Dani Josie only has a handful official songs to her name, but she’s been performing music for as long as she can remember.
A rising star of New Zealand pop-punk, Josie always knew she wanted to be an artist. She properly pursued last year with the release of a trio of catchy singles, “Bye Bye Now”, “When I Was Young”, and “Go Go Go”.
She followed those up at the start of this year with “Lovebomber”, a high-energy single that captures the emotional turbulence that comes with being ‘love-bombed’ – a relationship dynamic where overwhelming affection is followed by toxic behaviour.
“It’s about the highs of a toxic relationship or someone who is bad for you. I feel like a lot of people can relate to the idea of being attracted to things that aren’t necessarily good for them,” Josie says.
Produced by Devin Abrams (Drax Project, Six60, Fat Freddy’s Drop), the polished track finds Josie drawing on Y2K-era influences like Paramore, as well as following the example of contemporaries like Olivia Rodrigo.
Nothing sums up Josie’s swift rise in Aotearoa music than the fact that she was booked to play Rhythm and Vines mere months after she dropped her debut single. Expect her to become a regular performer at the iconic Kiwi festival moving forward.
Following the release of “Lovebomber”, Rolling Stone AU/NZ caught up with Josie as part of our Up-And-Coming Aotearoa Artists series, which you can read below.
Rolling Stone AU/NZ: How did music influence you in your early life?
Dani Josie: Music was my escape, as a kid I struggled a lot with being bullied at school. I loved to write songs, I love to sing, and I knew I fit into it, so it was my way of escaping that world that I just did not fit into.
What artists influenced you growing up?
As a kid when I first started writing songs at 11-years-old, the main artist I looked up to was definitely Taylor Swift. I feel like she’s a very real person and she’s relatable, not only in her writing but just as a person. To me, she just felt like every other teenage girl and I really admire her realness and relatability because that’s what I love in an artist.
I loved all things 2000s, so Green Day, Paramore, Avril Lavigne. For some reason I always wanted to feel like I was in the 2000s movie, so I really loved punk/pop and wanted to recreate my own versions of it.
Lorde was also huge for me because I saw her as just a Kiwi kid and she’s done incredibly well in the music industry, and I guess before Lorde I didn’t really think that was possible, because in my eyes as a kid all the popular artists were American or British. So I thought it was really cool to have a Kiwi girl as one of the biggest artists in the world, and because of that she definitely heavily influenced my music.
When did you discover your passion for creating music?
I’ve been singing since probably before I could talk. I have videos of myself at 3-years-old performing to hundreds of people at shows, any opportunity I could get. I just did not feel embarrassment at all. I just wanted to sing, which is quite funny looking back on.
I started properly writing music at 11-years-old. I think the first song I ever wrote was called “bumpy roads”, and I wrote it about life and how life is like a bumpy road and never fully smooth. Because at the time some girls at school were being very mean to me and writing music was my way of escaping them and that environment. Writing music always helped me feel like I was a part of something bigger and not just this game of popularity which I feel like most kids struggle with – school is our whole world at that age.
When I did start properly writing, I would write a different song every day.
What are some career highlights so far?
Definitely playing Rhythm and Vines was a huge one for me. I had only released my debut single “Go Go Go” four months before, so that was pretty incredible. It’s easy to always doubt yourself and feel like you’re not moving anywhere when you’re working at something so hard every day, but looking back it was [a] pretty big climb to go from releasing a first song to playing New Zealand’s biggest festival and being completely self-managed too.
Releasing “Go Go Go” as my debut single was so exciting to me. I finally had something I was really proud of out in the world, and it really felt like after years of preparing and writing and thinking how to do everything or what to do with my life I finally had my first single out there, and it accumulated over 10,000 streams in 2 days which to me was huge. Not only did “Go Go Go” hit amazing streaming numbers, it also got played across mainstream radio all over New Zealand – hearing myself for the first time and people sending videos of my song on the radio was a real step in the right direction for me and a huge highlight.
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Tell us about your new single “Lovebomber”. What’s it about?
I wrote “Lovebomber” about a toxic relationship I was in, and I just could not get away from this person no matter what I tried, and then when I finally did I looked back and realised how bad they were for me. There’s something thrilling about falling in love with someone who’s bad for you, and I think it’s a really interesting and unfortunately relatable concept so I wanted to delve into it more.
Are you happy with fans’ reaction to the track so far?
“Lovebomber” has had over 10,000 streams in five days and the music video is doing so well on VEVO on YouTube. I feel like the track is a little bit more complicated than “Go Go Go” – it leans a bit more into that punk side of my music and I’ve had only good feedback so far. A few of my friends have played my songs to their friends and their friends have said, ‘Oh my God I love this song how do you know Dani Josie?’ All these stories are really cool to hear that my name is actually getting out there and people are really listening to “Lovebomber”.
What kind of personality traits and values do you believe it takes to succeed in the music industry?
To be honest, I don’t think there are many specific personality traits or values that it takes to succeed in the music industry At the end of the day music is art, and success in this industry looks different for everyone. I honestly think some people will love you if you’re not relatable at all and other people will love you if you are only relatable.
I would say the only one that would stick out is confidence, because it takes a lot to be able to share your art and your stories and be vulnerable to the world by sharing your music.
I think in order for me to be successful, I want to uphold being real and to be unapologetically myself… I’m just gonna be me and you should just be you.
To be kind and to be a good role model is my number one. When I was a kid the main people I looked up to were artists and I really want to be a good role model for people, and my dream is for people to look up to me and to be able to teach people and comfort them through my art.
How would you describe your music to a potential fan?
My music is about the real parts of life. It’s a 2am heart to heart over FaceTime, or loud belly laughing in public. It’s singing at the top of your lungs or dancing in the rain. It’s saying how you really feel. It’s pop with attitude and punk with femininity and confidence.
What are your goals for 2025 and beyond? What can fans expect from you this year?
This year I’ve already begun really trying to work on my writing. I’ve got three songs I am so proud of, they’re very well-written, and produced incredibly with my producer and friend Devin Abrams. They’re very special and I look forward to releasing them this year. I think my next few releases are really going to show people who I am as an artist and how serious I am about my art. You can expect a lot more shows – I’ve got a few lined up already I can’t wait to announce and hopefully some more big festivals at the end of the year!
