Emerging Mexican-American femmetón singer-songwriter La Doña’s new album, Algo Nuevo, dropped March 12 via Human Re Sources just as the coronavirus pandemic intensified in the U.S. Concerts, festivals and other large gatherings across the country were canceled, including her planned South by Southwest debut, interrupting her early career momentum.
As part of Billboard’s efforts to best cover the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the music industry, we will be speaking with La Doña — whose real name is Cecilia Cassandra Peña-Govea – each week to chronicle her experience throughout the crisis. (Read the previous installment here and see the full series here.)
What’s changed in the past couple of weeks for you?
My distributor [Human Re Sources] was acquired by Sony and so I’m hoping there will be more support for the projects via The Orchard. That’s exciting. Obviously it’s going to take a while for everyone to get their footing and for things to settle but that has given me more motivation and more like hope for putting out music.
I’ve also finally been working on music again. I’ve been practicing a bit more since I got my big nails off, I can play guitar again. I’m a little rusty and without feedback from a crowd, it’s kind of difficult to always trust every idea you might have. But I’m making my way back to that point and it feels pretty good.
Did you find out about the acquisition when it was announced earlier this month or were you informed it was happening ahead of time?
I pretty much found out the day it was announced and I think that was the case for all teams/artists across the board. I’ve spoken to other managers and artists at Human Re Sources that were also told until like the night before the announcement when the deal was done. But I haven’t heard from them so don’t really know what the new game plan is.
How has this year shaped the type of artist you want to be moving forward?
It hasn’t changed my priorities as an artist but 2020 allowed me to see more clearly what my capacity and capabilities are. Growing up, I was playing at parties with my family band. It was our job to just show up, be fun and play great dance music for whoever the crowd might be.
Being a performance-based artist without an audience, it really does make you reconsider a lot of the weight you put in your artistry. Before, I felt the best making music for people to dance to and people could party to. Now, since there are no live performances it is liberating in a certain way because I can make music for people to just listen to. It’s also challenging because it makes me second guess myself a little bit more. Because I always think, “Is this something I would want to listen to without being at a party, without being able to dance, without my friends?” It makes me want to transition into exploring all the different aspects of my musicality where as before La Doña was my reggaeton project and I was doing regional Mexican music with my family, now I feel like, OK, we’re pulling out all the parts, it’s all on the table and I’m going to work with what I have. It makes me feel more confident diversifying my project.
What kind of impact has this year had on you financially?
I’m in a pretty unique position because while I did start growing [as an artist], I never quit my other job and that has to do with me being a workaholic but it’s also comes with living in San Francisco and knowing that nothing is for sure. No matter how many gigs you have, how busy you are, there will always be a slower season. I learned that by watching my dad and his band. I learned from his example to always keep steady income coming in and not to rely solely on ones artistry. That’s something my team has always challenged me on. They would say “eventually you’ll have to transition and stop working four jobs.” But it ended up serving me very well. Obviously, I would have wanted at least over half of my income to be coming from my music but as it is, I feel in a good position right now.
How do you see next year playing out for you?
I think that I would like to release a couple of singles and work on releasing an EP. I released one EP right when COVID-19 hit so I know what it’s like to release a project during a pandemic. I can say it’s disappointing and sad not be able to perform your new project. But I feel fine about releasing an EP while everything is still shut down but I don’t plan on releasing a full album until I’m able to tour.
When do you think you’ll feel safe performing live, in front of a crowd again?
My biggest concern is the safety of the audience. I know that I can be on stage, I can have my distance and everyone on my crew can get tested but that doesn’t at all guarantee the safety of attendees. As a responsible artist, you know the same way I cancelled my EP release show on the first day of quarantine, I have the best interest of my fans. When will it happen? I have no idea. Maybe at the beginning of next year, I might try and get my hands on an outdoor permit in San Francisco for public performance spaces and try doing a show outdoors but when I’ll do like big concerts again, I really don’t know.
Finish this sentence: In 2021, I want to …
Buy a house in the Bay Area. I can’t afford San Francisco. There’s a long list but that’s my lifelong goal and everyone has said “you don’t want to sign a deal? Sign a deal so you can put a down payment on the house?” I’m like you know it’s ok. I’ll reach my goal when I reach my goal and do it the way I want to with integrity as an artist.
