Words By Zach Collier
Photos By Ida Hermansen
“For me, life would be so boring if I stuck to just one thing. My bucket list is long, and I’m in a hurry to explore it all. Each ‘and’ adds something more to the story, and I’m nowhere near finished yet.”
Nordic Noir is the best way to describe the vibe in Copenhagen when I hear from Veronica D’Souza. It’s windy, and it’s cold. Luckily, Veronica is inside and comfortable.
“Someone once called me the ‘queen of the daybed’ because I tend to do most of my work like this, especially writing,” she laughs. She likes to write while lying down. “I quit smoking but picked up vaping, which has become a dangerous winter addiction since I can do it from bed, too.”
Her studio is a sanctuary filled with books and little treasures she’s collected over time. Her daughters are asleep, and everything is quiet. “The night belongs to me,” she explains. “I will never stop loving how freeing it feels when everyone is sleeping and I have the night for myself.”
Anyone familiar with Veronica D'Souza knows she’s a distinguished leader. She has built a renowned career as an international advisor, keynote speaker, and board member. With Indian, East African, and Danish heritage, she’s made sure her work has a global focus.
As cool as all of that is, what brings us together is a shared love of music. Three years ago, Veronica D’Souza didn’t know how to produce music at all. Veronica picked up music during the pandemic, when all of her other ventures had been put on pause. When she had to close down her last company due to COVID, the first thing she did was buy a second-hand piano.
“I'm a firm believer that we live in an age of ‘music and.’ Some kind of career in music has become increasingly accessible to people,” I tell her. “At the same time, that accessibility has required many creatives to do music and something else in order to sustain themselves economically. I find that the intersection of music and other creative endeavors is creating some really unique and interesting sonic innovations.”
“I love the concept of ‘music and.’ I hadn’t thought of it that way before, but it perfectly captures how I’ve always approached life,” Veronica replies.
“I’ve never fit into a single box—I’m constantly evolving. A ‘continuous and.’ I studied business and politics because I wanted to challenge the extractive growth logic of capitalism and help build more inclusive, equitable systems.”
That’s not just aspirational talk. Veronica made waves when she founded CARCEL, a pioneering fashion label that empowers incarcerated women by providing them with skills, paid employment, and opportunities for a better future. “It created dignified and properly paid jobs for incarcerated women in Thailand and Peru. There wasn’t a master plan, but a drive to work for something that uplifts overlooked women and offers real opportunities,” she says. “Music might seem like a leap, but to me, it’s a natural extension of that same urge to create and express. I grew up with music—it’s always been a part of me, a personal language. But it was only a few years ago that I taught myself music production, giving myself the time and space to reconnect with it.”
During the pandemic, Veronica was inspired to teach herself. Night after night, she sat down and watched beginner tutorials, determined to see what she could create if she didn’t hand the process over to someone else.
“In the beginning, it was frustrating. I’d get stuck in technical details that would break my creative flow, and I couldn’t produce the sound I heard in my head. The songs I made were simple, which was fine, but I wasn’t satisfied,” she recalls. “I didn’t really identify with the quieter, singer-songwriter style I could manage at the time. The music in my head needed more production, more layers. So, I just kept experimenting—making beats and sounds, often without knowing if what I was doing was ‘right.’ And honestly, I had a lot of fun with it. A lot of what I made will never see the light of day, but it was part of the process.”
Even though learning music production was challenging to Veronica, it felt like home. Over the years, Veronica has learned to thrive in discomfort.
“Once you’ve thrown yourself into new challenges enough times, the fear starts to fade. Starting something new becomes more of a thrill than a risk. The more I explore, the hungrier I become to explore even more modes of expression.”
Working with some of the most courageous women she’s ever met taught her to take charge of her own creative journey. “These women, who had so little, showed me what it means to survive and thrive through independence and entrepreneurship. I owe so much to them. Their resilience gave me the confidence to dive into music, to fight for my own independence in everything I do. The accessibility of learning and releasing music on your own now is incredible. I’m a firm believer in the multi-hyphenate life – in continuing to add new ‘ands.’”
I’m glad Veronica decided to approach her music with the same level of fearlessness as her other endeavors. Her voice feels soulful and rustic, and I love the break in her voice as she switches from chest to head voice. All of these features are proudly on display in her song “Peaches in My Halo,” which features retro soul backbeats and lush backing vocals.
“When I was young, I was obsessed with gospel singers like Whitney and Aretha. Growing up in a small Danish village with no soul music around, I spent hours trying to mimic that sound in my room, frustrated with the lack of it in my surroundings. I promise you, no one brought a tambourine to a Protestant church,” Veronica laughs. “If they had, maybe I would have gone more often.”
Veronica has been singing at home and on stages since she was a little kid. While she tried other instruments like saxophone and piano, she always felt the urge to sing while playing. She considers her voice to be her main instrument. She’s used it in everything from Nirvana cover bands and underground rock bands to singing jazz in Italy. Her voice has changed a lot as she’s matured, but that has less to do with the texture of her voice and more to do with why she’s singing.
“I think what’s changed now is that I finally feel like I have stories to tell and the tools to create the worlds I want around it.”
Diving into the world of sound recording allowed her to hear herself back and explore her vocal approach in ways she never could before. The meticulous, technical process of recording helped her build out these sonic worlds. “It’s only now that I feel that I have my own stories to tell and that I'm discovering my own sound,” she says.
The way Veronica approaches storytelling is just as meticulous as her production. For example, the music video for her song "Just Because a Crush" was shot in one of her favorite places in Denmark and had a heavy animated aesthetic.
“I love how much creative freedom storytelling gives me. I think in visuals—a music video format, styling, imagery,” she says. “Each song has its own story, its own world, and I love building those worlds. My next project follows a group of pre-teen girls in their own magical world. Each song gets its own universe, and I enjoy taking my time with it – letting it unfold.”
“My background in fashion definitely plays a role here. It’s helped me create these settings, from picking locations to styling and directing the visuals.”
Veronica hopes that her live shows will be an extension of the worlds she’s created. Music is a way for listeners to interact with and understand Veronica in unique and unexpected ways.
“I approach music and leadership in completely different ways. As a CEO, there are natural limits—being the person responsible for everyone means you can’t always show vulnerability or embrace playfulness the way you might want to,” she says. “But in music, there are no boundaries. There are no investors to answer to, no reports to write, no team to manage. It’s a space of total freedom where I can express every side of myself—the funny, theatrical, and deeply personal parts that didn’t always fit into my leadership roles. I get to write all of the rules.”
“Music allows me to let go of internal judgments and the pressure of external expectations. It’s about pure creation, and whenever that joy fades, I take a step back to realign. It’s been a way for me to reconnect with the playful, expressive sides of myself that didn’t always have space in my other ventures.”
Veronica loves both leadership and music, but they tap into different aspects of who she is. It’s the balance between these two worlds – these two “ands” and more – that makes it all so fulfilling. That doesn’t mean she’s not bringing her social consciousness and thirst for equitable living with her into the music industry, however.
“Social and economic sustainability in music are deeply connected, especially because it's so difficult to make a living off streaming alone,” Veronica says. “The streaming world, while offering independent artists more opportunities to reach listeners, doesn’t distribute value fairly. Unless you’re a big name, it’s almost impossible to rely on it as your main income source. This imbalance is frustrating—it mirrors the larger issue of a few big platforms, like Spotify, Meta and Google, profiting off the content we provide, while artists and creators see very little return.”
“One day, this system has to break, and we’ll need to replace it with something more equitable, decentralized, and focused on the well-being of everyone involved. But until that happens, artists need creativity and independence to sustain themselves. An advice someone once gave me was: ‘Stop bitching and start building.’”
Veronica has chosen not to think of music as a career at this stage. Given her success in prior endeavors and her impressive business acumen, it’s a luxury most artists don’t have, and it’s a fortunate place to be. I’m of the opinion, however, that artists should take note of her current philosophical approach to work and art. She’s keenly aware of the struggles artists face, and has some helpful advice for happy living.
“I embrace doing many different things I care about. Some are valued more by the hour, and those allow me to support all the things I care about,” she explains. “It’s like collecting taxes from the higher-valued work and redistributing them to all the things that matter. So, to be sustainable as an artist, don’t think in terms of linear careers. Think in flows that let you live a great life.”
“Create art, be a parent, go for walks, be a friend, read books, travel the world, support people, be kind, be a good neighbor, cook good food, host dinners, get angry, fight for your values, laugh for hours, plant flowers.”
To Veronica D’Souza, life isn’t about wealth or fame. Rather, it’s about making your contribution and finding a way to pay your bills while doing so. Embracing the nonlinear path makes you a more complete human being. There is so much to experience in life, and a non-linear path will help you touch more of those experiences.
“For me, life would be so boring if I stuck to just one thing. My bucket list is long, and I’m in a hurry to explore it all. Each ‘and’ adds something more to the story, and I’m nowhere near finished yet.”
