Q&A: Danny Bonilla Speaks on New Single 'Rather be Alone' and Finding New Flavors in His Music

Q&AMusic

Oct 6

☆ BY GABBY MACOGAY ☆

AN ARTIST WHO DEVIATES FROM THE MUNDANE — Danny Bonilla is breaking barriers in terms of genre, sound, and energy; his work is as self-expressive and inspired as it gets. Reeling in vibrancy and soulfulness, Bonilla’s latest release, “Rather Be Alone,” takes listeners on an intimate journey over lost love, falling fast and falling through. Bonilla’s emotionally-driven powerhouse vocals encapsulate a situation that could come across utterly heartbreaking if not paired with such an eccentric yet soothing sound.

“‘Rather Be Alone’ is a conversation I had with myself and my piano,” Bonilla shared in a recent press release. “Under total vulnerability, I told my piano how my life was going and how being alone during a global quarantine can make you wonder what your future can hold, for better or worse.”

Aside from his solo pursuits, Bonilla is also a part of Luna Luna, a fun-loving indie band that seeks inspiration from their Latin heritage and shared love of music. Even when working on his solo projects, Bonilla continues to involve his fellow bandmates on the tracks. When speaking on this recent release, Bonilla shared, “It’s a different sound, but it’s still us.”

Read below to learn more about the inspiration behind Bonilla’s sound and what’s coming next with his solo projects and Luna Luna.

LUNA: Let’s talk about your latest release. What does “Rather Be Alone” mean to you and what do you hope it will mean to listeners?

BONILLA: “Rather Be Alone” is almost like a coming-to-terms song. Writing it was very therapeutic for me just because I was going through so much — it was during quarantine. It just felt like everything I was doing was pointless and I was going through some “love thing.” And I just needed to do something musical, do something to get my emotions out. That's all it really was. It was just like a screenshot in time of who I was. When you go through something like that, when you really fall in love with someone [who] you didn't really mean to, then I think you can really relate to the record. Especially if it ends up falling through, then you really understand what the song is about. But if you have no emotional attachment, I would just want the person to listen to “Rather Be Alone” and feel like they're listening to some good music, just feel that there is soul, there is emotion. Things that I feel like aren't really prevalent in music today.

LUNA: Awesome. You’re also part of a group, Luna Luna — would you say your new music reflects the Luna Luna sound, or are you moving in a different direction?

BONILLA: It's definitely a different direction, but I used everyone in the band on it. Kaylin plays the drums, Ryan's on the bass, Kevin's on background vocals. I always say it's still Luna Luna, just a different driver in the front seat. It is a different sound, but it is still us.

LUNA: What inspired you to pursue more solo music?

BONILLA: Just because I don't get to play guitar on Luna or really write things about me for Luna, it's more writing about the experiences of what we've been through in terms of our Latin roots, which is fun. You know, that's really fun. But I also want to just talk about who I am. So that's where that comes from.

LUNA: I saw that some of your musical influences include Stevie Wonder, Prince, and Queen. What about all of their music inspires you so much?

BONILLA: How they would hide complexity in what sounds like simplicity — that was my favorite thing. You don't realize how hard this stuff is to play until you sit down and try to figure it out. Prince and Stevie Wonder and Freddie Mercury, they all were incredible musicians. And I think that gets overlooked a lot. Prince played everything. You know, and that's what I do too. I play everything but I'll get in some people to make it sound a little bit better. But all my songs start off with just me playing everything. Bass guitar, piano, drums, singing, and I write everything. So that's what really got my attention — how good it was. And the fact that they wrote it, not someone else.

LUNA: Do you have a favorite instrument to play?

BONILLA: Singing.

LUNA: That’s fair, that’s fair. Are there any tracks that you have on repeat right now that you’d want to share with the audience?

BONILLA: I've been listening to so much El Alfa lately, I don't know why. I love it. What I listen to doesn't really translate to the music I make. But I've been listening to El Alfa so much because I love the Dominican Republic and I love their accent. I love Dembow. Yeah, that's just what I've been listening to right now.

LUNA: I love it. I love talking to different musicians because I feel like you can pull inspiration from so many different genres in so many different places. It’s really cool. I also heard that you have a new EP you’re planning to release later this year.

BONILLA: Probably next year. I'm gonna be rolling singles out. Next month, we have a Luna song coming out and then the month after that is a Danny single, and then we're just gonna keep going back and forth. Luna, Danny, Luna, Danny.

LUNA: What can fans look forward to you and Luna Luna in the next year or so?

BONILLA: More personalized music, I'd say. I think this is the first time but we've been writing for both people, Luna and me. We're not afraid to do something wrong, we're not afraid to make a mistake. We're experimenting — like, this next time that's coming out, we have some Spanish on it. We have riffs we've never done before, [a] different sound. For me, too, there's a lot of experimenting with what we've already known has had success and just things that we want to try. New flavors.

LUNA: Yeah, definitely. What would you say is something that you’ve been challenged with in your career that has been a lesson for you to overcome?

BONILLA: Imperfections make the record better — you don't have to have everything exactly the way you think it needs to be. Something that I struggled with a lot is just letting go and being able to say that this song is done. It really is the little things, the little imperfections that make a song great. I think a song really is a reflection of who we are, and no one's perfect so there's no stress in making sure every little detail is finely tuned. I guess the lesson is just be okay with the imperfections.

LUNA: Awesome, I love that. If you had to give any piece of advice to any up-and-coming musicians or people who want to get started in the music industry, what is one thing you would say to them?

BONILLA: I love that. I've actually been writing more stuff, and when you write you don't lose the things you've written in the past, you know, it stays with you, even things that you've learned. One thing that I didn't know, that I wish I could have told myself, was that silence is an instrument. It really is a part of your dynamics. It should be a skill in your arsenal. Knowing when not to play is just as important as knowing when to play. Silence is most definitely something you should use.

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