On the eve of the release of her sophomore LP on Vanguard Records, Daphne Willis has a lot going on. Whether it’s her nationwide tour or work with charity, the 22-year-old Nashville-based via Chicago singer maintains a positive perspective on her thusfar charmed life. Willis has taken an unconventional approach to her upcoming release Because I Can. The new record will be part of an ongoing strategy to release more music more often throughout the course of a year. Produced by Tim Lauer, the record has been rolled out over a four and a half-month campaign featuring a series of three two-track digital 45s. From ballads to rockers, Willis has a wide range of influences as is reflected in her music. After a meeting at a charity in Fort Lauderdale, Bestnewbands.com chatted with the songstress about her chance signing with Vanguard, why she decided to dropout of college and who would be her dream collaboration.

Daniel Kohn: How did a girl from the north suburbs from Chicago end up catching the eye and eventually signing with legendary Vanguard Records?

Daphne Willis: It’s actually a crazy story. I had this acoustic EP I made independently and I got hooked up with a licensing company that does placements, like while you’re shopping or at P.F. Chang’s and mine got placed on American Airlines flights. The President of Vanguard Records was on the flight and his iPod ran out of battery and plugged his headphones into the armrest right when my song was playing and went from there.

 

DK: How does this new record differ from your first release? Was there a significant change in your songwriting process?

DW: I definitely pushed myself a harder on this record. To grow a songwriter, I started doing a lot of co-writing, which changes the process of writing from when you’re writing by yourself because when it becomes a group effort, you can bounce ideas off one another. There’s different content, different structure of a song that you may not have known before. It’s a big step and growth and personally it has helped me a lot.

DK: I heard that you dropped out of DePaul to pursue your music ambitions. How persuasive was Vanguard in convincing you to leave school? Were you apprehensive at first or excited the second the deal was on the table?

DW: It was very sweet. Of course, I miss school but I wasn’t studying music. I was studying secondary English education. Music is my number one passion, I grew up with it and my dad was in the music industry, so I know how competitive it is. I always thought it would be my passion or my hobby and something I could do for relief but as soon as I was given an opportunity to make it my full-time thing and make a living doing it, I was all about it. I had to think about it of course, but my parents were really supportive and if they hadn’t been supportive, I may not have gone down this road. I didn’t want to be in five years thinking what could have been if I didn’t take this opportunity.

 

DK: Who came up with the idea to do a weekly digital 45 release?

DW: The program is called Music Frequencies and it’s more music, more frequently. We did digital 45s because I grew up in record stores with vinyls, so I wanted to do something that reminiscent of then yet something that was up with the times and it gave me an opportunity to put out B-sides as well.

DK: How’s the reception been out on the road so far?

DW: We’re out on the road for five more weeks and I’m not stopping. I’m home for only two-day intervals for the next four months. So I’m on the road for pretty much the entire year, which is awesome.

DK: If you had the ability to collaborate with anyone in music, who would it be and why?

DW: Stevie Wonder. He’s my one of my favorite artists because of prolific he is as a songwriter and artist. Songs in the Key of Life is one of my favorite albums. His voice and his tone are amazing and I can listen to him all day long.

 

Daphne Willis’ new album, Because I Can, will be released Tuesday April 19 on Vanguard and will be available everywhere on that date both physically digitally.