"I try and not get too affected on what's happening around in the industry, or what kind of sound people are expecting, or what kind of music is working right now... I try and remember the 16-year-old self just sitting on the bed with an acoustic guitar, trying to say something."
Dagny is a pop artist from Tromso, Norway. She comes from a musical family and began her career in the folk tradition, and then in 2015 she surprised the industry with a breakout pop single called “Backbeat,” which catapulted her into stardom. Today her songs have racked up over 450 million streams worldwide. She’s made Billboard’s 10 Pop Stars To Watch list, she’s been nominated for Songwriter of the Year at Norway’s iteration of the Grammy’s, and she’s worked with a number industry luminaries. 2019 was an especially big year, when Steve Aoki produced her single "Hit Your Heart," and her track “Love You Like That” was used as inspiration by Katy Perry for her hit "Never Really Over," which has nearly 400M streams on its own, all validating Dagny’s skill as a songwriter. When we spoke a few weeks ago, she was a couple days from releasing the first half of her debut LP, Strangers / Lovers. We talked about how she got here, her remarkable transition from folk singer to pop star, and all the communities that supported her along the way.
Support Dagny:
dagnymusic.com
Instagram
Spotify
Music in this episode, used with permission from Dagny:
“Come Over” — Dagny
"Let Me Cry" — Dagny
“Hold on Lucy” — Dagny
“Backbeat” — Dagny
"Tension" — Dagny
“Paris” — Dagny
"Somebody" — Dagny
Special thanks to Alexander Frieden and Grace Rubin for the editing support!
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