Danica Bryant returns to Hawke’s Bay, to celebrate her new music with the locals. Photo / Supplied
Danica Bryant returns to Hawke’s Bay, to celebrate her new music with the locals. Photo / Supplied
Hawke’s Bay’s very own popstar Danica Bryant is returning home to celebrate her new single Libra, with a special show in Hastings at the Common Room on September 8.
Singer-songwriter Bryant grew up in Bay View just out of Napier in a little beach house.
She went to Eskview School and grew up in a tight-knit community that, she said, really helped her expand nicely into the Hawke’s Bay music scene.
At age 12 she gave her first live performance at Bay View’s Crab Farm Winery, where she sang two hours of covers.
“That really sparked my interest in performing, however, I have been writing songs for much longer than that but after the performance was the first time I really wanted to pursue it genuinely and my interest has never swayed since,” Bryant said.
Now 22, Bryant has opened for Elton John, released two albums, and a handful of singles while also graduating from Victoria University with a Bachelor of Arts and is now living in the city full time as she just loves the hustle, bustle and the artistic vibe of Wellington.
Danica Bryant’s new pop song Libra is a satirical song about the star sign. Photo / Supplied
When asked why she was celebrating her new single with a trip back home, Bryant said: “I just love the Bay’s community vibes and how it feels and I also feel like the music scene there is thriving and there are so many people doing so many interesting things.
“I have a strong connection there and it always feels very comforting being in the Bay,” she added.
Those who attend Bryant’s show at the Common Room will be some of the first to hear the new single before she releases it to streaming services on September 15.
The young singer has been working on a catalogue of songs about StarSigns, destiny and fate with her new single titled Libra.
Bryant said Libra was inspired by an experience shehad with a now ex-friend.
“We were extremely close for a long time.
“They would treat people poorly, and justify all of their terrible behaviour by making jokes like: ‘I’m just a Libra, it’s in my blood, it’s just my star sign’.
“They would just constantly make excuses for being a bad friend and eventually, that friendship ended, and it took me quite a long time to get over it emotionally,” she said.
When Bryant was writing Libra she got to a point where she wanted to take more of a comedic perspective on it and could laugh it off.
“I wanted to be more satirical about the song.”
“Leaning into the stereotype of ‘like oh, she’s just a Libra she can’t help it and kind of make fun of the idea of people who do that and justify stuff through astrology’,” Bryant explained.
She is excited to be back performing at one of her old haunts and said the Common Room is probably by far her and her band’s favourite venue in the entire country.
“I just think the people there are so special and they really have the right attitude about inclusion and supporting music and I really appreciate it’s an actively queer-inclusive space in Hawke’s Bay and welcoming of everyone. and just the energy and the beauty of that venue are so special to me.
“It’s probably one of the first places I played original music and it’s been very near and dear to my heart for a long time,” Bryant added.
Bryant is currently doing $2 preorders of Libra through Bandcamp and people who pre-order the single will get to hear the demo version of Libra that NZ on air funded.
“The idea is we are trying to get support to get it on the NZ charts and radio and things like that,” she said.
Maddisyn Jeffares became the editor of the Hawke’s Bay community papers Hastings Leader and Napier Courier in 2023 after writing the Hastings Leader for almost a year. She has been a reporter with the NZME for almost three years now and has a strong focus on what’s going on in the communities, good and bad, big and small. Email news tips to her at: maddisyn.jeffarea@nzme.co.nz
This is a Public Interest Journalism funded role through NZ On Air
