DannyLux’s Father Used to Work at Coachella. Now the Artist Is Taking the Stage and Bringing Dad as a VIP
Every once in a while, we have moments that stop us in our tracks and remind us of our purpose. For 19-year-old Daniel Balderrama (who goes by the stage name DannyLux), his debut performance at Coachella was just that. After being dropped from his high-school soccer team due to poor grades, the Mexican-American artist felt like he “wasn’t good at anything," but he's come a long, long way from math class to Indio, California.
“When I was a freshman in high school, I would cry every single night,” Daniel told Cosmopolitan. “I remember I prayed every single night because I knew that there was something that I could do.” It was then that he reached for a guitar from his father, Oscar, who found it years earlier near the Coachella grounds on his route as a sanitation driver. And that's when everything changed.
Although the Palm Springs local grew up close to Coachella, neither he nor his family ever attended. That is, until now. Ahead of Weekend 1, which kicked off last Friday, Oscar had a surprise for Danny; “My last time at Coachella I was picking up the trash,” reads a billboard Oscar bought in town. “Now I’m back to see my son perform this Friday. Te amo, Dannylux. Tu papa.”
Coachella Valley has always been home to a mostly Latine community (around 70 percent, to be exact). Though it might be overshadowed by the many lavish influencer GRWM videos and A-list celebs, the festival is always, without fail, comprised of a slew of Latine audiences and performers. This year, Bad Bunny made history as the first Latino act to headline Coachella—a much overdue choice on Coachella’s end to represent the Latin American and Caribbean diaspora at the heart its bordering cities. It’s also why when Becky G invited rising Mexican artists—Peso Pluma, Marco MP, and Jesus Ortiz Paz—to join her on stage last weekend, they were welcomed by viewers with open arms. The growing Latine representation at Coachella is one that Daniel is excited to see, and—just like his own career—it's only getting started.
Below, DannyLux himself chats with Cosmopolitan ahead of his Weekend 2 performance about what it was like taking the stage in his hometown, his dream collaborator, his family's reaction to his success, and the advice he’d give to those who relate to his story.
This is your first time performing at Coachella, but it's also your first time attending despite having grown up in the area. What was going through your head when you arrived?
I was just so excited because I honestly didn't know what to expect. We were driving towards Coachella, and I just didn't know what to think. Once we got there, everything was completely different than when I had like in mind.
Did you have an opinion on the festival growing up?
I mean, I never thought I would end up playing at Coachella. I remember seeing so much traffic on the way to school, because I would go to school in Palm Springs, and there would be so much traffic on the freeway. And I'd ask my mom, ‘Why is there so much traffic right now?’ and she’d say, ‘Oh, it's Coachella weekend and lots of big artists come and perform.’ It’s just so sick for me to even be able to play in front of everybody from the same valley that I’m from.
Were you able to bring along any friends you grew up with to watch you perform?
Yeah, I mean my band alone is my cousin and my best friend. And my best friend, his dad is the one that taught us how to play the guitar when we were like seven, that's how long I've known him. My cousin I've known since I was, like, born. I took my mom, my sister, my aunts, and they were watching. This second week, my dad couldn't make it the first week because he had to work and they didn't give him the day off. But now the second week, he is going to make it and he's gonna be there.
Let’s talk about that viral billboard your dad surprised you with prior to your performance. As a child of Mexican immigrants myself, I didn’t register all the sacrifices my family made for me to realize my own dreams until I was much older. What is it like being able to bring your dad back to Coachella, on your own terms?
It feels like a blessing. In high school, I got the worst grades. I've never been a straight A student. It was just a hard thing for me to concentrate in school, and I remember the only thing I did have was playing soccer for the school soccer team. It made my dad happy that I was in sports, because you know how Mexican dads are, whenever their kids are in soccer, they're, like, so happy. And I remember I got kicked out of the team because of my grades, and that caused me to be so sad all the time. I knew my parents were just so sad I wasn't doing anything productive in my life. That’s when I remembered, 'Oh, I have my guitar. I should just try to post these videos [of me playing].'
It's so crazy because it all started when I was seven when my dad found my first-ever guitar right next to a trash bin. It all dominoes into what's going on now, and I'm just so thankful for my dad and my parents because he’s always just worked. And it is such a cool feeling that all the work he’s been doing is finally paying off.
So many people struggle to find what they're good at, and it can take toll on mental health. What advice would you have for young people who can relate?
Patience. I remember I would always be so impatient, I would want everything to be right away. I would release a song and want it blow up the next day. I just feel like being impatient causes so much unnecessary stress, and it just leads to more sadness and giving up. I feel like you have to believe in what you're doing and whatever you feel is right. Just keep doing that.
Your music is a fuse genre that both honors your heritage while creating something totally original—where did this inspiration come from?
Growing up my mom listened to Spanish rock and my dad listened to a lot of English rock. That’s all I would hear growing up; Maná, the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and things like that. Once I started writing my music, I wanted to do it in the regional Mexican genre, because I thought it was so romantic or it can be so sad. I just wanted to make my own sound.
Many people associate Coachella's crowd with being a primarily white and wealthy audience. And while that certainly is the case for many, this weekend also consists of such a large number of not only Latine, but specifically, Mexican attendees. Do you feel like our culture is represented at Coachella?
It’s starting to get represented so much more now in recent years. Just look at this year's lineup at all the people that are playing, like Bad Bunny is headlining. I feel like Latin music is actually taking over. When I played on Friday [last weekend], I walked up on the stage and there was so many different faces, different colors, different everything. And it was so sick that everybody was just in the same room watching three Mexican dudes play. It's the best feeling just knowing that music can bring everybody together.
Jenna Ortega is another celeb of Mexican descent who grew up in Coachella Valley and is here for the festival. What is it like seeing people within our age groups, who have similar roots to our own, having big moments in mainstream pop culture?
It's such a beautiful thing. It literally doesn't matter where you're from, anybody can do anything they put their mind to and eventually reach their goals. It’s so cool we get to give back to where we grew up.
If you were to headline Coachella tomorrow, who are some artists you would want to join you on stage?
First would be Feid, and I would want to bring Mana. I would also want to bring out Paul McCartney from The Beatles so we could sing “Let it Be” or “Hey, Jude.” I’d just want to bring back a lot of historic people.
What was the first thing you did immediately following your set last weekend?
Honestly, it was just so emotional just because my mom was waiting for me downstairs. Once we walked off the stage, everybody was just there. I don't know, it was just so emotional. The whole performance felt like it went by in one second. We had so much fun, and then I saw my mom and I couldn't help but cry. She just looked so happy and that makes me so happy whenever I can make my family happy, you know?
What’s next for you post-festival?
You never know what's next, but I'm working on this really big album. It's going to be my first full length album with 15 songs. I'm just so excited for that because it's going to change the way people see me with this album. I'm fully putting my own touch to it.
In the past I was kind of scared to do whatever I wanted because I didn’t want to do something too different. But now I want people to get the best version of me.
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