Darik

It’s kind of crazy when I look back at my past, where I came from, how I got to where I am, and where I may go. I’m an unbelievably anxious person, so I find it best that I don’t dwell too much on what I can’t change and things that may or may not happen. I think just taking everyday one moment at a time really allows me to experience life in a more meaningful way.

Well to start from the beginning, I grew up listening to mostly CCM. I remember my mother playing Jon Gibson and Lisa Beville on the way to the daycare center to drop me off. I must have been 4 or 5 years old at the time, but I have a vivid memory of hearing those songs and enjoying them. I think my family started to realize that I loved music a little deeper than others when I would beg my brother to hold little concerts in our living room for my mom. She would listen to us sing and sing along sometimes. I really felt like I was on stage with an audience and I’m so grateful to listen to the awfulness of my musicality at the time. 

At 8 years old, I heard Crystal Lewis for the first time on the radio. The first I remember hearing was “Beauty of the Cross.” Fortunately, my mother fell in love with her voice just as much as I did. Eventually, I found myself spending the next 10 years collecting all of her albums that I could find online and at Christian stores. I was and feel like I still am her biggest fan.

Around 15 years old, my mother and I had another moment of discovering an amazing talent. I had just gotten out of school for the day. As I got into the car, my mom was rushing me to hear the song as it went off the radio. We spent the day looking for the song and found out it was “No Greater Love,” by Rachael Lampa. Her album, Kaleidoscope, was the first album I ever purchased with my own money. I would sing her songs at the top of my lungs. (I actually model my voice after her, but don’t tell anyone.)

My late teenage years consisted of Robbie Williams, Jason Mraz, Crystal Lewis, and Rachael Lampa. At 15, I was already attempting to write my own songs. I would love to put them out for people to hear, but they aren’t very good and I’m sure the instrumentals are copyrighted. At 17, I was watching anime with my brother when the ending theme started playing. Once again, I instantly fell in love with the voice I heard. The song was “Every Heart,” by BoA. BoA opened me up to fellow japanese artists that I frequent even today such as Koda Kumi, who has a huge impact on my style of music, and Daichi Miura. BoA was also my introduction to Kpop; I found Lena Park, Hyolyn, DBSK, and so many more. Near the end of my high school years, I finally found the courage to finally sing in front of a crowd for the first time. Funny enough, I shared a stage that day with 3 vocalists from Pentatonix before they were Pentatonix. 

My early adult years were filled with posting dance covers to youtube, and singing covers of songs online.I had many failed auditions at American Idol, The Voice, and The Glee Project.  At 19, I was discovered by Kpop competition scouters from Superstar K after I was seen singing a Korean song online. I was invited to California to attend in-person auditions. Long story short, I was shocked to learn that people actually thought I was good. I guess I had convinced myself that I was really bad and that maybe some people were lying to me about having any semblance of singing talent. So, I make it to televised auditions and I was told that I couldn’t go on to the next round because I couldn’t actually speak Korean. Which is a great segway to the next part of my life.

I went to college and tried to major in music, but failed the entry test because I had never had a music class or lesson in my life. Everything I did was by ear, vocal mimicry, and lucky guessing. So I changed my major to Psychology and Korean Language. Lucky for me, Superstar K came to my home town in Dallas, and I auditioned again. By this time, I had already written and recorded the album “Reverie” in 2013. I had just released “Reverie,” around the time of this second audition. It seemed really promising this time because after I went to the call backs, I sang a Rachael Lampa song called “Blessed.” I closed my eyes as I belted the run and high notes. As the song finished, I opened my eyes to see someone standing at the bottom of the stage. One of the producers from 2 years ago remembered my specific voice and ran up to the stage to tell me that he remembered me and fought for me to go further during my first audition. So the camera crews filmed me in my class at school and at home. However, I assume wasnt interesting enough, and they never called me to go to the next round. But, that producer gave me the push I needed to take the next step. 

So, back in 2009, I uploaded original music to myspace and I was noticed by TMG, a record company. I declined their offer in 2009, because I felt I wasn’t good enough for a contract. But, in 2015, I contacted them and sent my album, “Reverie,” as a demo. They loved it, and sent me a contract. They actually wanted me to release “Reverie,” as my first album with them, but I wanted to make something new. So, I wrote and recorded “Eliot, Vol. 1,” in about 3 months. My album was released and I was very happy under the label. Unfortunately, the label went under and I was a free agent again.

In 2020, I decided to release the “Cronica, Vol. 2,” album as a memoir of past songs that were never officially released. Little known fact, the song “String” was actually written and recorded in 2009 and was the song that TMG heard back then when they wanted to sign me. I named the album with a close friend of mine to dedicate it to her; I wanted the album to pay homage to her Romanian heritage, while also expressing time past. So we came up with the Romanian word from time or chronicle. All the songs on the album were written between 2008 and 2012.

Now, I am at a new moment. After having writer’s block and low inspiration for almost 10 years, I had something to write about; Love, Loss, and Solace.