{"id":2036785,"date":"2025-09-20T10:28:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T10:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2036785"},"modified":"2025-09-20T10:28:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T10:28:10","slug":"the-making-of-this-central-coast-artist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/the-making-of-this-central-coast-artist\/","title":{"rendered":"The making of this Central Coast artist"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Breaking into the music industry is tough, but one Central Coast artist is rising by staying true to his roots.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Eduardo Vargas (stage name: DannyV), may appear like your usual 20-something from the 831, but the Watsonville native is far from typical.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">For over six years, Vargas has been putting in the work\u2014learning new skills, producing content, building a following.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Now, the 28-year-old artist is reaping the rewards, closing out a packed 2025 with more live shows and growing traction on Spotify, YouTube, and social media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;This is really the first year that I&#8217;ve been doing shows non-stop since the year started and it&#8217;s really showed me where my audience is,&#8221; said Vargas, who in addition to his music, has a degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering. &#8220;Now, I can collect the data and come back at the end of the year and reflect on the cities that worked well, and the ones that didn&#8217;t when we start organizing a tour with multiple stops next year.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">His latest single, &#8220;100,000 hours,&#8221; is about his journey as an independent artist trying to make it in the music industry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;The opportunities that I&#8217;ve been given weren&#8217;t because this happened overnight\u2014I&#8217;ve put in the work,&#8221; said Vargas, while he sat outside a Watsonville coffee shop. &#8220;There was a series of several nights learning how to engineer, how to produce, how to record.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Vargas got his start making beats while in high school. Then, as he attended Cabrillo College and San Jose State University, he started producing other artists.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I was selling my beats and when I got to San Jose, artists would ask me do I record artists, too? So that inspired me to buy the equipment and learn how to engineer vocals,&#8221; said Vargas. &#8220;So, I started this whole musical journey by learning the fundamentals of recording and production.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After a while of producing for other artists, he wanted something more.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;It felt like it just wasn&#8217;t good enough for me\u2014I wanted to take a stab at it and try it myself,&#8221; said Vargas. &#8220;I had the microphone. I knew how to make beats. I knew how to engineer the vocals. I had all the ingredients to make a record.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"group absolute bottom-3 right-3 size-10 md:size-[50px] lg:inset-0 lg:size-full lg:bg-transparent\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Modal Dialog\" aria-modal=\"true\" class=\"fixed inset-0 z-4 size-full max-h-none max-w-none bg-white hidden\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<p>DannyV at East Lake Shopping Center Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025 in Watsonville, Calif.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">The first single<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The DannyV sound is a blend of rhythm &amp; blues and hip-hop. As of late, the artist has brought a soulful feel to his music, reminiscent of the oldies his mother would listen to while he was growing up.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;My mom had this Greatest Hits oldies CD that had Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, The Persuaders&#8217; \u201cThin line between love and hate,\u201d so many of those classic records,&#8221; said Vargas. &#8220;I feel like those records are a core memory of my youth.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Vargas started writing records in Spanish, influenced by reggaeton which surged in popularity around 2019.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Then COVID-19 hit, everyone started sheltering-in-place, and schools went online. Vargas took advantage of the downtime.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Since I was going to San Jose State, there wasn&#8217;t much time for me to fully focus on music, but when COVID hit, I was able to go to school online and focus on writing and recording,&#8221; said Vargas. &#8220;I did that for a year and then dropped my first single (Toxic) in 2021 and I got about 10,000 streams the first week.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">His debut EP, &#8220;The Lost &amp; Found,&#8221; soon followed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Fast forward to 2025 and the artist has three albums on Spotify, with over 100,000 streams each on his most popular singles.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">The strategic approach<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Vargas&#8217; approach to the music industry is more method and strategy than hopes and dreams, a reflection of his engineering background.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;It&#8217;s essentially optimizing a system and learning how to improve it,&#8221; said Vargas.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">For the artist, this means using data to pick where he performs, building and leveraging his social media following, and driving further engagement through video and collaborations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;When it comes to me in the studio the engineering hat completely comes off and it&#8217;s all creativity,&#8221; said Vargas. &#8220;But when it comes to the marketing aspect of it, then my hat switches.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">The underdawg<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Vargas is also part of a musical collective called the underdawgs, a group of musicians, photographers, videographers releasing their own content while building a movement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;It\u2019s essentially a group of musicians from places like Watsonville, Tracy, Los Ba\u00f1os\u2014 towns, where you wouldn&#8217;t necessarily expect to see talent come out of,&#8221; said Vargas. &#8220;R.SOL has brought together a community of underdogs per se and uses his skills in\u00a0videography and photography to give it that elevated look, because obviously, if it doesn&#8217;t look quality, then why would you buy into it?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Vargas and his team bring his music to life through a series of videos, with most filmed in his hometown.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I feel like I&#8217;ve shot in every part of the city by this point,&#8221; said Vargas. &#8220;Watsonville is obviously a beautiful area, but for me it was more to prove a point \u2014 you can be successful from where you&#8217;re coming from.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">East Lake, a major street that runs through the city&#8217;s eastside, from the downtown to the agricultural outskirts, is a recurring reference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;East Lake is just the street name, but to me, it represents, being an underdog from a small town, whether that&#8217;s Watsonville, Tracy, Los Ba\u00f1os, Prunedale, Salinas,&#8221; said Vargas. &#8220;With these videos, it&#8217;s me saying you can make it from where you&#8217;re from and you can do cool stuff.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>This article originally appeared on Salinas Californian: <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thecalifornian.com\/story\/news\/local\/2025\/09\/20\/watsonvilles-dannyv-levels-up-in-his-rise-as-a-music-triple-threat\/86206909007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Watsonville\u2019s DannyV levels up in his rise as a music triple-threat;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Watsonville\u2019s DannyV levels up in his rise as a music triple-threat<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Breaking into the music industry is tough, but one Central Coast artist is rising by staying true to his roots. Eduardo Vargas (stage name: DannyV), may appear like your usual 20-something from the 831, but the Watsonville native is far from typical. For over six years, Vargas has been putting in the work\u2014learning new skills, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2036786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[376174,22437,376175],"class_list":["post-2036785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-eduardo-vargas","tag-music-industry","tag-watsonville"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/The-making-of-this-Central-Coast-artist.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036785","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2036785"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036785\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2036786"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2036785"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2036785"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2036785"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}