For most of her life, Danielle Johnsen walked the halls of Calhoun High School with headphones on, lost in whatever song spoke to her that day. At 31, the Merrick native is no longer just listening — she’s creating a sound entirely her own.
Johnsen, a Calhoun Class of 2012 graduate, didn’t expect to become a musician. After studying Spanish at Nassau Community College and SUNY Old Westbury, she briefly pursued teaching. But the pull of music — something she describes as “an obsession” — didn’t fade.
“I’m a really honest person to a fault, and what I value most is self-expression,” she said. “I just felt this strong desire to inspire people to be authentic. Music was the only place where I felt completely heard.”
She began recording vocals and writing songs at 25, working with local audio engineers in Hicksville and Lindenhurst. Over time, she started co-producing her own beats. When a producer encouraged her to try making music independently, she took the leap.
About two and a half years ago, she began creating fully self-produced tracks — a process that forced her to learn mixing and engineering on her own.
“When I couldn’t afford to pay an engineer anymore, I had to figure it out,” she said. “It took me about two or three years to get confident. Mixing is a whole different art form.”
Much of that early work stayed on SoundCloud, but her upcoming project, “Intermedium”, marks her first release on major streaming platforms.
Johnsen describes her earlier work as rooted in rap and heartbreak — the kind of raw emotion typical of a young artist. But her new EP represents a departure in tone and style.
“Intermedium” is “a pause,” she explained — a bridge between who she was and who she’s becoming.
The shift, she said, emerged during a difficult period marked by personal and family challenges.
“There was a time where I had to step back and make sacrifices for people I love,” she said. “The music that came out of that was softer, sadder, and more classical. I didn’t plan it — I just played, and it came from a place I couldn’t really put into words.”
The EP leans heavily on instrumentals and ethereal textures. Its centerpiece is “Ballerina,” a track she considers the project’s emotional core.
The inspiration came partly from a summer ballet class she took at a studio in Merrick. But the theme runs deeper.
“People have told me I bring a kind of grace to spaces — my middle name is actually Grace,” she said with a laugh. “The ballerina idea kept showing up in my life. I’d be dancing more, or thinking about movement. My dad was big into martial arts and yoga, so maybe that physical awareness was always in me. The song just grew from there.”
Producing her own music, Johnsen said, clarified something she had long avoided admitting.
“I realized it’s not a hobby,” she said. “Now when people ask what I do, I can say I produce music. It feels like something that’s truly mine.”
Her influences range from Lil Wayne — her soundtrack through middle and high school — to the producer-artist Pi’erre Bourne, whose ability to build songs entirely on his own inspired her to do the same.
Today, her lyrics and vocal delivery have shifted from heartbreak to evolution.
“I used to write about being sad or down. But as I matured, the lyrics became more visual, more uplifting — about growth,” she said. “I don’t want to sing covers or perform in bars. I want to sing what I wrote.”
Growing up in Merrick and working in nearby communities shaped her love of culture and sound.
“We’re really diverse on Long Island,” she said. “I’ve had friends and co-workers from so many different backgrounds — Merrick, Freeport, Hempstead, out east. That definitely influenced me.”
Johnsen also credits music with helping her learn Spanish as a teenager. Translating lyrics from songs shared by a Salvadoran friend sparked not only a love of the language, but ultimately her college major.
For “Intermedium”, Danielle hopes listeners find space to breathe.
“I hope it can be a meditation for people — a moment to sit with themselves,” she said. “There’s grace in it, sadness, elegance. It’s a different side of me.”
For her broader catalog, she hopes people take away a message of possibility.
“A lot of people feel stuck,” she said. “My music is about the ‘come up,’ about reminding people they can still be whatever they want.”
Above all, she wants listeners to understand that her songs — even the more explicit ones — come from authentic emotion, not a fixed image.
“Sometimes people hear one track and think that defines you,” she said. “But we all have feelings we don’t express publicly. I want people to know it’s okay to be yourself in every way.”
Visit Vanelladee.com for the latest updates on her upcoming projects.
