DELA KAY INTERVIEW: Hailing from the electric, competitive soundscape of Nashville, TN, Dela Kay is an artist who isn’t afraid to shift gears to find her true voice. Drawing inspiration from alternative icons like The Maine, Maggie Lindemann, Paramore, and Avril Lavigne, she’s a force committed to authenticity. Dela Kay’s career began in 2014, with an electro-pop flair that included the Grammy-winner-produced collaboration “9 out of 10,” and garnered her hundreds of thousands of streams. She later proved her mainstream potential with the Sony Music release, “All My Love,” which landed her on Digital Radio Tracker’s top 150 global artist charts in 2019. Get familiar…
What five words define your sound?
Sincere, vulnerable, electric, energetic and feisty
Tell me something unique about your creative process
I’m a melody girlie first and foremost. I love getting a solid vibe together and being able to lock in a melody top to bottom before getting lyrics down. I think exploring melodies can invoke really cool lyric ideas, and letting the instruments kind of steer the direction. I’ve made some of my favorite songs that way.
I feel like sometimes as artists we get stuck trying to find the perfect lyrics, and it’s really cool to be able to just let things flow and create without expectations. That’s probably my favorite part. And I think more than anything with my songwriting background growing up in Franklin, TN outside of Nashville, it’s taught me to always write from my heart and my truth.
Not trying to make every song a hit and just focusing on what feels real has always ended up giving me the most vulnerable and authentic songs.
Which song of yours would you like people to hear first?
Probably “Guilty Conscience” since it’s my most recent single, but if I were to pick any of my other singles to listen to first, I think “IDWTAY” is one of my all-time favorites.
What inspired you to make that song?
I think pulling from our real life experiences and being able to use songwriting as an outlet for that is really therapeutic. I was still healing from a previous relationship and had all these thoughts and emotions bottled up that I felt I would never say. So in my experience, getting that out on paper and then into the world has been rewarding, even though the song itself is a little intense haha.
Sometimes when you go through things that feel a little crazy, you got to get a little more bold in your writing and not be afraid to share your truth. I also feel like people don’t talk about virtual betrayal, and it’s happening all the time now in 2025. I wanted to call attention to some of that and give it a space to live for myself and anyone else who’s maybe felt the same things as well.
What’s the most vulnerable you’ve allowed yourself to be when writing/making music?
Earlier this year I wrote a song called “Anybody Else,” which was probably the most vulnerable song I’ve written so far until “Guilty Conscience.” I think both of these songs tapped into emotions of mine that I haven’t showcased in any of my other songs. The first was a ballad and got very heartfelt lyrics out, and then my newest single is full of heartbreak, but it’s also very real and cheeky with words I thought I’d never say.
What’s the best/worst experience you’ve had on stage?
Best experience I’ve had on stage was a show I played at the High Watt in Nashville, Tennessee years ago. I remember there was a catwalk and I was able to do a lot of fun dancing.
Worst experience I’ve ever had on stage was my in-ear and my track completely going out in the middle of a huge dance song, but then it ended up being cool because my guitarist met me at the front of the stage, and we did an acoustic version for the rest of the song and sang with the crowd. Improv always ends up being the best even when it’s not what you necessarily want in the moment.
What is your favourite song to perform?
I actually haven’t been able to perform my newest songs live with a full band yet, which I’m hoping to do in the new year… but I’m most excited to play “Guilty Conscience” and “Saving Face” I think.
Which artist/song/album made you want to make music?
Listening to Paramore and being from Franklin, Tennessee definitely inspired me to get into the emo scene at a young age. All of their OG albums. Also Green Day. I think I literally listened to all of their stuff every day before middle school haha.
What’s the meaning behind your name?
My childhood nickname was Dela and my real name is Katie. So putting the two together kinda happened naturally.
If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing instead?
I think I would be a therapist of some sort. My whole family is full of either artistic creatives, or psychologists, psychiatrists, and doctors. I’ve always been passionate about mental health and would love to help people. But I genuinely don’t see myself not being able to make music no matter what I do for the rest of my life.
What’s success to you?
Being able to make a living off of what you love to do. I also think success is being able to change at least one life with your songs. There are so many songs that I love that I feel have healed me – I would love to be able to connect even with just one person that way.
What moment in your life/career forced you to change direction?
In the summer of 2019, COVID hit and I had just moved to Los Angeles. I had a change in management and realized that dance pop music, although I love making it, didn’t feel super authentic to me anymore, so I took a couple-year hiatus to figure out what felt good to me. In that time, I really dove into the alternative scene and never looked back.
Where can people keep in touch with you?
People can keep in touch with me and all social platforms, but I am definitely on Instagram the most!
Find me at: @delakaymusic on IG and of course, keep up with me on all streaming platforms to hear my latest releases 🙂
Photos by Working Holiday
