We recently connected with Dana Oberdan and have shared our conversation below.

Dana, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

Music has been a part of my life since I was a small child. I have sung ever since I can remember, and I learnt the piano when I was about 8 years old.

Writing was always a part of my life as well, just in a different capacity to songwriting. During my childhood and teenage years I really enjoyed any creative writing tasks at school and would write little poems when I was bored. I dabbled in some journaling too and always found it so cathartic.

I started songwriting when I was 16. At the time I was feeling a lot of really big emotions and I needed an outlet for them, and writing songs became that for me. I was obsessed with incredible songwriters like Taylor Swift at the time which really led me to give songwriting a go and eventually fall in love with it.

I think the best thing I have learned along the way is to just keep going. As basic as it sounds, you are not always going to create good material every time you sit down to write. But you just have to accept that and write and create anyway. As a perfectionist, this was really difficult to deal with, and I still struggle with it from time to time. The harsh reality is though that if you let your fear of writing something bad get in the way you will never be able to make anything good.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I grew up an academic kid. I decided when I was around 12 that I wanted to be a doctor, and I spent my high school years working towards this goal. I scored a high ATAR at the end of high school and received an offer to study medicine at university. I am now almost at the end of my third year of my medical studies and I am enjoying the course. My first clinical placements have been extremely interesting and helped me to understand what a privilege it is to be able to care for people and be a part of their life during their most vulnerable moments.

Although music was always a part of my life, I never once thought about pursuing it in any real way when I was in school. It was only once I started writing songs and falling more in love with the craft that I realised it was something I wanted to do. I still pinch myself today when I stop and think about the music I have made and released so far. Only a couple years ago I could not play my songs to anyone because I was so afraid of how they would be perceived. I never imagined myself having the confidence to release such intimate thoughts out in to the entire world through song.

I feel like music and medicine are more similar than people realise. I like to think that they are both ways of healing. Medicine is healing in the obvious ways, but music is too. There is mounting evidence to support music therapy as a treatment modality for various mental health conditions. I know for myself, music has helped me through some of my most difficult moments in my life and I dont know where I would be today if I didnt have that outlet or other peoples stories to feel comforted that I was not alone.

I am most proud of how I am able to show up authentically and honestly in my writing. I have struggled with vulnerability and perfectionism, and find myself struggling a lot with being fully open in conversations. Writing has provided me the space to let everything out in a way that I feel able to, and share these thoughts and feelings with others.

Over the past year through social media I have somehow managed to build a beautiful supportive community around my music. My fans have genuinely changed my life, the outpouring of love and kindness they have shown to myself and to each other has instilled so much hope in me. Although things seem quite dark at times, there is so much good in the world, and my fans are proof of this.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist for me is definitely when I have people send me messages to let me know how my songs have impacted them and helped them through difficult times. When I decided to release my debut single, I remember having a conversation with my mum where I told her that if only one person connects with my song and feels less alone in their emotions then I will be happy.

There is something so genuinely special about sharing these deep and personal emotions that were written into songs in a state of isolation and introversion and see other people share that they too relate and have been helped by the song. It makes me feel so validated in my own emotions, but is also reassuring that my art is having a positive impact on people.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I still only have a relatively small community on social media, but I would say that consistency is the most important thing I have learned. The more you show up, the more opportunities you have to expand your audience and also the more you show the algorithm that you are engaged and committed. It is hard at times, but even just a quick 10 second low effort video on a day where you are busy can make a world of difference in remaining consistent and giving you the opportunity to connect with your audience on that day.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danaoberdan/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@danaoberdan
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-282989618
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3UE4UXBE7aXy1nBZ6zLhAX

  https://www.tiktok.com/@danaoberdan_

Image Credits

Jane Oberdan
Vincent Oberdan