THE GIRL WITH THE GOLDEN EAR

DAMOYEE looks to the future as her music career advances.

BY NANCY COHEN ISRAEL

Above: DAMOYEE. Photograph by Meredith Holser. Below: DAMOYEE performs in Strauss Square.

“I t is quite a challenge to balance a career and school,” admits DAMOYEE. Poised to graduate this spring from the prestigious Berklee College of Music, the Dallas native is someone to watch. DAMOYEE is a composer, musician, singer, songwriter, and producer. Her R & B and jazz sound is the backbone of an impressive resume of accomplishments and awards—and she is still in her early 20s. Local arts patrons may be familiar with DAMOYEE. In 2019, as a senior at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, her composition, The Lights are Rising, was selected to accompany the ascension of the chandelier at the AT&T Performing

Arts Center. Composed for the 10th anniversary, it succeeded Philip

Glass’s inaugural composition. It was recorded with her classmates in the school’s Music Conservatory. DAMOYEE’s musical path began at the age of two. For her, Sesame

Street was more than a place to learn her letters and numbers. “My mother noticed that I replicated the rhythm of the songs,” she says.

Before long, she was enrolled in piano lessons. Within a few short years, she was reading music and studying theory. With her absolute pitch, the young performer has already mastered 16 instruments. She produced, composed music, and wrote the lyrics for her first five-track

EP at the age of 13. She has released two albums since then. Composition is at the core of her practice, and through it she explores many avenues. “I usually start the process of composing at my home studio. It helps me focus,” she explains, adding, “I always think which instruments would work with which songs.” She is mindful of the emotions each conveys as well as the feeling they will elicit from listeners. Typically, she would write each part for each instrument. Lately, however, DAMOYEE is exploring sampling, the process by which snippets of sound or music may be reused in another recording. The combination of seeing this on TikTok and a pandemic-year collaboration with fellow recording artist Annie Elise illuminated its possibilities. “We wrote a song together. She used samples to create effects. Now I’m obsessed with it,” DAMOYEE states, and she has been experimenting with it ever since. Though the young artist is months away from graduating with a major in film and media scoring, it should be noted that she already has several film scoring credits to her name. “It’s always been a fun thing for me to do,” she says. In addition to scoring several short films, the pandemic gave her the opportunity to work on her first horror movie. Scoring gives her another pathway into her art. “I enjoy being able to do it whilst still focusing on being a music artist,” she says. Her years in Boston have been inspiring and enriching. “Berklee has given me so much writing material,” she notes. It also opened doors to other opportunities. The school’s career center, for example, provided her with the chance to open for a touring band. “It was one of the largest crowds I’ve ever played my original music in front of,” she marvels. DAMOYEE’s career feels limitless. She has already played in prestigious venues across the country, her music is climbing to the top of several charts, and her advocacy is a powerful voice for social justice. Following graduation, she says, “I am forever grateful about my journey and super grateful for the people in Dallas and Arlington.”

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