Zella Day: ’I’ve Always Believed in Natural Beauty’

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Singer Zella Day took the stage at Lollapalooza. (Photo: Zella Day)

At only 20 years old, Zella Day already feels like a music industry veteran. The Arizona native started playing the guitar and performing at her grandmother’s coffee shop at the age of nine, and by 13 she had recorded her first album, Powered by Love. After her album was released, she spent a year traveling back and forth from Arizona to Nashville to write songs with everyone from John Paul Rice of The Civil Wars to Meghan Trainor. “I went to music boot camp,” says Day of her time in Nashville. “I learned how to write music and that’s when I really fell in love with it even more. Whether or not this touring picks up, I’m going to be writing for my whole life and it’s exciting.”

Writing aside, Day has a powerful voice. Her sophomore album, Kicker, mixes country with rock and indie pop. “When I moved to LA three years ago, I really fell in love with my hometown [Pinetop, Arizona],” says Day. “My dad is a cowboy, he ran a guest ranch and I really just fell in love with the aesthetic while I was in California, so that’s where you get the spaghetti western theme.” The women in her family were also a huge inspiration for Day, bringing out the bohemian feeling of the album. “I’m a hippie child. My mother is very much a bohemian, salt of the earth spirit, as are all the women in my family.”

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“I am really lucky and all I can do is meet the act with hard work and that’s what I’m doing,” says Day. (Photo: Alexandra Valenti)

That boho vibe is also reflected in Day’s personal style. “I’ve always loved the ‘70s. I’ve always loved Joni Mitchell and Stevie Nicks,” she says. “It’s something that I’ve gravitated towards and I think California heightened it.” When I met Day at Lollapalooza she looked straight out of the 1970s from her white slip dress, layers of necklaces, and knee high boots, to her long, wavy hair loose, and her bare face makeup.

When it comes to beauty, she has a similar aesthetic. “I don’t cover up my freckles, I don’t believe in painting on a face that you don’t have, so I’ve always believed in natural beauty,” she says. “My mom is in her late 40s and still doesn’t wear any makeup.” She does have one beauty secret however: Drinking a ton of water. “I drink so much water, I find that it really helps my skin,” says Day. “I make sure that I’m exercising and I cut out processed sugar and bread.” Scroll through Day’s Instagram account if you need further proof of the benefits of getting in those eight glasses of water a day.

In the next few weeks, Day will release a music video for her single “High” and will spend the next year on the road touring. “Where I am is a gift and there are so many people that would kill to be in my spot and be playing the stages that I am,” she says. “I am really lucky and all I can do is meet the act with hard work and that’s what I’m doing.”

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