No niche needed: Siena Chanel
You know that joke that circulates around the internet every so often that’s like “If you were kidnapped, what’s the one topic you could bring up and talk about that would annoy your kidnapper so much they’d let you go”? I could talk for eons about The Fangirl™.
The Fangirl is running a reputable update account about her favorite celebrity in between taking notes in her High School AP bio class (she has over half a million followers). She’s a corporate America girlboss making TikToks on her lunch break talking about her favorite songs and books. She’s a mom making mini outfits for her daughter that are inspired by her favorite musician. She’s a fashion blogger that uses her platform for activism. The Fangirl has evolved passed the hysterical crying photos of girls at concerts. She’s a business. She’s an influencer. She’s a creator. She’s an activist. And she finds community with other people that share the same passions she does.
I am fascinated and humbled to be surrounded by so many incredible fangirls. One of my favorites that I’ve “met” in the last two years is Siena Chanel.
I first came across Siena’s content on TikTok. It was a styling video of outfits inspired by Harry Styles. I was hooked. Her videos are the definition of aesthetic. She’s mastered slick transitions and she wears a suit better than anyone I know. Her content is some of my favorite to experience, because she doesn’t put herself into one box. She makes fashion content, with outfits inspired by her favorite artists or holidays. She posts a tour of her sage green bathroom (again aesthetic as hell). She shares songs she’s writing, or covers (my personal favorite is her flip of Bo Burnham’s “White Woman Instagram” to “A Straight White Man’s Instagram”). She shares clips of concerts she’s been to and monthly wrap up videos. On her instagram she shares infographics about sexual education and liberation as well as political breakdowns and info. All of her content, in it’s varying forms are so entertaining to watch because they are all so very Siena. Siena feels like the cool girl you actually want to be best friends with because her authenticity is so palpable.
On top of the multiple “hats” she wears on the internet, Siena is a songwriter, musician, and producer. While she’s always written or sung “silly little songs” growing up, she got serious about songwriting when she started learning guitar. The instrument offered her a new sense of structure in her songwriting that propelled her to start recording. She records things in her bedroom closet, mixes and edits her songs on her own. While Siena’s content on social media is bright and airy, her music holds a heaviness. Her lyrics can be dark, and her melodies are brooding. So far, Siena’s only released singles, but what I love most about what she’s released is that you can hear her discoveries in her songs. You can hear how she’s playing with different instruments, organizations of her songs, and varying inflections in her singing. It’s really cool to hear an artist in their origin stages, documenting their work like this. She’s also in college and she’s taking songwriting classes, which was where her latest single “Going Off” was first kindled.
Artwork by @_m2art_ on instagram.
“Going Off” is like the little sister to “Illicit Affairs” by Taylor Swift. It’s a song about longing for the unattainable and asking to be chosen by someone, all while drifting through secrecy, longing, and ultimatums. I love that this song is set to the backdrop of D.C.- a place full of larger than life monuments and an intricately rich history. I love the literal references made to iconic D.C. places like the National Mall (and the lawn of the National Mall), but I also love the metaphorical references made in the lyrics, like “I’ve been heeding to this monumental feeling when you call” (the D.C. monument), or “can’t help digging up the grave memorialized in a thousand hidden places to this day” (when I think of D.C., I think of the Arlington Cemetery that’s across the river). I’m obsessed with how these words are all things I associate with D.C. and the surrounding area, but Siena has molded them with new meaning in her song.
Also, I’m a sucker for a song that has a specific setting. Everytime I play the Lucius song “Wildewoman” and I’m walking around Chicago (especially in the winter), the lyrics “fearless like Chicago wind in the wintertime” hit on a spiritual level. Siena herself is a world traveler. She recently finished a study abroad semester in England, and this summer she’s been traveling around, most recently to South Korea. When I asked her if all the traveling effects her songwriting, she didn’t seem to think it had really changed her process, but it had given her a new sense of self and a new energy.
While traveling might not have changed how she approaches songs, I do think Siena views music as a map. She loves songs that are for specific places. She loves listening to “Kiwi” by Harry Styles and “Cornelia Street” by Taylor Swift whenever she’s in New York. She has playlists dedicated to the cities she’s traveled to, so it only makes sense that she’d eventually end up writing songs that are love letters to the cities she’s been to.
Siena told me when she started recording things, she was most inspired by The 1975. I love that, because that band embodies constant change while also having a signaure style of sound. No two albums are alike in their sonic realms. They’re always sort of evolving and shifting themselves into something new. I think it’s exciting for a young musician like Siena to align herself with that kind of artistry. You can definitely hear their inspiration in the production of her songs, in the background vocals and dark instrumental sounds. Like many musicians, Siena is also inspired by Billie Eillish and Finneas, which you can hear in her vocals and melodies.
I love discovering artists like Siena, because finding artists this early in their creative process is exciting. You get to be present for their new songs, and albums, and their inevitable successes. I’m so excited to see where Siena goes and who she becomes as a musician.
You can listen to Siena’s music on Spotify and Apple Music.