From Desert Dreams to Rising Star
interview + portraits by Jorge Perezchica
Meet Daniel Balderrama Espinoza, better known by his stage name DannyLux, a homegrown talent from Desert Hot Springs, California. His musical journey is shaped by the tranquility of his hometown, the gift of a guitar from his dad at age seven, and the influence of diverse musical genres echoing through the walls of his childhood home.
As DannyLux reflects on his artistic evolution—from learning how to play the guitar in the church choir to becoming the latest addition to Fender’s NEXT Class of 2023 and signing with Warner Music—his dreamlike moments have defined his recent success, including opening for Coldplay, penning a viral hit for Eslabon Armado, and making his debut at Coachella—all achieved by the age of nineteen.
COACHELLA 2023
On Friday, April 21st, I finally get the chance to see DannyLux perform live at Coachella Weekend 2. Under clear, sunny skies, I walk across the Empire Polo grounds towards the Sonora stage. To my surprise, there is already a huge line that snakes around the entrance—inside the tent, it is packed with festival-goers, and at 3:40 PM, DannyLux takes the stage. You can feel the energy and excitement in the air, leaving no doubt to DannyLux’s star power, with one electrifying performance after another.
A RISING STAR
Building on this momentum, DannyLux’s journey takes off in a continuous ascent. On June 20th, 2023, Mayor Matas presented him with the Key to the City in a special ceremony at the City of Desert Hot Springs Council Chambers. DannyLux’s influence extends across multiple domains, including a notable campaign collaboration with McDonald’s. Further solidifying his presence, he is featured in Variety’s 2023 Young Hollywood Impact Report, spotlighting talents from film, television, music, and digital media. On August 18, 2023, DannyLux released his full album “DLUX,” showcasing diverse collaborations spanning bachata, reggae, EDM, and soothing guitar rhythm beats. To cap it all off, he announces the ‘Ambición Tour,’ which DannyLux will make stops in 11 cities across the East Coast and Midwest of the US.
UP CLOSE WITH DANNYLUX
Before the cascade of accomplishments that followed, I had the opportunity of meeting with DannyLux for an interview and photo session at Palm Springs Grip & Lighting, just a week before he took the stage at Coachella. While waiting patiently (and nervously) at the studio, I caught a glimpse outside and spotted a black sports car adorned with vibrant neon green flourishes. A hunch told me it was him. As the car came to a stop, DannyLux casually stepped out, accompanied by his mom. After exchanging warm greetings, we continued our conversation inside the studio. Read on for the Coachella Magazine interview.
Coachella Magazine: First of all, thank you for taking the time to sit down and chat. Could you tell us about your music background, what it was like growing up in Desert Hot Springs and how it shape you as an artist?
DannyLux: I grew up in Desert Hot Springs and I started playing the guitar and all that when I was like seven. I remember, I started learning the guitar at the church choir and I would go every Sunday, and just play there as a little kid. I feel like living here is just so calm. There’s not many things that are going on. There’s not that many people bothering you. It’s just like peaceful. And I feel that’s what really helped me out a lot too, because I could just concentrate on a lot of things and just write music.
CM: Your dad gifted you a guitar when you were seven years-old. Was music something you wanted to pursue at that point?
DL: When I was like seven, I was just a little kid and my dad, he works in like picking up garbage, you know, the garbage trucks. And he would always find random things. He would find pots and pans or furniture, stuff like that. And then, one day, he found that guitar, and I remember right when I saw that guitar—I just knew that’s what I wanted to do. I started begging my mom to put me into classes and all that.
CM: Growing up, what kind of music did you listen to around the house?
DL: My parents, they would always listen to Spanish rock or English rock groups. I remember the first song I learned how to play was “Let It Be” by The Beatles. I’ve listened to a little bit of everything growing up and I think that’s kind of like shaped what my style is today.
CM: How about the stage name? How did that come about?
DL: Well, DannyLux, I remember in middle school, my Instagram name was Danny Luxury. And in high school, I felt like that was so cheesy, like having that as my username. So I just shortened the luxury part into Lux, like DannyLux. Once I decided that I really wanted to be an artist, I just kept the name DannyLux.
CM: You were selected to be part of Fender NEXT Class of 2023 designed to support emerging artists that are expanding the world of music and culture. Could you tell us what that means to you?
DL: It’s crazy, because the second guitar I ever had was a Fender guitar. It was like a beginner guitar. And it’s so sick that now, I’m a part of the whole next class and it’s just crazy to even be a part of all this, it just feels like a dream.
CM: When did you get signed with Warner Music?
DL: I got signed like a year and a half ago.
CM: How has life changed since you’ve been signed?
DL: Honestly, like, everything’s just been going uphill. So many things are going on that like, I still can’t process everything, but my whole career, I could see it going uphill and it’s just such a sick feeling to know that I have such a big team backing me up and helping me get through everything.
CM: Does that put more responsibility on you? As far as balancing the creativity and business side of the music industry?
DL: Honestly, I feel like, no matter what, the main thing that I love to do is just making music and I don’t think there’s pressure or anything like that. I’m just doing what I love to do.
CM: How does it feel like to be performing and attending Coachella for the first time?
DL: It’s like such a sick feeling because my dad, like I said, he works in picking up the garbage and all that. And the company he used to work for, they actually used to pick up the trash at Coachella. And it’s such a sick thing that now, I’m gonna take him with me. He is gonna be backstage with me.
And it’s crazy how like everything just circles around, because I remember since I was a little kid, I grew up here and during these times there’s always so much traffic and I remember hearing like, “Oh yeah, it’s cuz of Coachella. It’s Coachella, all these artists are coming and all that.” But as a little kid, I was like, “Dang, that sounds sick.” I’ve always wanted to go and this is my first time ever even going to Coachella. And it’s such a sick thing that I’m gonna be playing. It’s like a dream come true.
CM: Will you be bringing any surprise guests?
DL: Yeah. There’s gonna be some surprise guests. I just hope the people react well to our music.
CM: Aside from performing Coachella, which artist are you looking forward to seeing this year?
DL: I’m really looking forward to seeing a lot of the Latin acts, there’s not like a certain artist I wanna go see. I just wanna go see as much people as I can, you know, like, just enjoy everything, see all the other talented artists that there’s gonna be. And I’m just excited.
CM: In 2022, you opened for Coldplay on the Mexico leg of their World Tour. Do you feel comfortable now performing in front of a large crowd or do you still get stage fright at all?
DL: I feel like that it never really goes away, the nervousness, but once you start playing, it’s just you and the crowd. You gotta do it and put the most effort that you can and just make sure that everything turns out good. Because when we played with Coldplay, it was in front of like 50,000 people and we were so nervous. Even while we were playing, I was like shaking. It’s just crazy. But once we started playing, I would see people cheering and enjoying our music and I feel like that kind of motivated me even more to just keep going.
CM: How do you go about reading the crowd?
DL: I feel like literally, as long as you transmit the correct vibes and all that, the people are gonna feel that. That’s what I’ve learned at least. You have to be able to interact well with everybody, talk to the people, make sure they’re good and just give out the vibes that you want them to feel.
CM: You earned success for penning the viral song “Jugaste y Sufri” for Eslabon Armado, which earned a first #1 spot on Latin Songwriter Chart on Billboard. How did that collaboration come together?
DL: I wrote that song in general, cuz I was planning on releasing it for myself. But the lead singer of that group, his name’s Pedro (Tovar), and he called me one day and he was like, “Yo bro, I need help. I already wrote all these other songs for this album and I need one more.” I remember, I had that song, and so he was like, “Are you down to beat?” Like do a collaboration, “Let’s do a duet on this song.” And I showed it to him and he really liked it, and we stuck with it. We recorded it and then he released it on his album. I was featured on the song and like a couple months later the song just blew up. I feel like that’s the song that really put my name in like everybody’s mouths. Like they were talking about me a lot, and that’s what got me kind of known.
CM: Can you describe your creative process when it comes to writing and producing music
DL: Most of the time, a lot of people always think I write based off of like, personal experiences, or based off of things that have happened to me. But sometimes, I just like creating stories in my head and it could be a romantic story, a breakup story, and I just write based off of the guy in that story.
CM: What do you hope fans take away from your music and what kind of impact do you hope to have with your music?
DL: Honestly, I feel like I just really want people to identify themselves. My songs, I feel like that’s the main reason why I write all these songs. I make sure that I like the lyrics. People could be like, “Dang, that’s exactly what happened to me.” Or like, “That’s exactly how I feel.” And more than anything, I just want to really inspire other kids, other people that want to do this music stuff. So they know that it’s possible, everything’s possible.
CM: How do you see your music evolving in the future?
DL: I feel like I really want to mix so many different other genres into the regional Mexican genre that I usually play. And I just want to wanna make it grow and get worldwide, you know.
CM: Is all your music right now in Spanish?
DL: Yeah. My whole career is in Spanish. And a lot of people ask me like, if I was born here, why am I doing regional Mexican and in Spanish? But I always say, “Obviously, my roots are Mexican, my parents are from Mexico.” And I don’t know, I feel like Spanish is just such a romantic language. There’s some phrases in Spanish that when you say them in English, it just doesn’t feel the same, like hit the same as in Spanish. And I feel that’s why I mainly just really wanted to do music in Spanish. And like in the genre regional Mexican.
CM: What projects do you have on the works?
DL: I’m working on this full length album. That’s honestly, I’m putting in so much effort into it. I really love all the songs that we’ve done so far and I’m just excited to finish it for the whole world to hear it.
CM: Are you active on social media and do you interact with your fans?
DL: Yeah, I always thank them. I make sure to always say “Thank you” to all of them, because in reality, without any of those supporters, I wouldn’t be here at all without all those people that support my music and accepted me into the industry. And yeah, whenever I can, I say, “Thank you.”
CM: How would you describe yourself in three words?
DL: I feel like calm, shy, but energetic sometimes.
CM: Who are some of the biggest musical influences that impacted your work?
DL: I feel like a lot has to do with this Spanish rock group called Maná. And that’s all I would listen to growing up. And also the Beatles impacted me a lot, like in their styles, their chords that they would use—just everything. I feel like, I’ve just gotten little bits of a lot of different things. I would listen to growing up and made it my own style.
CM: Do you have any advice for young artists who are just starting out in the music industry
DL: I feel like the number one thing I would always say, like I’m always gonna say is “Patience.” It’s literally the one thing you always have to have in this industry. Because I remember starting off, I would get so anxious. I would release a song and I would expect it to like blow up the next day, you know. I would stress myself out just thinking about it. I would be like, “Why isn’t it like doing good?” I know it’s a good song, but why isn’t it doing good? And I feel like just being patient will just help so much.
CM: What do you love most about performing?
DL: Just seeing people sing along. Like the fact that they’re even singing along and the fact that they even know the song is just so crazy to me. That’s worth more to me than anything.
On the portraits:
Black floral Jacket from Frank Clothiers, Palm Springs, CA
Pink Shirt from Mr Turk, Palm Springs, CA
MORE LINKS:
DannyLux — Music
SOCIAL: @dannyluxfr