Giselle Manto Visits Section 36 Music!

Section 36 Music has another visitor! Giselle Manto was long overdue for a visit with us. If you're not familiar with her recent singles, "Waters New" and "Aruba", you need to go check them out right now. I was incredibly excited that Giselle wanted to visit with us to discuss the songs, her goals, and more. I'm sure you'll love what she had to say.

So, let's see what happens when Giselle Manto visits Section 36 Music!

I really loved your latest single, with Natalie Del Carmen, “Waters New”. What can you tell me about it?

Natalie and I were roommates during college and we went through a lot together growing up and seeing what the world is like after college. Waters New represents trying to have fun with simple things and always feeling like you’re chasing something but at the end of the day it’s the people around you that matter most. 

The way we wrote this song was also very interesting and fast and I think shows our relationship really well. Natalie was showing me her beautiful baritone guitar in a drop D tuning and teaching me how she plays with drop D (something I usually don’t play in). I wrote the verse super quick and then handed her the guitar and said can you help me write a chorus and it came spilling out of her and the song came about in less than a day basically. Natalie and I are always in sync. I love her dearly. We have always had a special connection not only as friends but in music too our voices blend so well and we’d say that sometimes we can’t tell who’s singing what. 

It had a different feel to me than your solo work. How would you say it compares to a song like your single, “Aruba”?

Waters New and Aruba are extremely different and I think that’s something I really like about my writing. I don’t like to stick to one genre. As a producer, I think it’s really important to explore different styles. They are very guitar heavy songs cause I usually write with guitar first and then build on top. And they both have a positive meaning to them. Aruba is a breakup song, but it’s also a song about appreciating the past. For example, that lyric in the second first that says “I’m happy every time I reminisce”.

You’re a graduate of Berklee College of Music. What is the biggest thing Berklee did for your career?

Berklee gave me a good group of people to work with and also taught me a lot of practical things about vocals, harmonies and having an ear to mix a production. I think one of the biggest things I take from Berklee is not to compare yourself with other people.  Comparison is thief of joy. Being around so many talented people from all over the world at Berklee was certainly intimidating, very beautiful, inspiring and I think it was a great community to learn from.

If you could cover any Disney song, which one would you choose?

I love a lot of the Renaissance Disney era. Currently, I have been listening to ‘He’s a Tramp’ from Lady and the Tramp, so I would probably cover that one. I love jazz.

What would you say is the biggest challenge with your music career?

The biggest challenge has always been social media for me. Marketing/administrative/publishing/dealing with royalties. Making music is really just 5% of making music. And being consistent too, is hard online. 

What are your immediate musical goals?

To be frank, my immediate music goals are to get more streams, release more music, and find people who genuinely enjoy what I make. I have a lot more songs coming out this year and next year and a lot of different genres and possibly different languages so please stay tuned and connected

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I know I definitely enjoy the music she makes!

As always, I want to thank Giselle for visiting with us, and for sending along the pictures to accompany the interview. 

As she suggests, you’ll all want to follow her and see what she has going on. I would follow her on Instagram and Spotify to make sure you don't miss a thing. 

Thanks again, Giselle! Looking forward to helping you reach your goals!