Daily Inspiration: Meet Alexis Donn

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexis Donn

Hi Alexis, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I began pursuing music shortly after I was diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) in college in 2016. I went from running D1 track at the University of Notre Dame to barely being able to stand for a few seconds at my very worst, and it all happened seemingly overnight. In hindsight, there were red flags along the way – but it was very traumatic and especially confusing when you think you’re one of the healthiest people around. That chapter in life brought a lot of turmoil and a lot of perspective, and from it I asked myself: if I get my health and function back, what do I want to do with my life? I decided one of the things I wanted was to pursue music because I’d been too shy to before, and now feeling like I had a second chance at living fully – I wanted to dive into that art. I used a combination of high amounts of salt, water, clean eating, a lot of praying, and gradual reintroduction to exercise to get back to a place where I still had some POTS triggers – but I was able to function normally again.

I started posting videos of my singing and playing mediocre guitar on Instagram, I recorded a few demos with some friends, and before I graduated from Notre Dame I sang a verse on a friend of mine’s EDM track. That one verse led me to receiving topline requests (a topline is the vocal that goes over an instrumental) from various DJs on Instagram, and I started writing, recording and sending my vocals to whoever would listen. I figured I could save money by collaborating with DJs because I wouldn’t have to pay for production, and I’d hopefully start getting some decent streams.

After a year and a half of writing and recording almost every day to try to get as many collabs going as possible, I found myself with two additional releases. However, I’d somehow landed an opportunity to pitch Tiesto a topline (through one of the DJs I’d been pitching to), and I’d met a reputable EDM topline manager through a local artist manager I’d reached out to. What I learned from this is if you are persistent and believe in yourself enough – a lot of good will come to you. What I’m so grateful in hindsight that I didn’t have to learn from this was: be very careful of the people on the internet. I will honestly say I got very fortunate with the group of people I found myself in, because they were/are kind and also good at what they do.

I dove into the EDM world, and within a couple months of working with my new manager I landed a song on Monstercat (a big label) and they decided to put that collab as the home screen song on Rocket League for half of 2020. I also landed my biggest collaboration to date, “Salvation” with major artists Excision and Dion Timmer, as well as an Unknown Brain collab (“Dance With Me”) and a BEAUZ collab that remains unreleased. Things got really good really fast for me in the EDM scene and I’m very grateful for it.

My husband and I moved to Nashville in early 2020, and music was a fantastic distraction for me as the world shut down from covid. I kept diligently writing, recording and pitching DJs and began to think about my own solo project in early 2021.

My solo project has been a fascinating mode of self-discovery. It started as more singer-songwriter, and has taken a bit more of a poppy flair. I’ve felt repeatedly lost and found in this process, and somehow have overspent, underspent, released music “too fast”, released music “too slow”, been the most defeated I’ve ever felt, been the most ecstatic and free I’ve ever felt, and realized somewhere in it all – that making good music was never actually what I was seeking.

Another major noteworthy item that has affected this entire journey happened in late 2021. As I released my first solo EP, titled “it all makes sense in the end” – I got severely ill again. But this time, it wasn’t POTS (although having POTS didn’t help) – it was severe longcovid that would remain undiagnosed for 8 months until I had reached a point where my body was only accepting 3 foods, I felt constantly suffocated, I was scared to be touched because I wasn’t sure what I’d react to, and my mind had completely lost its sanity. The very short of a potentially very long story is this: I found a functional doctor who I credit with saving my life, my husband is the most patient and kind man in the universe and who I also credit with both saving and inspiring my life, our family and friends were very helpful for us as we navigated this traumatic time, and I eventually learned how to begin healing my subconscious brain and therefore begin healing my physical body. Overcoming a much more devious and tortuous illness than my POTS (and bonus: reversing my POTS in the process) was not on my bingo card, but it happened and I will tell you that I’ve learned more about life in the past 3 years than I ever thought I would.

As I’ve healed from all of this, I’ve found myself writing songs I regretted, releasing songs I probably shouldn’t have, getting in arguments I didn’t need to, and taking soap boxes up on things I didn’t really understand. It’s been a messy and strange road. Getting through and over trauma is a journey that requires a significant amount of grace from those around you, and I’ve been extraordinarily blessed. All of this I want to believe was leading me to where I am now – a place where I know that whatever I do or don’t do next, I want it to be for good.

My current state is this: I don’t know what I’m doing and I’m making peace with that. I don’t know if music success is in the cards for me, but if it is – it’ll be on my terms. What I learned the most from this entire journey so far though is this: success is not going to bring me joy, and it never has. What brings me joy is my husband (doing anything with him – his literal existence makes me the happiest person alive), walking my dog, petting my cat, getting to eat foods I love again like they’re brand new, laughing with my friends and family, watching silly shows, wondering if people know just how great this life can be and learning for myself more each day just how cool it is to be alive.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
What do you do?

I’m songwriter, vocal producer, artist, and performer with two artist projects. One is called Donna Tella and it’s an EDM feature vocalist project that has some noteworthy collabs. The other is called Alexis Donn and it’s my solo project, which has ranged all the way from singer-songwriter to “intergalactic barbie space pop.”

What do you specialize in?

I’d say my specialty is vocal production – I absolutely love to sing, record and vocal arrange. I feel so at peace when it’s just me at my computer singing into my mic, imagining another adlib or vocal part to add into a song.

What are you known for?

I’m most known for Donna Tella and the EDM collabs on that project. I’ve also gotten a couple syncs on my Alexis Donn project recently, with one of my favorite songs “Magic” being on Love Is Blind – and that was also a really cool moment that I’ve become known for in my circle. The latter was especially fun because having friends get surprised and hear my song on TV was a blast.

What sets you apart from others?

Having my own body, mostly.

How do you define success?
I define success as not letting success define you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alexisdonn.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexisdonnmusic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alexisdonnmusic
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AlexisDonn_
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexisdonn

Image Credits
Emily Camacho