About Dear Stella

Stefanie Drexler, who goes by the artist name Dear Stella, is a young singer, songwriter and producer who grew up in a small town in the southern part of Austria, where her love and passion for great voices and melodies has been fostered from an early age through many years of music education and stage experience. At the beginning of her music career she first developed her vocal abilities by singing in both the musical theater world and various live rock bands, before completing a Masters degree in popular music research, where she studied the art and craft of pop songwriters and record producers. Her career highlights include touring Germany as a member of the opening act for The B-52’s, alongside having cut harmony vocals for Australian pop group Air Supply. 

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In her music, Dear Stella whisks the artist’s alternative rock roots with a dash of teenage TV theme flavor and a drop of 90s country: Imagine My Chemical Romance meets Shania Twain (alongside “Mutt” Lange) a few decades ago to collaborate on a theme song for a teen TV show. A little bit of nostalgia and the right amount of heartfelt emotion, combined with playfulness and a lot of sweetness boil up to what makes Dear Stella’s recipe sound fresh, tasty and attractive. Powerful, catchy vocal melodies, enchanting chord progressions and song lyrics that describe the rollercoaster life of a hopeless romantic, paired with Dear Stella’s unique vocal sound, put this bubbly rising star on the fast lane right into the new generation of the multifaceted power pop universe.

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While catering an international client base as a vocalist, songwriter and producer from her own home studio in Austria, Stefanie travels to the United States as often as possible to co-write and record with her musical heroes. The aspiring artist swoons over her experiences: “Co-writing and producing a song with someone you look up to, who has inspired your musical journey is the most magical, rewarding experience. Two or more people with their own special personalities and musical influences joining forces to create something new together, and eventually learning from each other’s strengths, that’s priceless and incredibly inspiring. And it can be deeply rewarding on a personal level, too! Collaboration is one of the main reasons why I love and live for music.”

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In 2016, Stefanie first flew out to the USA to produce and record her own songs as Dear Stella. In that same year, heavy rotation of her original Christmas song “My Favorite Kind of Gift” on national radio led to her breakthrough as an independent artist. Besides her own solo releases and vocal collaborations with international artists of various genres (from power pop to tribal trap), Stefanie has written and lent her voice to commercial songs which have scored multiple placements in TV and radio ads for well-known Austrian companies. 

When Dear Stella is not retreating to her favorite cave, which is the vibey, 70s-inspired studio that she lovingly calls her “Time Capsule”, she loves taking long walks around her dreamy yet middle-of-nowhere neighborhood, meeting and greeting furry animals, especially alpacas, and sometimes getting lost in a purple daydream.