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An interview with Daphne Willis

Daphne Willis is a relative newcomer to the alt-folk scene but she’s already receiving some major accolades. Raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Willis writes with a soulful maturity far beyond her 23 years on earth but does it with fearless optimism.

Her first release, What To Say, is a must-have for fans of Jack Johnson, Sara Bareilles, Jason Mraz and people who enjoy toe-tapping and smiling. It just so happens that I met Daphne a few years ago through a friend of mine who was obsessed with her music. She was (and still is) a short, queer hippie chick with some urban flare and a big smile. I didn’t know it at the time, but have now seen the light – she’s about to take the music scene by storm.

AfterEllen.com: Tell me a little bit about your background with playing guitar and singing. It was only three years ago that you played your first gig.

Daphne Willis: Well I started playing guitar my Junior year of high school, so about six years ago? It might have been my sophomore year. Not a lot of time at all and I’ve been singing my whole life, ever since I was a little shorty. I was doing musicals and choir. And I started writing poetry and getting really into literature in sixth grade and then when I started getting into playing guitar and accompanying myself I started structuring songs.

AE: How do you gain confidence as a poet or songwriter? I can remember writing poetry back in the day and looking back at it a few days later thinking it was really stupid.

DW: I guess it’s kind of practice. The first year of me performing was probably pretty rough. For me, it was rough and I’m sure for the audience it was rough too. It was a lot of trial and error. At first I was pretty nervous – I would go up and perform and just want to get off the stage, but it was still a cool feeling to put yourself out there. Once you get past the initial stage and feed off the audience and read the audience’s energy you can see if they’re connecting or if they’re totally disengaged.

Any reaction is good. Whether it’s negative or positive it’s a good thing. I’d rather get a negative reaction than no reaction at all because it means they’re paying attention. You’re saying something that’s actually hitting somewhere.

AE: Your album has gotten great reviews so far and I personally enjoy it. What do you think about the comparisons you’ve gotten to Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson and Ricky Lee Jones?

DW: It’s incredible! I’m extremely flattered by them. Jason Mraz is an incredible vocalist and lyricist as well as Jack Johnson and Ricky Lee Jones and I listen to all of them driving down the road. Any one of those CDs can be found in my car. So to be even considered on the same kind of playing field is really flattering.

AE: Is it ever annoying as a musician to be compared to other musicians?

DW: I don’t find it annoying, and as a music listener as well I find it helpful. When you’re describing music, everybody wants a comparison to see if they might like it. It’s almost like colors. The color blue, if you like the color blue, you might like the color aqua blue. You kind of need a place to start to describe something, so I don’t find it obnoxious, I find it helpful for other people. I know that some people feel like if they’re compared to others it’s like they don’t have their own sound, but I don’t feel that way. I know I have my own sound.

AE: Well I can see if they get compared to an artist they don’t like how they may not be too happy.

DW: Ah yes, well I didn’t really think about that. I’m cool with everyone I’ve been compared to so far!

AE: Yeah, I guess you’re doing alright. Your songs on this album – even if the subject matter isn’t upbeat, they still end up having an overall upbeat tone. Would you consider yourself a positive person?

DW: Absolutely. I think everybody has a list of issues and things they’ve been through in their lives and I kind of try to take that and put a positive spin on it. Try to take things others may have gone through that they feel badly about and put a positive spin on it so they can move past it. Let them know that every situation is going to be temporary and there’s going to be a way to get out of it. You’ll always have problems, but how you look at your issues and how you deal with them is what’s going to get you through it.

AE: I think your song “It’s Always Easy” is definitely the epitome of what you just said. I love the chorus. It’s wise words for a young’un like yourself. Do you find yourself dispensing advice all the time?

DW: I love my friends and I love conversation. Everyone wants to vent and I do too. We’re all human and we all share the same need to connect on a deeper level with one another. I write a lot from my own experiences and a lot about what my friends are going through. Try to cheer them up. Sometimes people get caught up in trivial things that might seem like a big deal at the moment, but they’re relatively small in comparison to the grand scheme of your whole life.

AE: Speaking of events in your own life … you’re on the same label as Chely Wright, who just had a huge public coming out. What was your coming out story like?

DW: I came out to my friends in high school. And I came out to my family when I was out of the house after high school and went back and forth with it a lot. But I come from a very accepting family they were always cool with it. Any time it would come up they’d be like, “Yeah, go gay rights!” Very liberal.

It was funny when I did come out to my family, my dad looked at my mom and said, “I told you. I win.” I guess they had a little bet going on. To me it was a big deal but I’ve always been out publicly. I don’t think that I could do anything else with myself. I don’t feel like I would feel right performing and hiding it … I don’t preach about anything though. I don’t shove politics in people’s faces either because I don’t agree with that. I try to abide by equal rights for everybody. I try to not play events that are gay only, because I think everyone should be included. If they don’t book straight acts, that further segregates us.

AE: What has been a top moment for you as a musician, besides getting interviewed by me?

DW: Well, this is probably the cake right here, and I’m gonna eat it.

I don’t know, it’s funny, every time I cross a milestone or even if I feel like I’m not gigging and I’m in Chicago for more than a week and I’m not doing something, I’ll stop and think about what has gone on in the past year and I just can’t believe it. I’m in Nashville right now with these amazing songwriters and I’m demo-ing. I’m going to leave here in a week with six or seven songs. A year and a half ago? I never would have even thought this was possible. So I just keep working and seeing what else is out there. It’s ridiculous how much is out there. I didn’t go to school for music and I dropped out halfway through to pursue music. So for me it’s kind of like, I almost feel like I don’t deserve it.

AE: I’d say you’re getting validated. Your album was featured on Spinner, which I think is huge.

DW: Yeah and I sang the anthem at the White Sox game. Even just touring the country. Sirius radio is playing me in their coffeehouse mix. I’m just trying to figure out what else I can be doing. My next move is going to be to get some kind of fundraiser going on. I want to get a couple of different organizations to donate to and raise money for. I’m still not really making any money off of this yet but I want to raise awareness and do what I can. So that’s where I’m at right now.

AE: Pride just happened – do you have any disaster stories from Pride? We’ve all got some.

DW: Wow, well I brought my mom to Pride one year and we got so drunk, we peed on the side of the grocery store – in broad daylight.

AE: You and your mom? That is a PFLAG moment. That’s an amazing Pride story and I’ve peed in that same parking lot. What else should the world know about Daphne Willis, besides the fact that we’re neighbors and you happen to be one of the nicest people I’ve met.

DW: I’m just excited to be working on my next record and making more music. I think we’re going to try to just do some single releases before the next album comes out. I might just post some songs out there so people can get a rough idea of what we’re doing and have people email me to let me know what they think.

Find out more about Daphne at daphnewillis.com.

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