Life & Work with Billy Duganne

Today we’d like to introduce you to Billy Duganne.

Hi Billy, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started out in Ohio recording bands starting when I was 17. I came from a metal background and toured in a metal band for years up until the pandemic when I finally started releasing the indie-pop music I was working on.

Fast forward to February 2021, I posted a TikTok video of me writing a new ’80s inspired song and it went viral overnight gaining over 1.3 million views in three days. I released the song four days later and since then I have made ’80s-inspired pop and indie-pop my main focus not only for my personal career but my studio/production career as well.

I moved to the Nashville area in May to further expand my recording anon knowledge and to grow my personal artist project, Starletta

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have definitely been a lot of ups and downs, mostly downs haha. Coming up in a metal band and touring was fun but put a lot of financial strain on me and made me really consider if I wanted to keep making music a full-time job because I was barely making it by. We had a revolving door of members that made moving the band forward near impossible.

When the pandemic hit I was barely getting by and it really put me in a slump as far as writing and I had to reevaluate my plan to get to Nashville. I was living with a family member and had sold my house to afford the move to Nashville in late 2020, and had it not been for the viral TikTok I don’t know if I would have been able to afford to move here or even continue my music career.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am an indie-pop artist under the name Starletta. I am known for my biggest song to date “Crying In Miami” which thanks to a viral TikTok has caused the song to gain almost 2 million collective streams across all platforms in a little under eight months.

My production style is very ’80s influenced with a modern pop twist (a blend of The Midnight, LANY, and The 1975). I am also a producer and build tracks for other indie-pop artists. I am most proud of releasing my debut EP this year “Sad Summer” which is a collection of songs I have written over the last few years and finally trusting myself on releasing music that is true to who I am.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Oh god, EVERYTHING. As I said previously, had it not been for one viral TikTok I would still be a nobody trying to get seen. I had 50 monthly listeners previous to the video, and since then I have averaged 50-80k monthly regularly.

I definitely put in the work and time in my craft and music to have earned a kept audience, but that initial push has afforded me everything I have and have done since then.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: @starlettamusic
• Facebook: Facebook.com/starlettamusic
• Twitter: @starlettamusic
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCg2prUQBHxmhXfWe-HcvnQA
• Other: Starlettamusic.bigcartel.com

Image Credits
Photopunks and Ivan Ayala