Although she never really dreamed of a career in music, dee holt recently found herself with hit songs on her hands and a future full of promise. Approaching her new profession with candor, the young Montrealer is ready to take advantage of this great opportunity which will lead her, on August 11, to the stage of the International des montgolfières.

Music and singing have always been part of Daphne Holt’s life. But her passion did not immediately lead her to want to make a career out of it. Until, by chance, she is plunged back into her first love, never to let go of them again.

“During a meal where my boyfriend’s family was meeting my family, we were talking about music and my parents said that I had always been singing,” says the young artist. My boyfriend didn’t even know! I ended up singing, facing the wall, because I was so embarrassed. But when I turned around, I saw everyone’s faces. They told me they weren’t expecting that. »

After this pivotal moment, the opportunities quickly arrived for the one who chose the name dee holt for her musical project. He was introduced to director Benjamin Benji Nadeau, “a friend of the family.” He advised him to go to the studio. At this point, Daphne still wasn’t convinced she wanted to get started.

The next step: recording a first EP. From the second single, dee holt found herself added to several Spotify playlists. The number of plays exploded on the platforms. “I was freaking out! After [the 2022 song] Olivia, it really started. »

Record companies then contacted her. She decided to engage with Nettwerk Music, a box established in Vancouver which notably manages Coldplay, Avril Lavigne, Sum 41 or Sarah McLachlan.

But even at this point, Dee Holt wasn’t ready to fully come out of her shell just yet. “I didn’t want to do live performances, I didn’t even want to be seen in my photos. It took me a long time to get there,” she explains. The covers of his singles never show it. Instead, we see abstract images embellished with drawings (which she made herself – we will come back to this). On her EP, it is her that we see in the photo… hands on her face.

“Slowly I started doing gigs, music videos, I felt more and more comfortable talking about it,” she says today, while repeating that she never really dreamed of this life.

This life is now his. She released a second EP earlier this year, i’ll be there, which further defines her identity and her place in the industry. The artist makes indie pop, called bedroom (vulnerable, unadorned music, which could have been made in the bedroom of a young melancholic artist in pursuit of his musical dream). A vaporous pop, anchored in delicate melodies and recited by the charming voice of Holt. Billie Eilish and Charlotte Cardin are among her favorite artists and it shows in her approach to music.

“We’re still developing the sound,” Daphne said. We find a more concrete direction. »

At just 19 years old, dee holt is on a roll in the music world, having received accolades from Billboard (amongst others), performing a show at M for Montreal, and drawing more and more music lovers’ attention to the streaming platforms.

She is now preparing to take the stage at the International Balloon Festival of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, where Cee Lo Green, Marie-Mai and Ne-Yo will also perform.

If music takes up a lot of space in her life (more than she would have ever imagined), Daphne keeps a strong attachment to another of her passions, which she tries to incorporate into her artistic proposal: art. visual. The one who studies art and animation at university drew most of her covers and directed her music videos (some of which were start-to-finish animations).

When we interview her by videoconference, the wall of her room, behind her, is covered with drawings. We talk to her about it and she takes the time, with a big smile on her face, to show us a wall that we couldn’t see, lined with her creations. For her, the pursuit of this new dream of making music can coexist with her desire to draw. One can even feed the other.

For now, however, Daphne feels the need to devote all her energy to music to fully give herself the chance to develop this project, she says.

“I’m going to take some time off from school. I see a lot of signs that this is what I could do in life and I feel like trying. I’m going to do my best, without expecting too much, just having fun. I would like to make it my career. »