Bianca Varela (aka BIANCA) is a breath of fresh air. The LA native whose first single, “Eyes on Me,” just dropped via RnBass, talks to Musica Roots about the inspiration behind her single and sound, quitting her job to focus on her music, being a girl in a male-dominated industry, and her all-star all-girls creative team. Bianca is definitely the girl we want, and need. She’s fun, fierce, and determined to make her mark while getting the party started with her girls. Her debut single is a sexy, cool soundtrack for those chill, and epic LA nights.
Musica Roots: How did “Eyes on Me” come to be?
Bianca Varela: The song came from one night that I was out with my girls. It was last summer, I was partying a lot and every single time that I go to a party, obviously I’m dressed up, we’re all looking good and cute and there’s just a lot of girls that give me a stinky face. So I kinda wrote about that situation and my perspective: If anyone is trying to stunt on you, or if anyone is trying to shame you, it doesn’t matter, like eyes on you, go you, confidence, go get it. I co-wrote it with one of my good friends Jada, she sat with me and we kinda went back and forth, it was more of a collective thing, but I am the main writer of the song.
https://soundcloud.com/biancavarela/eyesonme
MR: How was working with the producer, Batman On The Beatz?
BV: Yeah, BatmanOnTheBeatz, that’s all together with a Z, he’s very particular. He’s amazing, he’s worked with a lot of different producers in Atlanta. He’s a very mysterious character. He first reached out to me via Soundcloud. He had some beats he sent over and asked me if I wanted to do anything with them and if he liked it he would use them, so I did and he liked it! We’ve been working together ever since.
MR: Tell us about your creative process.
BV: I really want to keep my music genuine to me so I spend a lot of time with the track and I sit there by myself and I create melodies and come up with lyrics. And sitting with the track and going back through it, does it feel right, does it need more, should I change this, should I change that? And that’s just my process before bringing it to the table with my creative team. And then that alone is another process. It’s constantly creating it and re-processing it and perfecting it.
MR: When can we expect another single? Do you have other stuff going on?
BV: I am working on some new music and finishing up my project, it will be coming out soon. I should have a new single early March and the project in April. We are working very hard on that. I wanna keep up with the fire, you know what I mean, gotta give you more.
MR: Definitely, we wanna hear more. How do you describe your music and your sound and what influenced that for you?
BV: Well, I’ve been influenced by different artists, at a very young age. I was very infatuated with the whole singing and being in front of people and just creating and I was driven to that part, the creation. So just seeing different artists do their thing, that inspired me to be creative and more. And also to be a great performer.
MR: Any artists in particular?
BV: Britney Spears, Missy Elliott, Ciara, Usher, Alicia Keys, oh my God. Who else? Alanis Morisette, she was amazing. I love her, I love how she was like so bitchy but then she had a little bit of attitude, and I just love that about her.
MR: Would you say that your sound came from these different artists? Obviously you’re taking your own spin and putting yourself out there too.
BV: I’ve had a lot of training with teachers and I do believe in your own art, and your own sound. So I would definitely say that I took from different people’s influences, but I made it into my own and what I felt was good and amazing.
MR: You were born and raised in LA. Tell us about your upbringing and how that influenced your sound and music and what you’re doing now?
BV: Well my upbringing was a little bit difficult. My parents divorced at a young age and I was out of my house since the age of 16. I have a lot of family that opened up to me that I’m forever grateful for and they helped me out to get by. So I would definitely say that my music comes from that. You’ll hear a lot, a lot of what I’ve experienced in those moments but that’s not even something to dwell on. It’s about moving forward and creating your own path. And I would definitely say I became street smart, real quick, cuz I had to deal with a lot of people, you know…It’s a lot of sacrifice. I actually just recently quit my job so I can work full-time on music. It’s been difficult but it’s worth it. It’s definitely worth it.
MR: Yeah, that’s admirable. Looking through your Instagram account, you’ve got really cool style, tell us about it.
BV: Thank you. Well, obviously providing for myself, I didn’t have a lot of money you know what I mean. So, actually my grandma introduced me to “Willie,” we call it “The Willie,” its the Goodwill. But, I definitely took a lot of time in thrift stores and I kinda put this and this together to bring this out. And I kinda like my outfits to be all out there and crazy. I love fashion too, so I’m always playing and messing around with different patterns and stuff. I love Buffalo Exchange too, that’s been my spot recently. You’ll find little treasures, you just gotta be patient and look.
MR: Are you working on any videos? Is that something we can expect from you too?
BV: I’m working on that as well. Coming soon. To be continued. It’s gonna be exciting, I promise.
MR: Any artist or producer you’d love to work with, or are dying to work with?
BV: I’d love to work with Missy Elliott, Nghtmre, and with Wonder Girl. She’s really badass…she’s so badass. She’s an underground producer, she has like that heavy bass and I love that heavy bass, and those high hits. I’m all about that. I’m all about all that. Obviously, you can tell from my song. I have attitude too, I’m really sweet and everything, but every girl has to protect herself and that’s what that comes from.
MR: Glad you said that. Tell us about being female in this industry. How do you overcome any setbacks?
BV: Honestly it’s been very difficult. There’s a lot of men in this industry, you feel me. So I definitely feel I was very blessed to come by good people and be surrounded with my team that I have now. I’m forever thankful for that, that’s for damn sure. I’m all about girl power. I’m all girl power. Actually, my art director, for my projects, are all women. I’ve worked with men too and I didn’t really like it, but I fell in love with Amy, Amy is my director and my photographer Migella, as well, she’s an amazing photographer, and they just know my angles man. Migella is actually the one that took the picture of the artwork.
MR: What do you envision for yourself in the next year?
BV: Well, first things first, for myself, I wanna be happy. It’s more important than anything, I wanna be happy and I wanna love what I’m doing and I wanna keep continuing to create and I want to tour the world and I want to be able to share my music with other people. That is what my vision is, for this project and more. So wherever that leads me and wherever that takes me, I’ll thank God.
Soundcloud: Bianca Varela
Twitter: @BiancaVarela_
Instagram: @biancavarela_
Facebook: Bianca Varela
