For musical artist and third-year pop performance major Luna Day, life has always been a thing of art — both visually and sonically. Whether it was watercolors on a canvas, Elton John in her headphones or original songs on a page, keeping lines rigid between artistic disciplines was never a part of Day’s creative process.

“My art, like painting, bled into my artist projects. I feel like color palette is such a large part of [music] so, in the end, I feel like growing up painting actually really ended up helping my artistry musically,” Day said.

Her synesthetic artistry as a musician has resonated with over 18,000 people on TikTok alone, with a clip of her song “Obsessed” garnering almost two million views.

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Maybe it’s the Luna Day persona being a “concentrated” version of the artist rather than an alter ego, or maybe it’s the red-and-black-toned, Hex Girls-esque aesthetic that surrounds her music — a sound that Day’s bassist and pop performance junior Sophia Damiani described as “dark, menacing and gut-wrenching.” 

Whatever aspect of Luna Day’s vibe is most alluring, she’s gained over 35,000 monthly listeners on Spotify since releasing her first single in September of 2023.

“I feel like [social media] really appeals to the visual side of me, the side that paints a lot,” Day said. “When I’m writing a song, I very clearly see what the colors are going to be, what the visual is going to be, so for me, social media is a manifestation of that, and how I can take that and put it in a visual format.”

However, virality is not a driving factor in Day’s pursuit as a musician. Instead, Luna Day is driven by the pursuit of artistic catharsis and honesty: As a result of her authenticity as a songwriter, she has garnered popularity on social media.

“My head is so in the process and in the world of creating visuals and creating storytelling. I’m too busy to even think about [music] as a numbers game,” Day said. “For me, my goal with music was always just to write something that connects with me and maybe by chance, it would connect with somebody else — that was always the dream.”

Day personally found early connections with artists such as David Bowie and Queen, listing the bold, unapologetically dramatic aesthetic of 1970s pop culture as a major influence in her persona and performance as an artist. 

However, their effect on her art isn’t necessarily just musical or visual; rather, Day often finds herself inspired by “reading the passion for the arts” in the work of other musicians, especially when collaborating with other artists.

Drummer and fellow third-year pop performance major Maren Alford specifically appreciates Day’s ability to create a collaborative environment in which every contributor can express themselves creatively while also maintaining a shared direction in a joint end product. 

“Even though Luna Day is a solo artist, she’s always like, ‘This is our whole band. This is all our song,’ even though she technically wrote it. She’s always big about letting all of us write our own parts and any kind of input or thoughts that we have,” Alford said. “She’s always so excited to listen and work with everyone on it, which I think is something that’s so nice and really special.”

Collaboration is not only a major source of inspiration for Day, but it has also had a significant impact on her overall experience as a songwriter and performer. 

“The love that you have, whether it’s for your friends or your producers or your peers that you’re working with, manifests,” Day said. “Because the more passionate everybody is, the better the project is. I’ve never really had a passive approach to writing music and collaborating, I’m usually very intense and involved when I’m in the studio. So it’s nice working with people that are just as laser-focused on the project.”

Because Day is self-taught, being a student at the University has not only allowed her to collaborate more easily with like-minded artists for the first time in her career as a musician, but it has also made her stronger as a solo artist who can better communicate with other musicians in a collaborative project.

“While she is really collaborative, she always has a really clear vision of what she’s thinking and her aesthetic,” Alford said. “So she’s always like, ‘This is what I have in mind, and I know you know what you’re doing, so you know how to make it come to life and sound the best.’”

Day’s determination and ambition span her entire career as a musician, but her progress as a solo artist is leading the way as she looks forward to a year of releases and performances.

“I’m interested in writing for other projects and producing, and getting involved in the making of other projects as well,” Day said. “But my artist project is everything to me, so I feel like that’s really what I’m pouring a lot of my energy into as of late.”