We were lucky to catch up with Danielle Castrence recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Danielle thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

The most meaningful project we’ve ever worked on was our music video for “Run Free”. This music video stemmed from our shared experiences with the neurodiverse community. Growing up, we had all witnessed the atrocious behavior many kids had towards children with different abilities. They were picked on and sneered at. It continues to be an overlooked issue that not many people are not talking about enough.

Rebecca (our violist) and Kate (our pianist) were members of a student-led group at Mira Costa who would spend time with people within the neurodiverse community. Together, they would all eat lunch and go to fun events where they would play sports and field games. Kate & Rebecca happened to know of a special olympian named Caley Versfelt who lived in their hometown Manhattan Beach.

We pitched our idea to shoot a music video centering Special Olympians such as Caley to a music producer at the Springboard Festival. She absolutely loved the idea! We reached out to Caley. Caley brought in her friends, Jared and Cole. We started to lay the groundwork for the music video. Our biggest goal was to show how strong this specific community is and how much they can achieve to become anyone they want to be.

This project continues to be extremely special to us because of how much joy it brought us as well as members of the neurodiverse community. One of our favorite moments was getting to know the Olympians and hearing the wonderful aspirations that these Olympians have for themselves.

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

We are Hello Noon: an alternative rock band that began in 2015. Stephen and Kyle met while volunteering in a music program where they taught music to underprivileged schools. Kyle and Stephen began to bring other members into the band. As the members trickled in, we started jamming together at UCLA and started to write our own music.

What sets us apart from other bands is how important service and our community is to us. We love creating elements where we can highlight underprivileged populations and help out in all the ways that we can. We hope that our music can provide solace for those that feel that they are alone in this world. We want to use the power of music to bring together people from all backgrounds and get them to talk to each other. We hope these conversations can bring harmony.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being creative?

The most rewarding part of being a musician is having your songs become a part of someone else. When you first write a song, you have a vision of what you want the world to take from that song and how you want them to interpret it. You have all these feelings and your story behind it all. Once you release that song, it creates a rebirth— of the lyrics, the melody, the arrangement, and it can be interpreted in such different ways. The song can have different meanings for people than the original intention you had behind it. It is such a beautiful thing to have someone share their experiences of your song and for them to add a whole new meaning to it entirely.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

It is important to remember how vital artists are to the interwoven fabrics of society. During the pandemic, the world closed down. We didn’t have live theater. Art galleries were empty and music venues remained shuttered. Yet, artists continued to work from their homes. The best way to support us is to not only acknowledge the work that we put in our craft but support us financially in any means that you can – whether that be coming out to a show, purchasing merch, or contributing to our Patreon pages. Hopefully, the pandemic will remind us all to never take artists for granted.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hellonoon.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellonoonband/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hellonoonband
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/hellonoonband
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/hellonoon

Image Credits
Katie Callighan, Ron Fontenot and Marco Bacich