Artist Spotlight: Destiny Malcolm
We recently caught up with one of our artists Destiny Malcolm. She has been working with One Sound Music for just over 2 and a half years now and we had a good ole' chinwag. Check it out...
Tell us about yourself Destiny...
Hey, so i'm 23 years old, currently about to graduate from uni (finally!), I have 1 younger sister aged 15 and she's always always right (so far). We live in the small unique city of Wolverhampton, though my dreams are beyond it's walls!
That sounds great. How long have you been doing music?
I'd say, 7 years. When I was 16 I wrote my first official song and performed it live for a fairly huge audience, since then i've been in and out of writing and performing, until recently, where I now do it full force.
Wow! 7 years is a long time! How did you get started? What made you start?
I remember clearly, I was in year 8 and we were given the opportunity to play the clarinet. I didn't like it very much, I couldn't seem to make it sound nice, and after around 4 or 5 lessons, I told my music teacher Mr Edwards (shout out to him) and my parents, on parents evening, that I wanted to play and sing at the same time. We had been using the guitars in music class and I was picking it up quite fast, and so Mr Edwards kindly allowed me to take one of the many guitars home to use, I was dead chuffed! That's how it began, I instantly started writing my own songs about teddy bears, gold fish, little girls with rainbow hair, and it slowly matured when my parents agreed to buy me my first electro acoustic Yamaha with the rainbow strap. Shout out to them and One Way Music in Wolves for the hook ups over the years.
One Way Music??? For a moment I thought you forgot our name, One Sound Lol! We do thank God for people like Mr Edwards who create opportunities to nurture talent. Their influence is timeless! Speaking of influence, who is your favourite Christian/gospel artist at this time?
There are so many to choose from, but the first that comes to mind has to be..... Hillsong United! I love them, I love the worship experience they facilitate, I love their lyrical content, I love their vibes, I love how they write and how they share it all with us! I wish we could be friends tbh.
Ah that could yet happen. What would you say is your favourite music album and why?
'Of Dirt & Grace (Live From The Land)' - Okay so, they went to the land! They went to Israel and spotted various significant places where Jesus walked, and recorded live versions of their album EMPIRES, plus some amazing bonus songs. I think that is a genius idea and if you have some time, watch the videos on YouTube, they're awesome. Also, the actual songs themselves are so fresh and new, I love it when musicians take songs and change them, giving us a different sound but still the same song, its wonderful. I recently did a review of the album in my Friday Top 5 music chart, so check it out on my FB music page.
That sounds intriguing! We'll have to check out the post and also that album, it really does sound like an amazing project! Moving on to the subject of songwriting, how many songs have you written?
Umm, in total, i've actually written about 20-23, which seems kinda crazy to me! That's since I started writing at 16 up until the song I recently wrote.
Wowzers! 7 years of songwriting under your belt is pretty impressive! You're pretty handy with the guitar too! Aside from guitar, do you play any other instruments?
You know what, I can play the harmonica, I actually have 2 at home, they are kinda loud so I don't play as much as I want to but, you heard it here first - It is my goal to play the guitar and harmonica together in a song, this year ! I saw Priscilla Ahn do it many years ago in her video Dream and It's been in my heart ever since.
I've also seen videos of people doing both, so it's definitely possible. Don't worry though, I'm sure we'll be there to capture your debut on guitar & harmonica soon! Moving on to collaborations, if there was 1 artist you could work with, who would it be and why?
This is hard. Of late, i've been loving Jaimie Woods, and she would be cool to work with im sure. I see some of her creation videos and think "oh i want to be there with you!!" She has nice harmonies and cool melodies, and I just know we would be able to vibes musically.
I'll have to check Jaimie Woods out indeed. I've definitely got homework to do from this interview :) On a more personal note, can you tell us 1 quirky thing about yourself?
In my spare time, I watch Arthur (I learn from it) & take online courses- currently taking massage course!
That sounds pretty chilled. Who would you say is your biggest influence?
I don't know, I'd probably say Hillsong, because I watch them daily, I listen to them often and I read their content- It's all helping me to kind of understand my own music ministry and specifically think about what my purpose is as an artist. Others like Philippa Hanna influence me in different ways, and following her on Instagram helps me to see what she's doing, which will always give me ideas and a push to keep going. Plus she's a local gal from Sheffield which speaks volumes in terms of achievement and reaching goals etc.
Apart from music, what would you say is your biggest passion?
Wellness. I'm passionate about the promotion of health & wellbeing. That stretches from, emotional wellbeing, to physical health. God intends us to live life abundantly, and so holistic health and wellness is essential.
Amen to that, people need to hear that more and more especially in these times we're living in! What does 2017 hold for you?
In one word, 'Accomplishment'. I've been planning and curating some fab content ideas for a while now, and i really believe that 2017 is the time to get the plans lifted. Look out world, i'm coming :)
The world is waiting :) Do you have any upcoming gigs/dates to share?
Look out for a brand new YouTube music video early March on my channel- https://www.youtube.com/user/destinyJoeliva/
I don't have any gig dates to share at the moment, but summer will hold a lot so stay tuned!
For our final question, is there anything else you'd like to share?
I just want to encourage people out there. If you are struggling to find your gift, your calling, your purpose, just keep seeking God - His Kingdom, and His Righteousness, and you will be inspired to work for Him in your own unique and cool way. I hope soon, to share some really cool content on my Channel around the topic of purposeful living, so if you are interested, subscribe and await the goodies!
Thanks so much for joining us today and sharing Destiny. You can connect with Destiny and her music via on our One Sound Music page and also through her various social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/destinyjoelivia/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/destinyjoelivia/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/destinyJoeliva/
Bandpage: https://destinymalcolm.bandpage.com
