Melissa Leite Dos Santos, better known as CERES, has recently taken the dance music world by storm with her massive collaboration with DJ Mag n.4 in the world, Alok’s “Let’s get FKD up.”
And to celebrate the release of her new vocal sample pack in collaboration with standalone-music, we sat down with her and asked a few questions to get some insights into her life, successes, and struggles as an artist, as well as what went into the process of creating her new sample pack.
Tell us about your Ceres project, what drove you to be a dance music singer and song writer ?
I’ve been listening to Avril Lavigne / Britney Spears in bed with my iPod since I was about 9-12; that was all I did.
I had a toxic family relationship at that time, so music was my way to get away from my frustrations.
I’ve always had the burning desire to sing for a living, and the more anger I felt, the bigger this flame became.
What would you say were the biggest challenges for you when starting your career and what would you suggest to others young females who are just starting in this world?
I expected people to do things for me or for a magical investor to come out of nowhere; for a long time, I felt bad about spending my parents’ money on music, so when I was about to give up, I decided to enter the electronic scene, this way I didn’t have to pay for other to produce my music.
I was instead part of the entire process while still being able to release music as my own.
My advice: Don’t be afraid to collaborate, send DMs, ask for help, and step outside your comfort zone as much as you can!
Your song with Alok “let’s get fkd up” is becoming massive success all over the place, can you tell us a little bit about it, how did it all came about, did you expect it to be such a big success?
I did not expect the vocal to go viral; I started posting vocal samples / acapella on TikTok because I knew people would save the videos for later to make their edits and remixes. (Of course, I added a copyright text at the end).
Posting those videos was something I was consistently doing.
Finally, one of them blew up, and everyone started using my vocals in their music until Alok somehow saw it and wanted to work on it, too!
It’s been so magical because of all the DJs; he is my biggest inspiration. He is always looking to help people, help nature, and spread compassion; that, to me, is what makes a true artist!
As your artist profile grows stronger, what are some of the biggest goals you are working towards ?
My biggest goal now is to get my Record label & publisher going; I’m a businesswoman, after all!
I started “Nova Luna Records ” last month and would love to help other artists release their songs; I know building this brand will be amazing!
You are very active on social media especially on TikTok, while it’s undeniable that nowadays socials are an essential tool for artist to leverage, do you think taking care of them gets in the way with your creativity or is it something you can manage no problem?
Posting stories is probably my biggest challenge; I don’t share too much of my personal life, it messes with my energy.
I keep it as minimal as possible! But it’s true; artists have to post something daily to keep engagement up, so that’s a challenge.
However, creating a connection with our community is important, and when posting song spoilers, I have to be honest: I have fun.
TikTok is a little different; I love to do that because I don’t have to speak or show my life; I can just perform!
You recently released a sample pack with us that is now also available on splice, can you tell us a bit about the creative process behind it and what people can expect from it?
The vocals are written and recorded specifically for this pack; nothing was recycled or reused from old sessions.
I wanted to deliver vocals that are very versatile and not so generic.
So, all the vocals fit well in every genre.
You will find spoken vocals, melodic vocals, sad vocals, happy vocals, and sexy vocals, all of which fit EDM, Techno, Deep House, Trance…
You can expect vocals like “LET’S GET FKD UP” and “HIGH”.
From energetic to chill out, we’ve got it all.
A lot of artists have mixed feelings about selling their art as royalty free sample packs, how do you feel about millions of people having access to your voice and being able to use it in their music?
It was a great experience; I’m happy people have the chance to use my voice to make fantastic art.
I would love to do it again and don’t have any mixed feelings about it. It’s fantastic to contribute to the community with my voice and writing, and I can’t wait to hear what artists and musicians will come up with.
I am a songwriting machine! But even machines need to rest and recharge.
Over the next three months, I will focus more on myself and my music, im confident 2024 will be a great year for that, and a CERES Pack Vol 2 will definitely come :)
CERES Vocal Sample Pack Vol 1 Available now!
