Darrian Gerard is a singer-songwriter hailing from a small town on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.
At the ripe age of 7 years old, she begged her parents to buy her a guitar. A few days and a 20 dollar auction guitar later, she began writing songs about imaginary boys who didn't treat her right and the heart-wrenching passing away of her first dog.
Playing the guitar, bass, piano, and drums, she is heavily influenced by Avril Lavigne, Blink-182, Taylor Swift, Alanis Morissette, and Angels & Airwaves. From those initial moments with music, she's used the catharsis of writing lyrics as a tool to express some of her deepest emotions and creativity.
Shining the spotlight on her multifaceted ways, Darrian Gerard delivers her intimate new single “Festival,” with her own writing, recording, and producing techniques at the helm.
Through an upbeat soundscape that emphasizes her authentic thoughts stemming from a real-life experience, Darrian Gerard sends vibrations of relatability through the speakers as we hang on to each carefully crafted word executed in this narrative.
Dipping into the pocket of her own nostalgia, she wrote this compelling record when she was in Australia attending a festival of her own and came to the revelation that she wanted to be the one performing on the illuminated stage.
What we love the most about the storyline behind this piece has to be the fact that if this moment didn’t happen, we wouldn’t be able to take in the brilliant skill set of Darrian Gerard radiating before us. Honing in on playful tenors that propel the scripted motifs to a level of inspiration that we could all use, this Indie Pop/Rock single exudes her artistic virtuoso in a lane that is custom to her.
“Festival,” brings you to your own realizations, all while taking you to a headspace of serendipitous joy reigning from the passion that Darrian Gerard leads with.
Welcome to BuzzMusic Darrian Gerard, and congratulations on the release of your latest single, “Festival.” There’s so much that we love about how you put this piece together. It speaks wonders about who you are as an artist and individual. How long did it take you to create and record this single?
I first wrote Festival while I was living in Australia in December of 2020 after we all went to a festival (haha). It was originally just acoustic, I’d play it around campfires for my family back home, that kind of song. I then recently got into producing during the start of the pandemic and had so many ideas for it. When I chose it as my second single I decided I wanted it to be this sort of anthemic, pop-rock melody that people could dance to while also really feeling the sentiment behind the lyrics. I looked back on my notes and it took me about one month to fully produce and come up with all the little guitar and drum and synth parts for the entire song. Changing, adding, removing things constantly until I couldn’t change it anymore haha.
Were there any learning moments, or meaningful memories formed during this process? With such a bright message being sent through this single already, we can only imagine that more came with bringing it to life.
There were definitely some moments where I felt like I wasn’t doing enough for the song with my production. In the beginning, it felt like it wasn’t going anywhere in the direction that I wanted it to, but then I finally figured out how I wanted the drums to sound, and literally, in 2.6 seconds the song came together. The drums to a song can change everything!! The lyrics are a massive part of why this song is so important to me, it was a turning point in my life where I decided I wanted to pursue music, so actually producing and creating the music for this song was super special and emotional for me. The lyrics are basically me telling myself to just go for it, stop holding back, so the action of me making the song come to life was a significant moment where you take a step back and say, “wow, you’re actually doing this”.
Doing such a grand amount of the work that went into “Festival,” was there anyone else assisting you with the release of this track?
I’m super stubborn haha. When I have a vision for something I need to just take full rein and make it exactly how I want it. I’m not good at correcting people or telling people to do things, so it’s easier if I just do everything. I did get it professionally mixed and mastered, but even that was super hard for me to do. I send back a lot of revisions with statements like “do it EXACTLY how I have it, sorry, thanks” haha. I did have my executive producer (Kelso, my family dog) sitting with me through the whole thing, he didn’t have a whole lot to say though.
What is your mission statement as an artist? How do you allow that to drive every move that you make?
I grew up listening and watching, and basically obsessing over Avril Lavigne. She didn’t give a heck about what anyone thought and did what she thought was best for her, and it worked. I’m a strong believer in going against the norm and just doing whatever makes you happiest. I like to think that’s how the best artists create their music. They don’t just make a type of song because that’s what’s popular right now, they make a type of song because it’s what they love to listen to. I’m still finding my sound, but I’m definitely moving in the direction towards pop-rock or even a more pop-punk sound because that’s the type of music that tugs at my heartstrings and makes me want to hit replay again and again. If you make music that is authentically and truly you, nothing else matters. The listeners will come, the fans will stay, and the world will be interested if you just stay true to who you are.
