If you’ve turned on the radio, watched a music channel on TV, or simply just opened TikTok in the past few months, you’ve probably heard Minelli‘s hit song „Rampampam”, and once you’ve heard it, you most likely couldn’t get it out of your head for a while. But who’s the singer behind the song?
The 33-year-old singer-songwriter with the incredibly enchanting voice, has been an essential force of the music scene in her homeland, Romania for the past 15 years. After starting out her career in a girl band, she took some time off to find her own style and sound before lunching her solo career. Over the years, she has collaborated with artists such as INNA, and this year, she delivered the song of the summer, as well.
Watch our interview with Minelli in which we talked to her about her career so far, her inspirations, „Rampampam”, her plans for the future, and we even taught her a little bit of Hungarian, which she enjoyed very much – exclusive interview with Minelli.
First of all, how are you and how have you been doing lately?
I’m fine, thanks! I’m at home right now, and I’m gonna go to do some workout after this interview.
Alright! So we would like to get to know you just a little bit better by playing a game of rapid questions. So, you ready?
Yes!
First, how would you describe yourself in 3 words? Only 3 words.
3 words? Umm… this is hard. It’s very hard for me to speak about myself. I think a serious person, perseverant, if I said it right, and always focused on what I have to do!
Alright, and can you tell us 3 fun facts about yourself?
Fun facts? It’s hard, you know!
You know, just fun things like your favourite colour, or whatever…
Yeah, yeah… My favourite colour, I don’t know if I have one. I love black lately! Even though it’s not a colour, it’s a non-colour. I love music, but you know that, you already know that. And I love watching interviews!
Really?
Yeah, yeah. I think that’s a hobby!
Yeah. Speaking of music, can you name 3 songs that you’ve been listening to a lot lately?
Yeah! DJ Regard – Secrets, I love that track. Ariana Grande – shut up, and Let’s Get Down To Business from I think Tiësto, right? Yeah.
Good choices! So, you’ve been in the music industry for like, 15 years now. Looking back, how do you reflect on your career?
It’s all about a lot of work and being focused, like I said. I think even though it’s hard, you have to follow those steps just to be in the right spot… in the right time, in the right spot, every time. I worked a lot like everybody does, and I’m glad to see that my music is passing through other countries right now.
And what is your proudest achievement so far?
I think what is happening now with Rampampam. It’s the best one. The song is growing and I’m happy to see that everybody likes the vibe and the message of the song.
Now let’s get back to the beginning of your career just for a second. You come from a successful girl band called Wassabi. I’m wondering, what is the biggest difference of being in a girl band and being a solo artist?
I think it was hard then, too, because, you know, when you’re in a girl group, you have to be the cool one, or the one that speaks the most… You have to have a spot. It was very hard for me to be able to express myself in a solo career and I had to take some time for myself to discover myself as an artist, to see what I wanna sing, what kind of artist I wanna be. Even though it was hard, I worked a lot and discovered what type of music I wanna sing and what type of messages I wanna bring in the world to the people to see and listen to.
You released your first solo single in 2017, so like, 4 years ago. Are you planning to release an album sometime?
Yeah, I receive this question a lot. I think I have lots of songs in the studio, but I don’t know if it’s the right time for me to release an album, even though I have a lot of song. Maybe we will do that, too, after Rampampam. Maybe we will release an album, too. Soon. I don’t know.
Cool! We’re waiting for it.
Yeah, thanks!
Let’s talk a little bit more about Rampampam. Well first of all, congratulations on it, it’s actually one of my favourite songs right now.
Thanks!
How are you feeling about the success of it and did you think it would be as successful and it became when you made it?
We were in the studio, we wrote this song, and we were very happy with the sound of it. It’s hard to say I think this will be a hit smash, but we had the impression it’s a great song. We are very happy to see the song is going up and up and up, so it’s crazy. It’s actually crazy what is happening right now with Rampampam.
And what were your main inspirations behind it? What does this song mean to you personally?
It’s not inspired from by own experience or something. I think it’s a song that everybody can relate to and maybe that’s the most important thing. You know, when you have a message like that and people can send you messages, like, damn, I feel you, I’ve seen the video and I wanna do that, too! But in a metaphoric way! And I’m saying to all the girls that are sending me messages, it’s just a metaphoric way! If you had problems with somebody, don’t do that, okay? Just end the relationship and move on!
In the past, you’ve done some really cool collaborations, for example with Vanotek or INNA, just to name a few. So, I’m wondering, who is your dream collaborator that you haven’t got the chance to work with, yet?
I have a lot of artists I wanna collaborate with. Maybe Bruno Mars, I love his music his style, his performance, and Anne-Marie, I think. Yeah, Bruno Mars and Anne-Marie. And maybe some DJs like Martin Garrix, Calvin Harris… I dream big, but that’s important to do!
Yeah, that’s totally important! And are there any collabs on the way that you’re working on?
I actually have one, but I can say nothing about that. We have some discussions. We have to think about some collaborations and we will talk about them when it’s the right time.
Alright. Last year, you did a really exciting project with INNA and some great producers, where you just moved into a house and you were locked up there for weeks, just making music. I’m wondering, how was that experience for you and what was the biggest takeaway from it?
It was a session for INNA, for her album, and we had a great time. It’s actually easy when you work with the people that you work with every time. It’s the same team, actually, and we had a lot of fun. So I think that’s the most important thing, to have fun and make music and to see that every song that you’re making has an impact on people’s minds and to see that everybody’s reacting cool when they hear the songs. So I think that’s the most important thing, to have fun, make music and see the results after that.
And which one do you prefer more, singing, or writing songs?
Hmm, it’s hard to answer. I think both of them. It’s hard to choose only one, because even though I love doing songwriting, I love singing, too. I’m an artist so it’s hard to choose.
What inspires you when you’re writing songs in general? Where do you get your inspiration from?
The weather can inspire me! Maybe if it’s cloudy, I wanna write a ballad, if it’s sunny, I wanna write something like Discoteka, or one of my party songs. Some words, I do that a lot, searching on Google for special words, like it was Discoteka, I love the sound of Discoteka, and it sounds to me a little but old-school. I said let’s make the song with Discoteka, great vibes and everything. Maybe some stories, if you’re telling me something about, oh I broke up with my girl and I’m very depressed, that can inspire me. I don’t know, even basic things. If I’m watching a movie, and I see something there, it can inspire me. Several things, yeah.
Okay, and is the process of songwriting different when you’re writing songs for yourself from when you’re writing songs for other artists?
Actually, the process is the same. Maybe I put more pressure on myself when I’m writing for me. I don’t know why. But every time is challenging because I wanna write great things and see people are happy with the songs. It’s the same process, but I think I put more pressure on myself when I’m writing for me. I don’t know why, I don’t have an explanation.
Yeah, I get it. And which song of your would you show to a person that doesn’t know you yet?
Which song of my? A released one?
Yeah, let’s say.
Okay. Maybe „Haos”, it’s a Romanian song, actually. I love, love that song. It didn’t work that well, I don’t know why, but I still love that song very much.
It’s just close to your heart.
Yeah.
You actually mentioned now that, you asked „a released one?” and earlier you said you have tons of unreleased songs. So I’m just wondering, exactly how many unreleased songs do you have right now?
I don’t have a number, but there are a lots of songs unreleased… maybe, I don’t know, maybe 100. Maybe.
Most of your music is club-based. I’m just wondering now that clubs are opening up again, can you tell us about your craziest party experience?
Hmm. I don’t know if I have a crazy experience… Maybe when I was little. I don’t think I have one because, you know, I’m not that party girl, even though I have a lot of songs with a party vibe. I don’t think I have one. I’m not that spicy!
Let’s switch it then maybe for the craziest concert experience? Like a concert of yours? Or like a memorable one?
I didn’t have a crazy, crazy one, no. Not yet! Maybe I’ll have, I don’t know.
Maybe in the future.
Yeah, yeah.
Speaking of future, now that the world is kind of opening up again, what are your plans? What are you planning to do in the next couple of months?
I plan to have a lot of concerts. I don’t know if it will happen, we already have some planned. But you know, it’s still a pandemic situation so we are still careful. But I’m planning to sing a lot. I don’t know if there you have lots of concerts now? In Romania, it’s like, umm.
I think we do have concerts actually with local artists. So not international ones…
But it’s not big, big enough… In Romania, it’s the same. It’s like, maybe 50% open.
Here, I think we can have 5000 people, but you have to be vaccinated. But here, a lot of people are vaccinated, so it’s not a problem anymore.
So, I think it’s the same in every country even though in Russia, they have some restrictions, again. So, I’m planning to sing, hope to be able to do that, like, the whole summer.
Well, hopefully. Hopefully, we can see you this summer, or maybe next year, when you’re touring or doing a concert.
Yeah!
Basically, that’s all we planned for you today, but before we let you go, we would like to teach you something so you can take away something from this interview, as well. So, do you know any Hungarian words?
No. Maybe I’ve heard some, but I don’t know. You have to teach me, right now!
Right! So we would like to teach you how to say I love you in Hungarian. So, it goes like this: „szeretlek”.
„Szeretlek”.
Yeah, wow! For the first time!
I knew that, I knew that! I still know some words, but it’s hard for me right now to say some. So „szeretlek”, it’s I love you.
Yeah.
And how do you say hello?
Hello is „szia”.
Ah, „szia”?
„Szia”. You know, like the singer, Sia.
Ah, okay, cool. I didn’t know that one, okay.
Yeah, if you would like to say „goodbye”, that’s „viszlát”. That’s like a formal word.
Okay, like, „viszlák”?
Viszlát. With a „t” at the end.
Viszlát. Okay, cool. So, I’m with „szeretlek”! Now I know something!
So, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us.
Thank you very much. Thanks a lot!
Hope to see you sometime!
Hope to see you soon live! Szeretlek, kisses, bye!
