by Chandler Christopher
Daphne Tunes is the Austin, Texas-based passion project of music aficionado, Santiago Dietche. Santi’s goal for the project is simple – “always have fun first.” Delivering breezy, melodic pop songs, Daphne Tunes consciously prioritizes his number one rule to appreciate the journey and locate the little joys throughout. The hard work and skillful song composing of Santiago Dietche provide the foundation for his wholesome standard. An Ausin native and graduate of the Radio, Television, and Film program at the University of Texas, Santi was engulfed by the thriving music community he calls home. Now running the central Texas faction of booking agency ‘Dart Collective,’ Santi is currently in charge of booking artists and venues all over Austin and its surrounding area.
Having worked the majority of his life to become a successful musician, Santi admits he was once burned out by this seemingly unattainable dream. It wasn’t until he shifted his focus to helping the music industry in more of a behind-the-scenes format that Daphne Tunes was conceived. The combination of this new, euphonious side project meshed with Santi’s music-enveloping day job has led to what Santi perceives as a great balance. He explained that Daphne Tunes is more than just a ‘passion project,’ crediting the experience as a compass guiding him back to his original love for creating music. Daphne Tunes will play their next show at Radio Coffee & Beer on July 10th in Austin, Texas.
While Santi is hard at work producing new music for Daphne Tunes, a new and rousing project – Central Heat Exchange – has come to fruition over the Covid-year. Artistically compiled with core artists spanning from Austin, Chicago, and Winnipeg, the project intends to reach the roots that initially inspired its contributors to make music. Their bio reads, “Recorded in 2020 across 13 different bedroom studios, the 11 tracks on their self-titled debut explore themes of communication, companionship, separation and collectivism.” Built through synergetic email chains of discussion, the tape will feature over 18 collaborators, including lead singer of the indie-pop group called, ‘Varsity.’ Central Heat Exchange’s debut LP is set to release in the fall of 2021. With a clear-cut desire for musical integration and growth, Daphne Tunes is a pure creative who channels his instinctive persona through joyful and purposeful songwriting.
