Name: Delaney Bailey
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current release: Delaney Bailey's new album Concave is out via Awal.  

If you enjoyed this Delaney Bailey interview and would like to stay up to date with her music, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, and tiktok. 
 


When did you first consciously start getting interested in singing? What was your first performance as a singer on stage or in the studio and what was the experience like?

I was really young, probably around first grade.

I loved music class in elementary school, and the first time I ever performed was for a talent show in second grade. My dad had burned an Owl City album onto a CD for me and I sang over that, I’m pretty sure it was “Hot Air Balloon.”



I remember loving it and taking any opportunity following to get on a stage.

If you're also playing other instruments, how does the expressive potential of these compare to your own voice?

I play guitar and piano, but I’m entirely self taught.

I think because I was in concert choir for many years, I feel like my expressive potential vocally is much greater than with another instrument.

If I knew how to play the guitar or piano better, I’m sure I would think differently.

Singing is an integral part of all cultures, and traditions. Which of these do you draw from – and why?

I tend to draw from the tradition of choral singing often when I write my music. I love stacking my own vocals and coming up with harmonies, and when my voice sounds like an instrument, too.

Since I graduated high school, I’ve always been searching for something that makes me feel as powerful as concert choir did. Something about standing with 30 other kids singing as hard as we could made me feel like I could do anything.

I haven’t found something like it since, so I reach for it all the time in my own music.

What were some of the main challenges in your development as a singer/vocalist? Which practices, exercises, or teachers were most helpful in reaching your goals – were there also “harmful” ones?

I didn’t have many challenges in my development as a singer. I think the hardest thing I had to overcome was comparing myself to other people.

My choir teachers were always the most amazing people, I loved going to school because I got to sing. I’ve always been great at taking constructive criticism too, so nothing has ever felt like something I had to “get over” other than my own doubts about myself.

What are the things you hear in a voice when listening to a vocalist? What moves you in the voices of other singers?

I personally have never been a fan of intense strain and impressive octaves. It’s definitely something to be proud of, being able to belt and having a wide range.

However, what always moves me when it comes to other singers is the ability to show emotion when you sing. It takes an incredible amount of talent to show real emotion in music.

To me, being able to push that through the sound means you really know your stuff, and you’re able to allow yourself to be imperfect because you already know how to be perfect.

How would you describe the physical sensation of singing? [Where do you feel the voice, do you have a visual sensation/representation, is there a sense of release or tension etc …]

For me, I tend to sing from my diaphragm (basically under the stomach.) I hold a lot of tension there, I breathe into there, I try to imagine my words flowing out of there.

When it comes to higher range notes, I still hold tension in my diaphragm, but switch to breathing into my skull. I imagine my words flowing out of the top of my head.

We have a speaking voice and a singing voice. Do these feel like they are natural extensions of each other, ends on a spectrum or different in kind?

I think they’re entirely different.

Singing, in my experience, takes a lot of thinking and muscle exercise. Speaking just is, it’s like breathing.

How do you see the relationship between harmony, rhythm and melody? Do you feel that honing your sense of rhythm and groove has an effect on your singing skills?  

They’re 100% all related.

You’re going to sing differently in different rhythm contexts, and learning how your voice fits best into all categories helps a lot with singing.

What are the potentials and limits of your voice? How much of your vocal performance can and do you want to control?

I think the only limits of a voice is what is scientifically impossible. Anyone can sing with the right training, and anyone can sing well with enough passion behind it.

I of course want to sound good live and on recordings, but leaving imperfections in both settings is a good thing. I love imperfect art, especially now when AI is on the rise.

Imperfections are a mark of humanness, they’re a sign that we were here.

As a singer, it is possible to whisper at the audience, scream at the audience, reveal deep secrets or confront them with uncomfortable truths. Tell me about the sense of freedom that singing allows you to express yourself and how you perceive and build the relation with the audience.

Singing allows me to be honest without having to explicitly tell people what I’m going through. Songwriting obviously ties in with that, but the singing itself, the ability to put my own emotions into art is a very big release for me.

I started writing my music as a way to process my thoughts and feelings, and performing those songs live is a way to check in with myself too.

I'd love to know more about the vocal performances for Concave, please, and the qualities of your voice that you wanted to bring to the fore.

I definitely wanted to bring more of myself to the music.

In the past, a lot of my songs were recorded in a studio setting that I wasn’t 100% comfortable in. This album was recorded with people that I trust completely, so I was able to sing more like myself than ever before.

I love my mid range, louder voice. I’m so happy that I was able to show that off in certain songs on Concave.

When you're writing song lyrics, do you sense or see a connection between your voice and the text? Does it need to feel and sound “good” or “right” to sing certain words? What's your perspective in this regard of singing someone else's songs versus your own?

I honestly don’t think anything needs to sound “good” or “right.” I’m a big proponent of imperfect music, and bringing a human quality to your sound. I’ll leave flat or sharp notes in my music because I like the emotion I brought to that take.

I think bringing yourself into your art is incredibly important, and when it comes to singing other people’s music, it’s great to show a part of you there, too.

Strain is a particularly serious issue for many vocalists. How do you take care of your voice? Are the recipes or techniques to get a damaged voice back in shape?

I don’t tend to put a lot of strain on my voice when I sing.

If I do feel a little scratchy, throat coat tea with honey is a great soother.

How has technology, such as autotune or effect processing, impacted singing? Has it been a concrete influence on your own approach?

It’s definitely allowed a lot of people to create some incredible art. I love autotune in certain kinds of music. I don’t mind when people use it. I think it’s a great tool to make studio sessions go faster as well.

But I do think a lot of the emotion is lost when people use it to tune their regular voice to the point of it being unnoticeable. I think it’s super cool when autotune is used as an instrument itself, but when it’s used to replace the human voice it’s a bit off putting.

For recording engineers, the human voice remains a tricky element to capture. What are some of the favourite recordings of your own voice so far and what makes voices sound great on record and in a live setting?

I love the way my voice sounds on my EP What We Leave Behind.



I recorded all of that EP on garageband on my phone in my bedroom. My mic was set up on a cardboard box, and it definitely sounds like it. Hearing room noise in your mic is something special.

In a live setting, I think a confident singer is essential to sounding good. Regardless of the style that they sing in, their confidence will shine through.

Motherese may have been the origin of music, and singing is possibly the earliest form of musical expression, and culture in general. How connected is the human voice to your own sense of wellbeing, your creativity, and society as a whole?

I don’t think the human voice is essential to society's well-being as a whole. It’s definitely essential to my well being, as I write music to process my own thoughts and feelings.

However, many people go without speaking, without music, without sound. I think the human voice adds a lot of color to life, but I’m not sure it’s essential to humanity’s well being.