Meet Bella Kelly | Singer Songwriter – Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bella Kelly and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bella, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
I think the most important factors behind success, whatever the definition of success is, is to believe in yourself and be driven. There are going to be a lot of people, especially when you start any artistic career, that will try to bring you down, put you down, minimize your work and your talent, whether is out of jealousy or else. You have to know your worth but also be objective, don’t overestimate yourself but also be confident in your abilities and don’t let anyone tell you different.
And you have to be driven and have a strong work ethic because there are going to be day in which you don’t feel like doing things or you’re tired but you have to keep pushing because no matter how talented you are, you need to work hard to achieve anything, especially in the entertainment business, because there are plenty of talented people out there and more often than not, the work you put in is what makes the difference between making it or not. Hard work beats talent if talent doesn’t work hard, but nothing beats talent that also works hard.
You have to push yourself beyond what you think are your limits because this is a very competitive business and work ethic and talent and skills are the very bare minimum to even have a chance at succeeding, you also need a team of people with you that are just as driven as you and believe in you even when you doubt.
Many people nowadays tend to isolate themselves and do everything on their own, that almost never works, despite how success stories are depicted after the facts, there’s always a team of professionals behind an artist that you don’t necessarily see.
Also be yourself, the audience is not stupid, you can only fake it that much and it never does any good. As artists we all have a “persona” that’s normal, but you have to be yourself at the core and that persona should still be a part of you.
Be true to yourself, kind, passionate, confident in your abilities but humble.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
This is hard, haha, I probably shouldn’t be the person telling what sets me apart, so I will go with what my producer says because in the end, he’s also the one who gave me the confidence necessary to do this. The first time we met, he says, he was enchanted by my voice, I remember saying “hi” to him and he had me repeat that because he wanted to hear the sound of my voice again, he says I sound like a real life fairy. Going forward, thank to months and months of hard work, my songwriting became much better because I had finally someone who understood me and made me feel confident about writing about my feelings, and, still according to him, my lyrics is what sets me apart. He always says that my words will touch the hearts of the people, of any age, and despite my young age I have an old soul that’s able to connect with people of any age with my stories and transfer emotions with my songs.
We are only few steps in, just a little closer to reach our goals with this project, sure my first debut video, Throat, reached almost a million views in few months, that was amazing, but it’s just the beginning, so I feel it’s too early to say if it was hard or not because we’re not there yet.
Was it hard so far? Yes, we spent over 6 months trying songs before the very first one was “good enough”, I wrote many songs, I’m an extremely prolific writer, but we couldn’t find the right style, song.. etc.. After months of work we came out with what was supposed to be the first single which then has never been released.
That is because after that first song was “approved” so to speak, a video filmed and all, I think that was the moment in which I realized I could really do that and according to David too, my writing became so much better, it was like I a wall came down.
So we scratched the first single, hard decision but it was the right now, to release “Throat” that was supposed to be a “soft release” we didn’t expect it to do this well, it was supposed to be a cool song before the real first single which we are about to release in few weeks “Heartbreak Motel”.

The challenges are many, especially for an artist like me, I write from my heart, I put my feelings and emotions out there, and it’s always a risk because your creations are part of your soul, things that touch you, that made you laugh or cry and you hope to pass those emotions to other people, my goal is actually to help people, who struggle with depression, abuse and mental health, that is the goal for my career and my songs.

How you overcome the challenges? You keep your head down and do your best, knowing you’re going to fall, many times, you’re gonna be rejected at times and it doesn’t matter, all it matters is that you get up and keep doing what you believe in and love. Artistic careers are often chosen because people see them as a quick and easy way for money and fame, I believe those are all the wrong reasons and they contribute to the music state of today, if you do it with your heart and passion, those things will reflect in your art and connect with people. You fall 7 times you stand up 8.
I went thru very difficult times in my life, to work on my career, for how hard it is, it’s nothing compared to that, the life experience you have sets your ceiling and your perspective for what’s “hard”
Working on your artistic career is not “hard” it’s a blessing that you are even in the position to do so, so when you think it’s hard (and sometimes it really is) keep perspective and think you’re lucky to be able to work on your dream. To have someone next to you that go thru all this with you is just as important.

I would like for my music and stories to really help people, children in hospitals and those who experienced abuses or were left alone, abandoned, and people who struggle with mental health, people who were bullied. Today those things seems to be in the background and people focus and put effort in silly arguments, but that’s my goal, I want my music and my story to tell those people they’re not alone, that there are people out there who care and relate with what they’re going thru.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m not really into nightlife or going out that much, I’m more inclined to go to parks and quiet places, so I think I’d take them to few parks here, Griffith park, Huntington Library & Botanical Gardens, Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden, I also like to enjoy the night view of LA, I’d take them to Mullholland drive and just watch the night lights there. A passage on Hollywood Blvd is kind of mandatory if you’re visiting LA but the state is right now is a bit depressing, it’s not how it used to be, but still, probably during daytime. I’d go do the LACMA too. As for eating, I’d probably go to Craig’s, Urasawa and Providence, Matsuhisa for sushi and also Skarky’s, I love Sharky’s 🙂

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
For sure that person would be David (Gnozzi), my producer, who also became my soulmate after we started working together. He helps me pursue my dream and always pushes me to work harder and be better at what I do, and he makes me want to be better every day. He taught me a lot about music and the music industry, he used to be a professional musician (signed with a major) before becoming a producer and engineer, so he experienced first hand that world, and he’s guiding me in this journey and life. We met when I was just starting my career as a singer, even tho’ I always sang, in my early years I was acting and music was more of a passion, my dream so to speak, but I decided to leave the acting world to pursue my singing and songwriting career full time and that happened to be when we met. That moment changed both our lives for the better and we are living this dream and journey together now.

Website: www.bellakellyofficial.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/bellakellyofficial

Twitter: @iambellakelly

Facebook: facebook.com/bellakellyofficial

Youtube: youtube.com/bellakellyofficial

Other: www.mixbustv.com www.davidgnozzimixing.com www,instagram.com/mixbustv

Image Credits
Jpeg01, Anabel Dflux, Mark Marianovich, Omar Guerra, David Gnozzi