Vandetta is a soul-electronic artist driven by self-actualization and spreading positive vibes through a fusion of beats, loops and lush harmonies. Owing to her unique upbringing Vandetta draws inspiration from a wide range of sources, from Chinese or Indian instrumentation to Motown soul to underground electronic scenes celebrating sound system culture and urban pop.

 

In 2013 she released her debut self-titled EP with the lead single "Fly" premiering on The Fader, and receiving positive reviews from influential media outlets Pitchfork, MTV Iggy and the LA Weekly. 

 

Vandetta has played at iconic venues in the United States like The Satellite in Silverlake and The Standard in West Hollywood. She was also the first Singapore artist to perform at St Jerome’s Laneway Festival in 2014, and has since performed at festivals in Russia (V Rox Festival, Vladivostok), China (Concrete & Grass Festival, Shanghai) and Australia (BIGSOUND, Brisbane). She is also a member of audio-visual collective, Syndicate, and has performed with them at both the Singapore and Sète (France) leg of the Gilles Peterson Worldwide Festival in 2011.

 

In August of 2017, Vandetta released her second EP, Mindkiller. The title is inspired by a line from Frank Herbert’s cult classic, Dune, “fear is the mindkiller”, and also appears on the track YCDIB. Conceptually the EP is an exploration of what enables an artist to continue creating in the face of fear and adversity.

 

Born Vanessa Fernandez, Vandetta grew up loving music, influenced by her father and his siblings who sung and played at family gatherings. At 12 she won a national talent show with her cousins from the church choir. At 16, she was invited to join the Singapore Repertoiry Theatre Young Company, performing in various plays and musicals.  At 18 she became part of one of Singapore’s most successful groups, Urban Xchange, who fronted a Coca-Cola campaign, led a hip-hop rennaissance in the local music industry and were nominated for Best Singapore Act at the 2002 MTV Asia Music Awards. Vandetta is also known in some circles as a radio presenter, having presented on pop radio station, as Miss Vandetta on 987fm from 2006-2010.