influence the younger generation?
Yeah definitely! What’s nice about YouTube is that it’s a platform for young people to go to and find friends. Whether it be other fans of certain influencers, or the influencers themselves, YouTube does a great job of creating a community. I’ve personally found that I’ve received tons of messages from people telling me how much I’ve done to change their life and make them smile every day, which is easily one of the biggest reasons I do what I do.
What do enjoy doing on your days off?
Days off come pretty infrequently, but when I have them, I definitely love hanging with friends and doing something simple like having a board/card game night. When I’m on my own, you can find me playing video games or watching a ton of Netflix and pretending to multitask with work stuff.
Can fans expect an album off you soon?
Yes! I’ll be compiling about 5 or 6 of the tracks I’ve already released onto an EP that’ll contain 1 or 2 new songs on it as well! That’ll most likely happen later this year!
Do you have plans to tour soon?
I don’t currently have any plans set in stone with regards to touring, but I really want to aim for touring during the summer of 2018! I’ll have enough of a repertoire by then, and hopefully I’ll have a bunch of people around the world who’d want to see me live by then!
What do you hope to achieve over the next ten years?
Oh wow. More than anything, I want to make a solid living doing what I love: music. Secondly, I really want my career to be focused on affecting as many people around the world in as positive of a way as possible. There’s so much insecurity and sadness in this world at times that I really want to help cure.
Make sure you follow Danny Padilla on Twitter @DannyPadilla to keep up to date with all his latest music and tour news!
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