New Jersey-based rock artist, Chris Deletto, a.k.a. Deletto is so much more than the genre that is tied to his music. With a sound that is a perfect blend of driving rock riffs, heavy thematic drums, and ethereal vocal samples on top of a cinematic song structure influenced by many genres including hip-hop, Deletto’s music is sure to resonate with just about anyone. Take his latest single, “All We Are,” for instance: the track’s ambient verses quickly give way to an explosive chorus, all carried by stunning vocals and vulnerable lyricism. Although he’s not screaming it in your face by any means, Deletto’s music still hits hard.
Deletto got his start producing hip-hop, and playing as a touring guitarist for a local hip-hop artist. He has shared the stage with artists such as Machine Gun Kelly, Schoolboy Q, Meek Mill, and Ty Dolla $ign. Deletto is very hands on creatively, and also uses his vast knowledge of film to direct and edit all of his own music videos. He is not afraid to speak his mind, and has an energetic, infectious personality that draws people toward him. We recently caught up with him to chat about “All We Are” and his plans for 2020 – read the full interview now below.
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself for anyone who might not be familiar?
My name is Deletto, I’m a solo artist from Northern New Jersey. I play some type of rock music that people can’t really put their finger on yet. You might like it, or you might want to throw tomatoes at me. But please don’t freeze them first like that one guy did. Thanks a lot Dad! I would say my sound is a largely produced alternative with inspiration from early 90s grunge and a sometimes thematic sound I developed through hours upon hours of listening to film scores.
You got your start in music touring with a hip-hop act. How do you feel that experience has affected the music you write today? What did you learn or take away from it?
I credit my current song writing ability to the time I spent producing hip-hop. It gave me the confidence and taught me song structure more than anything. My sound now doesn’t pull too much influence from my hip-hop production, but it helped get rid of the creative block I’ve had since I picked up a guitar at age 12. I always thought writing songs was this magical process that just flowed effortlessly and great songs start pouring out. I would hold myself to this unrealistic standard that I could never reach and couldn’t write songs because of that. It wasn’t til I was making beats for someone else that I was able to finish full songs. The artist I was working with just started his career in music in general, so there was no expectation. The only expectation really was, we were going to suck for a little bit until we started to sound good. I was so uncomfortably unfamiliar in this world because I never really listened to hip-hop that it felt okay to sound bad. That was so important for me because it broke down that standard I set for myself individually. I was able to adopt the songwriting process for beat making into songs I write now. It also helped me get rid of this close minded view on music I used to have. I do use vocal samples and other synth parts in my songs now which I use to think was a sin. It really showed me music is music, no matter how you create it.
What first inspired you to get involved in music? What made you want to break away to work on your solo career?
It was one of those moments you didn’t know you wanted. I grew up at the age of 5 always wanting to be an actor. I never did anything about it, I just knew I wanted to entertain. It wasn’t until I received a guitar for Christmas, and I had one of those cliche “a strummed one chord, and I just knew” moments. Around the age of 12 I was really getting into music seriously, and my dad noticed how I started to feel music instead of just listen to it. He played guitar himself, took a gamble, and gifted me a guitar. It was at that moment, where I played my first chord, that I knew I was going to write music. I think I have always been working on songwriting ever since I got a guitar. It was a couple months into learning chords and how to hold the guitar properly that I started writing my own little riffs. I still remember one of the first things I ever wrote. I just didn’t know what to do with them. I would get into bands and I wouldn’t be able to get over the mental block I put on myself and never finish writing a song. Working in hip-hop was almost my buffer into this moment now. I always knew I was going to break off and work on my own songs, we even talked about it frequently. I didn’t know it would turn into a solo career, but it’s something I guess I have been unknowingly headed toward since I strummed my first chord.
Last month, you released your latest single, “All We Are.” Can you tell us about the song?
All We Are, was actually written because of botched communication and a failed attempt to record my album the first time around. I was set to work with a producer I knew at his studio with the album wrapped and every song done. However, when we found out we didn’t have the room to record drums for the time we needed everything got put on hold. I was kind of left in limbo trying to sort out new dates, and didn’t have much to do in the meantime. I would still pick up my guitar from time to time and start messing around. During one of those moments, I started to play some rendition of the guitar part for All We Are, and my girlfriend started to record because she heard something she liked and didn’t want me to forget it. I listened back and knew I there was something there, so I went to my little home studio and started to lay down different parts trying out new things. I wouldn’t have been able to do this if the dates to record didn’t fall through. I really like how open the song sounded, and I wanted to give the verses this raw personal feel. It allowed me to play with the dynamic I love, which is soft into loud. With this song in particular and being that last one I had written, I felt my songwriting start to mature a little bit.
The video for “All We Are” is an incredibly powerful one as well. What went into the creation of the video and what would you like for listeners to take away from it?
Thank you. I really wanted to hit people on a relatable level with this music video. Even though the song wasn’t directly written about mental health, I wanted to the music video to be very directly about this topic. I write my song lyrics pretty vaguely to leave them open for interpretation, and similarly did that with my two previous music videos, however, with this one I wanted to be as direct as possible. I kept coming up with many different ways to represent this topic visually, until a talk with my director of photography led to the final concept. He kept hearing me discuss how important it is, and if we use real stories more people will relate. He stopped me and said, well if you want people to really relate, why don’t you just pull from yours. I never really thought about it because my story is a little different. I was focused on the story of suicide survivors, and wanted to give those who felt lost a voice. I didn’t really stop think about someone heading in that direction but being saved before it got that dark. I pulled a little bit of what I was working with in the beginning in with my own story and it helped me create the final version.
I hope that people watch it and reflect a little bit about their own situation and help create a deeper understanding about this topic. I am hoping this will open up perspective a little more and people see the importance of professional help. This is a difficult topic not only to talk about, but also to understand. We not only have to be more aware of what is going on around us, but need to go a step further and work at building a skillset to know what to do when we someone else is in crisis. We have so much going on in our lives at any moment, but that doesn’t make someone else’s torment or crisis go away. We need to be more open with ourselves and one another. The main goal will and always has been to get rid of the stigma attached to mental health. It’s okay to not feel okay, but it’s not okay to ignore that or make someone feel otherwise. We need to normalize this conversation and normalize therapy as the proper option for help. We all need to come together and help continue the conversation.
“All We Are” follows a small handful of singles that you’ve released in the past year. How do you feel you’ve grown within the last year or even few months while working on these songs?
This might be a different answer, but All We Are was written at the end of 2017 and the last song written for the album. My time after that has been lightly creative with my focus mostly on the business side, which I am so not familiar with and frankly, horrible at! After recording the album, I did put a focus on music videos which is something I haven’t done before either. I really grew as a filmmaker and have been trying to focus on social media and posting and staying relevant. That is probably the most difficult part of this because I don’t come from that era. I am so focused on the creative side and what I am going to work on next, I forget people now a days need to know what I am doing almost on a 24 hour basis, that I forget to post things that might pretty cool.
What was the most rewarding part of working on these songs?
Hands down, knowing that I can do it. I spent so much of musical career wondering if I would ever achieve writing a full album. I now know I can, and want to continue doing so.
Do you have any big goals or plans for 2020?
Well probably the most important…the album titled “OldKID”, that I have been saying will be released since the summer of 2017, will finally be available to everyone! I have a date lined up and will be announcing that very soon. It would also be pretty cool if someone would, ya know, manage me or sign me? I need some serious help with the business side of things, which I have stated before I’m not really the best at, so it would be cool to have someone help me out. Other than that I really hope to play as many shows as I can, maybe a festival, tour a little, and I will be working on new songs for sure! I also want ice cream cake, but i’m pretty sure that will happen in 2020 at some point.
Thank you for taking the time to chat with us! Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Let’s take care of the obvious stuff first. Instagram is @delettomusic and you can find me on twitter and facebook as well. I also recently just lost my live bass players gift to his GF in Manhattan yesterday. So if you are reading this and came across a bag with an expensive tea set inside…THAT’S TIM’S, GIVE IT BACK!!! Oh and I would like a Nintendo switch for christmas, as well as the Turbo Man action figure with the arms and legs that move and the boomerang shooter and his rock’n roller jet pack and the realistic voice activator that says 5 different phrases including, “It’s Turbo time!” Accessories sold separately. Batteries not included. K thanks byeeeee. (if you DM me that reference on instagram I will buy you a sandwich)
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