Photo courtesy of Rachel Monteleone

After a nationwide search of over 7,000 auditionees in the summer of 2022, Hits! The Musical toured 48 cities across the U.S. with a cast of 29 extraordinary singers and dancers. The first show of its kind, spotlighting performers aged 10-22, Hits! The Musical gave them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase their star power.

For Belle Bongiorno, she was sure her background in competitive dance would make for a great audition. She was in for a surprise when she was informed that she had been registered as a singer and would only be able to sing at the audition. The surprises continued when she booked the gig.

Her experience with Hits! The Musical flipped a switch for her, and when she returned home from tour she started an all-girl rock band called She the People. She also began working with musical director, composer and guitarist Tony Bruno, who she met on tour. One night when the cast and crew went bowling, Bruno said to her, “There’s something about you that makes people not want to look away.” He watched her as she became a self-taught bass player, honed in on her guitar skills and flourished as a singer. It was a no-brainer that they began working together on what would ultimately become her solo music.

It was only within the last six months that they began writing and recording music for Bongiorno. The compliment from Bruno brought her confidence to an all-time high and pushed her to try everything she could get her hands on. That expensive guitar hanging on the wall at the local Guitar Center? It was calling her name.

“I can’t buy an instrument that expensive and then not learn how to play it,” she said. “I [bought] some crazy instruments and I’m really glad I did because it inspired me. Playing on something that plays like butter is much easier than some shitty guitar that you have to get fixed every couple of weeks.”

Despite playing in a rock band and idolizing rock music, Bongiorno decided to go a different route with her solo music. She is a massive fan of pop music that allows catchy lyrics to take center stage and be chanted back to the performer. There is something compelling about pop music and she is looking to explore the genre any way she can.

Her first single, “Flavor of the Month”, was an idea that initially came to her in the shower. It kept replaying in her head until she was able to grab her guitar and bring the idea to life. Once she brought it to Bruno, his addition of synth and drums made them realize that it was the perfect first single. It was the ideal pop sound that she loves, written about self-expression and embracing one’s inner weirdness. It was inspired by her time touring with Hits! The Musical as it was the first time she was truly able to express herself.

Her latest single, “Canon of Events”, is more of an anti-love song. It started with a few chords and the thought of adding a unique melody over it. As the creation of the music was happening, the lyrics seemed to have suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

She attributes the ease of her lyricism to synesthesia, which is when stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway. Chromesthesia is when sound invokes color, and both “Flavor of the Month” and “Canon of Events” have a color that is visible on the album art.

“I just say what I’m currently feeling or thinking, and when I hear music I automatically see a color with it,” she said. “That definitely helps me write a lot of my music. I don’t know how it helps. It just kind of sets the vibe of the entire song and it inspires certain words or certain topics.”

Music is a path that is still relatively new to Belle Bongiorno, but it is a path exclusively her own. Her goal of becoming a pop-rock queen has started off steadfast with two singles and is expected to create more once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.