We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Delphi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Delphi, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.
Coming from a household with a single mother and a very present grandmother Iv’e had an abundance of love and encouragement. Though I grew up struggling financially and without a long term father figure I’ve always been encouraged to follow my dreams. Positive reinforcement is a gift my mom and grandmother gave me. I think that has played a large part in building my confidence.
I believe a lot of the self-esteem I have today is also connected to my fearlessness. Iv’e always been very brave when it comes to doing new things, throwing myself into the unknown not knowing where I’ll land. I like the excitement. I find that most of the time my impulses lead me to amazing adventures. A lot of that fearlessness comes from an ability to not take myself so seriously. Life is a teacher and the world is our playground. The possibility of “failing” or making a fool of myself doesn’t bother me so much. The prospect of my personal failures compares to a fart in space.
As long as you live with empathy for those around you, and do your best you shouldn’t worry so much. That is easier said than done but I try to remind myself about that. By being brave, not taking myself too seriously and following my gut I make things happen. We have the power to shape our own reality and sometimes we forget that. In my case, when I realised my own potential and caught a glimpse of what I could achieve by just shortening the gap from thought to action, It gave me confidence. That confidence is something I have to work on regularly, by not getting too comfortable, and by continually throwing myself out there.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
My name is Delphi and I am an independent artist and songwriter based in Malmö, Sweden. I make R&B/Pop music influenced by Afrobeats. One of the benefits of having no lable, management or booker is that Iv’e gotten a lot of freedom and invaluable experience. While I am the boss of my artist project I take joy in co-creating my music with other producers and songwriters. My chosen line of work enables me to collaborate with make up artists, hairstylists, photographers and film makers as well as having lots of contact with venues and bookers. I loooove the creative and social side of my work. A challenge of my chosen lifestyle is the financial instability but although the independent path is a bit harder and takes a bit longer the reward is huge.
2023 was a year filled with travel, touring and music releases. I did my first international collab with American hiphop artists R.A. The Rugged man and Reverie. I made my first cover of a magazine and my first live radio interview. I received recognition from the mayor of Malmö and the cultural counsel in the form of a bigger scholarship. I also travelled around performing at different festivals and venues and was invited to perform with an Italian band on Sicily as their guest. In December on of my dreams came true when I got to perform my own written song at a sold out concerthall backed up by a symphony orchestra and full choir. I’m insanely proud of what I have achieved on my own and believe that with talent, It’s the hard work and how much you want something, that is gonna get you somewhere.
Iv’e never waited for nobody to “allow” me to do anything. I just go. If you’re curious to hear what I do you can stream my latest song by searching for “Free/Someday – Delphi” on your chosen platform. There you will find some of my other stuff 🙂
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
I have to thank my bravery, persistence and craziness a lot for where I am today. If you want to make things happen you have to be brave and take leaps of faith. You must be persistent and when it gets hard, not quit. I also think an ounce of delusion is perfect. Being too realistic is just a waste of opportunity, so dare to dream big. When you get an idea to do something and your heartbeat goes up and the thought of doing it gets you nervous or even nauceouse, fight it! It’ll feel so good afterwords.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
If the song is right and you seem like a cool person, I’m always open to collaborate. Right now I’m specifically looking for the right booker. The requirement for the booker is that the person has to be better at landing good gigs than myself. A precondition is that you vibe with my music or just believe in me as an artist at least as much as I do. Then we can reach new heights together. If you’re creative, thats great. If you’re positive, awesome. In general if you feel like youre resonating with me and you have a project or an idea or just wanna reach out, please do.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/delphimusic
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/realdelphi/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkC2V2ViqHgUReAAw1e9CBw
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1WkyAgNKehCit0Kb8KkRsd?si=QnvnRdUlS9iPpt_hUWH1HA
Image Credits
3:d foto: Christer Tille. 4,5,6: Nils Sjöholm.
