Q&A: Dari x Yanzet Are Here to ASMR You in “Call Me for More”
☆ BY Marilù Ciabattoni ☆
PSYCHOLOGY AND MUSIC MAKE A GREAT COMBO — and artists Dari and Yanzet know it. The two singer-songwriters have released only two singles so far, “Why” and their latest, “Call Me for More,” but the synergy between them is palpable.
Despite looking up to commercial pop artists such as Beyoncé and Rihanna, their music is much more introspective and acoustic. Reminiscent of a stripped-down version of SZA or Normani, there’s a unique quality to the duo’s sound. It’s precisely this “nakedness” that makes their music so powerful.
Read our interview with Dari and Yanzet below as they discuss how they incorporate psychology into their songs, who inspires their style, and what to expect from them in 2024.
LUNA: Introduce yourself — who is Dari x Yanzet?
DARI X YANZET: We are artists who use psychology to make you feel through our music. We’re also just two best friends who love music and [are] creating together. We met at Orange County School of the Arts in the popular music program and started making music together during COVID. We realized that music could be an outlet for our experiences and that our strengths and weaknesses meshed really well together in a creative aspect.
LUNA: How and when was this collaboration born?
DARI X YANZET: “Call Me for More” was born in 2021 when we were dealing with interpersonal relationships and self-sabotage and trying to understand it more. We essentially used the song to process those emotions. It was born through a genuine conversation about that topic that we had with each other just sitting on Yanzet’s bedroom floor, which we actually recorded in a voice memo.
We also had a strong interest in indie/acoustic music and were really inspired by the genre during that time because of how relatable the songs were and the ability for them to evoke specific emotions. We kind of had this idea of … why don’t we try to make something like that? Even though it was completely out of our realm, we were up for the challenge.
LUNA: How has your music changed within the past few years?
DARI X YANZET: Our music has changed a lot. Our debut single, “Why,” is very soulful and R&B, and this song is super Bon Iver–styled — very dreamy, soft, and indie. And then another song that we have coming out soon is more Caribbean and upbeat, so everything is new, just depending on our vibe while making the song. We’re always experimenting with our style and drawing inspiration from whatever we’re listening to.
LUNA: In that case, who inspires your music? Who are your biggest influences?
DARI X YANZET: Beyoncé, of course, is definitely our biggest inspiration vocally, as you can hear in how we include a lot of harmonies in our music. She embodies everything that we aim to be as artists with her creative process. We even took some time studying Beyoncé’s inspirations since she uses a lot of Arabian scales, such as artists like Fairuz. In our upcoming song, we've incorporated these scales and we’ve specifically been looking at the history of Arabian music… Dari is actually gonna take an Arabian music course soon.
We’re inspired by Chloe x Halle’s blending styles, photoshoots, music videos, etc. Since we’re also a combination of a softer voice paired with a powerful voice we relate to their vocal style dynamic as well.
LUNA: Could you introduce your favorite singles you've released so far?
DARI X YANZET: Well, our favorite single was definitely this one, “Call Me for More,” because it shows more of our versatility. It was different from anything we've ever written together or solo. The intentionality behind it… Everything we did had a meaning. We really took our time with every aspect of it. We were really willing to do things again if it wasn't right or we felt like it wasn't conveying the certain emotion or sound that we wanted while recording. We also appreciated the help and the contributions that were put into the song from the people in our lives, so that's why it's special to us.
LUNA: How did you develop your style? Will you experiment with other genres in the future?
DARI X YANZET: We developed this style when we were listening to softer music like Frank Ocean, Bon Iver, and RY X. We kind of used a playlist that we made to go off that and emulate the reverb, heavy guitar, and vocals. We also drew upon our vocal inspirations like Beyoncé and Yebba to add more dynamics with stacking the vocals in the chorus to put on our own twist on the genre.
But definitely a lot of the songs we’re putting out have to do with different genres that are based on different emotions. We definitely want to experiment with other genres because we've kind of made it a point to not box ourselves in very early on in our career. People often ask us what genre we are and we don't really have an answer, and not because we're just still trying to figure it out, but more so because we — like we said — don't wanna box ourselves in, and we want to have the freedom to experiment and create freely and change our styles when we want to without it feeling like a random switch up later on.
LUNA: Let's talk about "Call Me For More." What inspired the track? How did it come to life?
DARI X YANZET: Well, originally we had talked about self-sabotage over the phone, and then how that could be an idea of talking about relationships or internal conflict. So we recorded ourselves talking about it on voice memos and then created lyrics from it. We went to the piano, made some chords, and we had a song. We were inspired by these emotions and real life experiences and, again, the music we were listening to at that time, which stuck with us so much because it gave us the same feeling we wanted to convey… We thought we could relate to it. So we wanted to do that for others and for ourselves with a topic that isn’t talked about enough.
LUNA: Who produces your tracks? How do you choose which producers to work with? Do you have some dream producers you'd like to work with?
DARI X YANZET: We had Jonny from Jazzcats Studio produce our first single. Then we had Matt Jacobson produce ”Call Me for More.” We liked both of them. I think someone we personally clicked with a lot was Matt, mainly because it seemed like he had similar ideas to us and produced a lot of new ideas when it came to “CMFM,” [adding] more spice to it and [making] it better. Even the part where it randomly goes acapella … was originally his idea, and we don't think that the song would be the same without that one tiny part. It became one of our favorites.
I guess we essentially just choose who we work with depending on the goals we have in mind because … obviously every producer has their expertise in whatever genre and [it’s] also [about] how we connect with them as a person. We start our sessions with talking with them, bonding while eating Dunkin Donuts and vibing. So that's also really important to us, how we connect with them. We just want to work with someone who sees our potential, even if it’s someone we already worked with. Someone who motivates us and can also bring our song to an even better place than we could imagine. There's not really a person in mind who’s like, “Oh, we wanna work with this person.” Of course if we're talking about inspiration in producers, then maybe Kanye West, Beyoncé, or Jay Z. But aside from that, we don't have any other producers we would think of. In general, we value working with people who validate our vision and also contribute to it in a balanced way.
LUNA: Is music your main occupation at the moment? If not, how are you balancing your day job with your music career?
DARI X YANZET: In order for music to be our main occupation, we need people to continue to support us and continue listening to our music as we also continue to create more. But at the moment, we're still building that fanbase and working to record, to tour, and to do everything that we want to do. So currently we have our side jobs. We do our side gigs, have fun making content, and working as promo models. We would say that working as promo models can open more doors in the industry because we get to meet and talk to other people who are successful in their respective careers so you get a lot of advice from it.
On top of working we are also students, so really the only time that we can meet up is on the weekends — recording sessions [are] on the weekends, and [we film] our videos separately and [post] content. Or … random phone calls [occur] where we share new song or lyric ideas. Honestly, it just requires a lot of planning ahead. Whenever the vibe is there, inspiration is there — we make time.
LUNA: Have you ever been on tour?
DARI X YANZET: We would like to go on tour, even if it's opening for someone. We think that would definitely be something that we'd have to still plan ahead for because of our work and because of our school. But if it's bringing in a bigger audience and putting our music out there, then we'd be on board. That's definitely the goal as we continue to build our repertoire of music and fan base.
LUNA: Who's your dream feature?
DARI X YANZET: We would say Beyoncé if we’re dreaming big. It honestly depends on the genre, too, because a Bon Iver or Frank Ocean feature would also be really cool.
LUNA: Where do you see yourself in one year as a musician?
DARI X YANZET: With the EP out. EP by the end of the year, at least, hopefully by the summer. But, you know, to be wiser and make better decisions as a brand in general, regarding who we're working with, gaining more connections, more opportunities, and performing consistently. Especially since everything we're doing right now is new. We’re learning a lot of lessons along the way that we’ll continue to apply to our future. We've already learned a lot of lessons, but not really in the grand scheme of things, so we just hope to continue growing as musicians.
