Get your dancing shoes on, because you’re going to want to groove to Dana‘s latest song “Let You Decide,” ft. Harv — and his new music video will serve up some serious choreography inspiration. CelebSecrets recently caught up with Dana Vaughns to get his take on his solo music releases, and find out all about how his new music video came together. Check out our exclusive Q&A below.
CelebSecrets: What’s the biggest goal you have with releasing solo music? What do you hope listeners will take away from your art?
Dana: Biggest goal is to perform at the Super Bowl. I hope that listeners can take away [that] the sole purpose of my music is to evoke a certain feeling and emotion in the listener that I feel personally, and want to share that with them. Then realizing we all have the same mutual wants and desire for good music.
My goals have just grown the more I grow, realizing God has blessed me with incredible writing, dancing, performing, and people skills.
CelebSecrets: Can you tell us where the idea for the “Let You Decide” music video came about, and what it was like filming it?
Dana: The video concept was a collaboration of Nick Demoura [Ed. note: Creative Director of Justin Bieber‘s Purpose Tour] and myself. The idea came from the track. No true way to pinpoint where the idea came from, except for the song. It was a lot of fun shooting it. We shot it guerrilla style downtown LA between 9:30 pm and 3 am. “Effortless,” would be the word to describe how everybody on set bonded and made the best video we could possible.
CelebSecrets: The choreography is also incredible! What can you share about learning it, and how it evolved with the idea of the video itself?
Dana: We learned the choreography in one 5-hour rehearsal the day before at Millennium Dance Complex. Nick Demoura started out teaching us the verse choreography and then halfway through Ian Eastwood came in to help collab on the chorus choreo and give his creative opinion on the whole thing. All the choreography was created on the spot by both choreographers. We adjusted to our sets as needed when it came to formations and spacing.
CelebSecrets: If you could show your childhood self your latest music video, what do you think he’d have to say about it?
Dana: I think my childhood self would’ve loved the dancing in the video, and said “I want his shoes!” haha.
CelebSecrets: Also, what’s something you hope your future self will remember about this time in your life, when he’s looking back on your current projects?
Dana: What I hope my future self will remember is the simplicity of it all and that I can keep that same peace as long as I strive for it. When it comes to the music, I feel like my writing style will always be consistent, but if I lost inspiration I would go back and listen to the way I expressed my own thoughts. Growing by being inspired by my own previous creativity, always striving for better.
CelebSecrets: How would you say your goals and dreams in the music industry have changed since you first started out?
Dana: My goals have just grown the more I grow, realizing God has blessed me with incredible writing, dancing, performing, and people skills. So my job is never done, continuously inspire and look at myself as an example for others. Which is healthy pressure to always be on top of my game because I don’t do this to feed my own ego.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BXg0M11gtxO/?hl=en&taken-by=the_one_dana
CelebSecrets: What is the best advice that you’ve gotten from someone else within the industry?
Dana: The key is to have a team that has trust and concern for others at the root. Nobody is able to do it alone, so be specific who you associate with and never be scared to ask questions.
CelebSecrets: For CelebSecrets’ favorite question, do you have a fun secret that you’d be able to share with our readers, perhaps something from behind-the-scenes of creating your music video?
Dana: A fun secret is that I love to snack on beef jerky while filming any video. So you can believe I was enjoying that in between takes!
If you’re loving Dana’s latest, make sure to check out more of his music, available on Spotify now.