THE GIRL WITH THE P I N K G U I TA R Singer, songwriter and guitarist Destiny Petrel shares her journey in becoming a solo artist
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s a kid growing up in Long Island, NY I would carry my guitar everywhere I went. I guess it was because of how I grew up, music was always there. My sisters Jess and Rebekah and I, first learned piano at the age of 6 in my grandparents basement apartment and were thrown into playing in a gospel church by the age of 14. My parents were music Pastors so I was surrounded by music constantly. I think that shaped me most into the musician I am today. My Dad has a background as a professional rock and roll sax player / vocalist, and my Mom as a choir director / teacher. So growing up in my household there was a lot of listening to gospel singers like Andrae Crouch, Cece Winans, Kirk Frankin to pop artists like Fleetwood Mac, Billy Joel, Heart and Queen etc. My sisters and I started making music together ever since I could remember, but professionally started as a PopRock band who traveled the world together. Jessica, lead singer, Bekah on keys and me playing guitar, with all 3 of us singing in harmony. At 16 yrs old I went on my first tour with them which was an amphitheater tour across the US. It was insane! That’s really when my career started in music. Together we toured playing over 300 shows performing from dive bars, to clubs, festivals and amphitheaters.The transition from being in a band with my sisters to now was super strange at first because of how much I love creating and playing with them. I mean, we still do almost everything together, we live together in LA. HAHA. So it doesn’t feel too different but still weird not having them by my side every step of the way. 16 M. CITIZEN MAGAZINE | ISSUE 04
WOR DS BY @DE S T I N Y PET R E L PHOTOS BY @ GR EGL EV I T T PHOTO GR A PH Y
Over the years I began working alongside other artists touring as a background vocalist and guitarist. I’ve worked with artists such as Lauren Jauregui, Grace Vanderwaal, and Jake Miller just to name a few. And now can count close to 100 shows played. In studio sessions, recording along side producers like Metro Boomin' (Drake, The Wknd, 21 Savage), Dre Moon (Beyonce, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Tinashe), A1 (Chris Brown, Yung Berg, Gucci Mane, Jeremiah) & Brian Howes (Boys Like Girls, Nickleback, Daughtry). It's been a dream so far and a crazy ride with highs but a ton of lows. The industry isn’t the best so it’s been a trip, maneuvering around people who just want to take advantage of you in every way possible. Thankfully because of my sisters, I feel better knowing that there are people I’m surrounded by who love me and genuinely care for me. I released my first single “Sad Girl”, as a solo artist on December 11th 2020. Sad Girl was written while on tour with the person I’m singing about. It was one of those things where we both were around each other 24/7 and she was taking up so much time and space in my heart. So everything that she was going through and felt, I started feeling heavily. Writing it on the road then coming back from tour and producing the song in my bedroom was so therapeutic. It was like going through a breakup at the end of tour, and so it felt so good to get all my feelings out after. I can only hope other people feel as connected to it as I do, because I think we all feel that heavy sadness sometimes, and that’s okay. My 2nd single - Feel the Same just dropped and I couldn’t be more excited about that song too. ►
