Today we’d like to introduce you to Deora Clairé.
Hi Deora Clairé, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
As a young girl, I always loved to sing and perform. My dad would play music at home and I would sing my little heart out. At church, we would sing from the hymn books every Sunday. These experiences inspired me to have big dreams of being a singer.
My singing and writing skills came naturally to me. I wrote my first song in elementary school and participated in the choir. Singing in the school choir was a way for me to express myself, my thoughts, and my feelings. I also sang in four choirs throughout high school while preparing for college.
Growing up, my parents stressed the importance of God and education, so I didn’t take my music seriously until after I earned my bachelor’s degree in Spanish and a minor in International Business from the University of Memphis. Two years later, in 2018, I released my first EP, Love Over Hate. Although it was a release of only three songs, it strengthened my confidence and led me to remix the top-performing song Forget You in English and Spanish in 2019.
In 2019, I resigned from my job to pursue my music career and participated in the ASCAP Expo. The ASCAP Expo is an annual conference experience for members to network and learn from other creatives including successful artists. I also made my first music video which was for Forget You Bilingual Remix. However, despite my expectations, the summer of 2019 changed my life forever.
I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in July after having a severe manic episode that was triggered by heartbreak, which resulted in me being in a mental hospital for a week. Later that month, I was unknowingly depressed. I stopped singing and creating songs. I thought it was the end of my dreams so I got another job in marketing to pay my bills.
After my second manic episode in March of 2020, I found myself in a deep depression. I was battling suicidal thoughts, but God reminded me of Jeremiah 29:11 where He says that He has plans to prosper me, not to harm me, to give me hope and a future. This meant I still had a purpose and that something good could still come out of my life. From Jeremiah 29:11, my song “Purpose” was born.
My song “Purpose” was the beginning of my getting back into writing music. I wrote plenty of songs in 2020 and 2021. In January of 2022, I released my first album Golden. Golden is about how I overcame heartbreak and mental health challenges which exponentially grew my relationship with God.
This year I have decided to apply the pressure in pursuing my music career by not only releasing the album Golden in January but also releasing another full album titled My Life in August. I’m excited about where God is taking me musically, and I look forward to continuing this journey.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road in pursuing my music career. The biggest challenge was dealing with a mental illness diagnosis while pursuing my dreams of being a singer full-time. After battling bipolar disorder, I lost my confidence to sing and write music. Not only did I lose confidence in my music career, but I also lost who I was as a person. I was in denial about my mental illness diagnosis because I felt like it could not happen to me. I had a lot of positive things going for me like earning a bachelor’s degree, being bilingual, releasing music, and performing across the country.
The truth is mental illness does not discriminate or care about what you have going for you. I had to learn that the diagnosis does not define me or change who God says I am. As an artist, knowing who I am and being confident in my identity is important when creating my music because authenticity speaks volumes and impacts my lyrics positively.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a Bilingual R&B Singer-songwriter from Memphis, TN. I am most proud of the messages in my songs. Each song I write is meaningful and my soulful voice on top of the R&B and Hip Hop beats brings them to life. What sets me apart is that I sing and write lyrics in English and Spanish based on my experiences. My goal is to spread messages of faith, hope, and love because that’s what we all need to get through the ups and downs of life.
We love surprises, fun facts, and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Another contributing factor to the delay in pursuing my music career was a lack of confidence in my talent. In high school, I did not have the confidence that I have now in my voice to lead solos. However, I could not shake the dream of being a singer and performing as a solo artist.
I realized that I truly had a gift after a crowd exploded in applause during my performance at a talent show in Costa Rica, while I was studying abroad in 2015. I received compliments all throughout the week following the show. The applause from the talent show gave me the confidence boost that I needed to pursue my music career.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.deoraclaire.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deoraclaire/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deoraclaire/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRyU2CTOr4sxju_yg9QCwBA
Image Credits
@Madebyglyde
