Chanilla: Deep Dive with her debut album “Dear Diary”
Ohio Native, Chanilla, shares her journey with me as a budding artist in Ohio.
photographed by: Angela Casalinova
Chanilla is not your ordinary singer. The multifaceted artist shows her passion for everything creative by designing her own stickers, flyers, album cover artwork, writing each song herself, and marketing like no other. Chanelle, better known as Chanilla, delivered her summer debut album “Dear Diary” this past year. The album was released under Rotto Records, an Akron record label started by herself and her partner as well as producer David Casalinova.
Chanilla has always been passionate about art and had an ear for music from an early age but started releasing music just two years ago during the pandemic. She states her musical influences range from Whitney Houston to Taylor Swift, to Billy Joel. She especially credits Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo for inspiring her story-telling-like songwriting style shown on the opening tracks “Not Okay” and “Notice Me.”
Like many of us music lovers, Chanilla used it as a way to express herself and get through the troubles she faced as a kid. The first song she opens the album with shares very raw and honest thoughts we all have throughout adulthood; this was also a topic of discussion during her performance at The Outpost in Kent, Ohio. The points she makes about mental health, and how hard it is to learn how to adult makes her that much more relatable.
The bedroom pop singer was born and raised in Rootstown, Ohio to her Filipino mother and Polish-American father. “Kahit Ano Para Sa Ayo” was left as the final song to the 9-track project, when asked about the meaning behind the song, Chanilla mentions that her mother is from the Philippines, and the song is partially spoken in the native language Tagalog. Including this piece of her culture was very important and added a bit of spice to the album as a whole!
The singer-songwriter shared over a phone interview, “I like that the song itself sounds like Latin origin. Because the Philippines were colonized by Spain and China and the US-a lot of people think we’re just Asian but no, we’re related to a lot of Hispanic culture.” The song title translates to “anything you need,” and features beautiful acoustic guitar, congas, and an incredibly catchy chorus.
When asked how she felt about pursuing a musical career in a small town such as Cleveland, we discussed the successes of other artists such as MGK or Kid Cudi. “My whole support system is here. I would love someday to be able to have an influence on the youth and create a place where they can find their creative passions and explore what life has to offer. That’s the hardest thing about Ohio, there’s not a lot for the youth. Cleveland is such a beautiful city and deserves to be recognized as one.”
Chanilla hopes to open up for more artists in local venues in the Cleveland area, and plans to drop more singles throughout the rest of this year well into the next. I look forward to what’s next from her!
You can stream Chanilla’s “Dear Diary” on Spotify, and Apple Music.
