Equate Meets Donna Missal

Today we caught up with rising star Donna Missal, a potent emerging musical force, making an incredible rise in the industry. A soulful singer with boundless intensity Missal has been on our radar since releasing her debut album This Time in 2018 which spotlights which showed us the elegant collision of elements at play in Missal’s music: a poet’s command of tone and a willful embrace of intimacy and experimentation. Ahead of the release of her brand new album ‘Lighter’ (OUT TODAY), we chatted with Donna on her inspiration behind the project, and about the album’s title, Donna stated: “It represents the concept of burning shit down all around you and rising from the ashes.” Firmly establishing herself in the industry with the success this new album is about to bring, Donna is also praiseworthy an artist who knows what kind of voice she possesses, and this has been built through writing about the process of heartbreak and destruction she’s now more firmly in the driving seat than ever. Read the feature below…

EQ: Hi Donna! - can you tell us a bit about you and how you got into music?

DM: It’s been in my lineage for so many years, I think it was just a natural thing. My parents met at my dad’s recording studio in Manhattan, I started singing when I was 4. I can’t think of a time when I even thought about doing something else with my life. It was always music.

EQ: Who would you cite as your biggest inspiration?

DM: I’ve had so many through my life and the list continues to grow but I’d note Aretha Franklin, Shania Twain, Alanis Morissette, Sheryl Crow, Sharon van Etten, Beyoncé….

EQ: How would you describe your journey in music so far, are there any notable lessons you can share with emerging artists hoping to follow in your footsteps?

DM: My personal experience in finding my way so far has been a process of taking my time figuring out what was important to me, what I was all about, what kind of artist I wanted to be, before letting anyone within the industry get too close to my artistry. I’d definitely say I’m constantly evolving and I’d encourage any artist to allow space for that, but also to be able to identify what your goals are and what makes you excited and inspired creatively before jumping into anything with a label partner.

EQ: You’re blending soul, hip-hop, and rock, which is an interesting mix! Who did you grow up listening to?

DM: I grew up surrounded by music because my dad always had something on, like Etta James, James Brown, Little Richard, Fleetwood Mac, The Who. all artists I would later discover had influenced all of the modern music I got into as a teenager and into my adulthood, and inform the way I would make music.

EQ:… and how did you eventually find your own sound?

DM: I think I’ve always just drawn inspiration from what’s around me whether by accident or design. For my first album, I was writing the way I listened to music at the time like making playlists of all different genres. With my second album ‘Lighter’ I was listening to choice records on repeat like Smashing Pumpkins and Sheryl Crow. inevitably, I mean I’ve been singing my whole life, and the way that I use my voice naturally always informs my writing in a way that feels kind of out-of-body for me.

“It’s been in my lineage for so many years, I think it was just a natural thing. My parents met at my dad’s recording studio in Manhattan, I started singing when I was 4…”

- DONNA MISSAL

EQ: You’ve got a new album coming out, what can you tell us about it so far? Does it differ sonically or lyrically from your debut album?

DM: Yes, Lighter! I know that going into making this album I was in a very different place than my first, as a person and an artist, and with Lighter, the intersection of those two things - artist, person - became more interwoven than they had before. This album is about my deeply personal and deeply human experiences in losing connection with another person to gain one deeper with myself. It’s the most vulnerable and authentic I have ever been in my writing and the production is much more of a centered, clear vision. I wanted to make something classic and timeless without concern for being cool. Lighter is the result of all of those things.

EQ: It seems you stand for all things positivity - did you always have that mindset?

DM: I definitely wouldn’t say I’m “all things positivity” - I try to think critically about myself, and the world around me. That doesn’t always result in a positive conclusion. I think I’m more concerned with being aware, honest with myself, and critical of a world that I know has the capacity to change for the better and I try to stand for that every chance I get.

EQ: Being from New Jersey, what’s the music scene like over there? Did you find it hard to emerge initially?

DM: New Jersey is home to so many different kinds of people and my experience growing up there, at least in my town, was very diverse. I’m lucky for that. I did, however, find that trying to be a female rock singer there put me in a lot of scenarios that were extremely male-centered and male-dominated. That experience certainly opened my eyes to how big of a problem there is in rock music everywhere - a disproportionate space that often makes for women to be disrespected and unheard.

EQ: Finally, what have you been up to during lockdown?

DM: Right now I’m just grateful I can still put out music. I’m learning a lot more about recording myself from home, editing videos, doing things I hadn’t spent the time learning how to do before this and I’m grateful for that, too. I guess I’m growing.

YouTube/DONNA MISSAL

Stream The New Album‘Lighter’ HERE

Follow Donna on socials:

Instagram: @donnamissal

Twitter: @DonnaMissal