Dia is the stunning project of composer and performer, Danielle Birrittella.
Her debut EP, Tiny Ocean, released with Manimal Records, features songs produced by Joey Waronker (Beck, REM, Atoms for Peace), Tim Carr (The Americans, HAIM) and Frankie Siragusa (theLAB).
Raised on a Hindu ashram, she sang ceremonial ragas as a child, which led to training and performing as an opera singer throughout the U.S. and Europe. Along these travels, she began experimenting with music and writing song fragments on a ukulele, which was gifted to her by her brother.Encouraging reactions from those close to her, reinforced her musical path. Tiny Ocean showcases Dia’s lush baroque-pop sound, which incorporates etherial vocal textures abstracted by organic percussion, electric guitars, ukulele, tiple, cellos, and drones.
Dia’s practice as a classically trained opera singer induced an incredibly critical ear. Her influences of classical music, such as Baroque and French Romantics are beautifully infused with modern experimental cinematic folk on her debut EP.
A native of New England, and graduate of New York University (BA) and California Institute of the Arts (MFA), she has lived and worked as an artist in New York, France, and Italy. You can check out Tiny Ocean below!
We managed to catch up with Dia as she talked about her latest EP, new music, fans and more!
So how has your debut EP Tiny Ocean gone so far?
It has been super rewarding to finally share the music that we’ve been working on for a while. These are some of the first songs I wrote and the process of arranging and recording them was a life altering learning experience for me. When you make something as ephemeral as music, it’s incredibly satisfying to create something tangible, like an EP or a record, that encapsulates the work in what feels like a three-dimensional form. Putting it out into the world also allows me to let go of the themes I was working through and move into the next phase.
What inspires you to write and perform this EP?
So much of this EP was inspired by the nostalgia of unresolved, star-crossed love. I was working through these chapters as I wrote each song and it was a way to express what I could no longer share directly. Performing the songs is similarly satisfying as it becomes a forum to communicate, even if into the ether, brokenness or unjustness or longing. It may not be heard explicitly but, somehow, for me, it feels that it is reaching the target in this mercurial way, through soundwaves… which is somehow more satisfying to me that if it were direct.
What is your favourite song from the EP?
I have a few favorites, for different reasons. The lyrics of Tiny Ocean are the most special to me. I love how the arrangement of Synchronized Swimming came out. Saint Paul is particularly dear to me because of the way it was written, the simplicity of the song itself and having Tim Carr (who produced most of the EP) sing on it with me.
How was it working with Joey Waronker and Tim Carr?
My early “demos” were basically voice memos that I recorded with my vocals going through a tube amp. Evan Slamka of Marjorie Fair shared some of them with Joey Waronker. Joey responded to them and invited me over to play some of the songs for him. He was about to leave on tour with Beck at the time, but we made a plan to record Covered In Light on one of his days back in LA. It was so great working with him, he is incredibly generous and supportive. For the most part, we tried to re-create that voice memo but on a grander scale – Joey added this great snapping percussive element and Evan worked on lovely harmonic parts.
Tim Carr is a huge part of this EP. He produced a majority of the songs. It was a process of arranging the fragments I had written and then adding layers of instrumentation to really create the sound. Tim plays most of the instruments, which were tracked individually, over time, in an home-recording set-up, to come up with this much bigger sound. He is a truly brilliant producer and taught me so much about composition, texture, tone, which I am sure will always influence me.
So how has your classical opera singing influenced you on this release?
I was training to become an opera singer for so long, I think what I tend towards melodically is intrinsically influenced by that, not necessarily in terms of vocal range, but being led by the voice. Harmonically, I’m looking for progressions that are somewhat unexpected but satisfy me aesthetically. Being exposed to so much classical and contemporary classical music, my ear might be somewhat more open to chordal relationships or melodic movement that might otherwise be avoided.
Will there be a full length album next?
YES! I have most of the songs written and am planning to record them early next year. I’m very excited about them and how the music has been evolving. It feels like this chamber cowgirl direction that is still connected to the Tiny Ocean currents, but more rooted in song form over production.
I have a few singles we didn’t release on the EP that will be coming out over the next few months.
I also just came back from NYC where I finished recording this covers EP with the magical Louis Schwadron (Sky White Tiger, Polyphonic Spree, Rufus Wainwright). It is full of mostly early 60’s pop songs that I can’t wait to share. That will probably come out later in the winter.
Are you intending to go on tour soon?
We did a tour of the Northeast over the summer and it looks like we will do a couple runs before the end of the year – the Southwest and some more West Coast dates.
How much do your fans mean to you?
When I’m doing any sort of music or performing I want the listener or the audience to experience it and connect with a part of themselves that is otherwise closed off or shutdown. If I am reaching people who respond to the music, it means I’ve done my job. There isn’t anything more satisfying.
If you could work with any artist, who would it be and why?
That is a really tough question. It would probably be a producer to help me shape the songs and create the sonic world, beyond the chords and melody. I love Weyes Blood’s new record, which Chris Cohen produced, so I am curious about him. What Van Dyke Parks did with Joanna Newsom’s Ys is obviously brilliant. I would also be interested to work with someone who would take the songs in a different direction… potentially more rhythmically driven and even upbeat.. just to see how that would shift things.
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