Daniel de Jesús: My process is very much based on writing first. Sometimes the writing is inspired directly by my current interests but it is often an organic or improvised process. I fill notebooks with writing and try to collect them together with similar themes. Music can come first or melodies with the lyrics, but it varies. Recently I have been programming beats and synth motifs. I build a library of them over time like with the lyrics and then start to use them as ingredients to write songs. A lot of content never gets used but it acts as a jumping off point for me to write songs. Once I craft the structure of a song I write arrangements and additional parts. Thats the boring part, LOL!

S&C: Who are your biggest influences?

DdJ: My major influences have to be Kate Bush, Björk, and Tori Amos. These three singer songwriters have very much informed my writing style and skill as a song writer. Classically I tend to borrow a lot of ‘cellistic’ expressions from Bach, Vivaldi, and  Marais. They have written some of my favorite works for the cello.

S&C: What role, if any, do your Puerto Rican roots play in your work?

DdJ: My cultural background plays a role in my visual presentation of my work. (Explore some of de Jesús’ art here.) Visually, I am a big fan of art from the colonial era in Latin America. An example from Puerto Rico would be Jose Campeche’s work. His paintings give me a lot of ideas for costuming on stage and also his palette for the cover and makeup. His work was very Rococo in style but it had a Puerto Rican twist with the use of pastel colors that was more Caribbean in flavor.