Daisy de la Hoya won our hearts as she competed for the love of Bret Michaels on season two of Rock of Love, and now she’s entering a new chapter of her life – and she’s doing it on her own terms. From going brunette and adding new tattoos to getting back into dance and fitness, the singer, actress, and reality TV personality is embracing reinvention while exploring new creative outlets.
Music remains at the heart of that evolution. Following the release of the single “Dahlia’s Blue,” Daisy is working on new material, including the upcoming song “Too Phased,” while moving toward a sound that blends band elements with a more electronic, dance-oriented energy. She’s also expanding her creative world with the Rock of Daisy merch line, built around themes of rock, recovery, and resilience, along with the upcoming Cult of Daisies collection.
In this conversation, Daisy opens up about rediscovering her creativity, learning the art of tattooing, getting back into shape, the importance of staying resilient, and why music continues to be the force that keeps her moving forward.
You’ve been going through a pretty visible transformation lately, from going brunette to getting new tattoos to changing up your fitness routine. What sparked this particular era of reinvention for you?
It does look like it’s new, and it is, but the brunette hair definitely was something where I was like, “Okay, let’s just bring it back to brunette because it’s easier and it’s cheaper.” Even though people want me to go back blonde, and I want to go blonde, too, for cost-effective reasons, we’ve got to go with the brunette.
The tattoos were just a spur-of-the-moment thing. I know I’ve wanted more tattoos in the past, but I’m working at a tattoo shop now, and I’m surrounded by people who are giving tattoos. They’re like, “You want to get a tattoo?” And I’m like, “Okay.” That’s kind of how it happened in the first place.
I’m trying to be mindful now because I still act, I still sing and things like that, and I don’t know where the industry is going. I don’t know what’s going on with it as far as those things go. But I want to be versatile, so I don’t want to just say, “Let me cover myself all up in tattoos,” because I have an addictive personality. I go straight to full-on. I don’t do things a little bit. I’m like, “Let’s go all the way.”
And as far as the fitness routine, it’s really about the people I’m surrounding myself with. That’s what I want. I’ve always wanted people in my life who are solid and have a good foundation, who have their stuff together. These women are into exercising, and they’re there to help. They’re a support system as well as a creative influence on me, and that’s what they’re doing. I feel so happy about that.
You’ve been chronicling a lot of your transformation on social media. What do you hope people take away from following your journey?
Some of the things I’ve been posting lately are me falling down doing my little pirouettes and ballet and dancing. That’s embarrassing. I was like, “Should I post it or not?” And I was like, “Forget it, I’m going to post it.”
Then there’s the jumping up on the box. I haven’t jumped up on a box like that for a while because I’ve been in survival mode, and I haven’t been getting my fitness on like that. So, I’m working those types of muscles and trying to remember how to jump in a way that doesn’t hurt yourself. My brain and my jumping were not quite there yet.
The first look looked stupid, and it was. I looked stupid. But if you watch the video again, in the next video you can see that I finally got my rhythm back. And I hope people gain something from that. Again, with the dancing video, you can see I’ve posted again and I’m doing a little bit better with that.
Things like this are important to me. Today, I wanted to go to the premiere of this movie [Digger]. I’m a huge Tom Cruise fan. I think everybody knows this. I wanted to go to the premiere of this movie in Los Angeles, but I wasn’t able to get there. I could’ve had a bad day, but instead I kept trucking. I was sad. I woke up depressed. I was like, “Oh, man. Tom Cruise. I’m not going to be able to see him at this movie.” But then somebody surprised me with some good news. There’s always some great, positive thing that’s going to be able to happen. We can do that with our lives if we keep our positive side going.
And I’m not perfect. I’m not Madonna. I’m not those types of people. I’m not Renée Zellweger or something where I’m the best actress. But I just keep plugging away.
You’ve posted that you are learning how to be a tattoo artist. How does the art of tattooing appeal to your creativity?
I just respect it more. I respect the artist, and I respect the whole thing. It’s a very intense practice. I hope that it’s going to be for me, but it’s definitely very next-level.
When I was a little kid, I did all kinds of art. My goal and my dream, you could say, my hobby was being an artist. I drew all the time. I drew constantly. That was my hobby, and I got very good at it. I won art competitions nationwide, not by purpose. I just had a creativity in me when it came to creating paintings. When I was a little kid, there would be these little coloring contests at our grocery store. You could grab a piece of paper and enter the contest. I would win those.
I was also given some awards in school, in high school, and in fifth grade. I won a little recognition through museums. They’d say, “Oh, this little girl.” There was one drawing of a dark reindeer, black and purple and all this crazy stuff.
I always had that in me, but then I fell out of it because life got crazy. It was something that was definitely a hobby for me. And you’ve got to keep up on that kind of thing.
You’ve also been recording music, most recently “Dahlia’s Blue.” How would you describe where you are musically right now in terms of the process?
Musically, I’m in a really good space. But I can tell you, after I’ve done the last few songs, I’m feeling a little burned out. I get into these creative moments where I’m like, “Okay, I’m so sick of hearing this song,” because I have to listen to them over and over and over and make sure: What am I going to say? Where is it going to go? Is this the sound I want it to be? This doesn’t sound right. I don’t like that. You know what I’m saying? It gets old after a while, to the point where I’m like, “I am so sick. My ears are bleeding.” I just don’t want to hear it, so I need to go on a little rest.
But at the same time, I want to be at the VMAs. I want to be there. I guess it’s all in God’s good plan. So whatever God says, “Hey…” But I’m working on this new song called “Too Phased,” and I can’t wait.
“Dahlia’s Blue” needs to be recorded and re-recorded again because I’ve made the last songs that have come out recently off my phone. I couldn’t afford to go to a studio, so I had to create all those things on my phone. I recorded it all myself. That’s why you kind of can’t even hear my vocals…my boyfriend is like, “I can barely hear what you’re saying.” I’m like, “Listen. There’s the lyrics.” Some of that is because I had to use a DIY studio. It doesn’t sound like it, and I’m happy about that as well. But I want these vocals and these songs to really be legitimate now.
One thing that I always want to have is the good reputation of being a musician and making good songs. Nobody’s really seen my acting yet, so they can’t say, “Oh, she’s a horrible actress.” You can say, “Oh, Daisy loved acting,” and all those things, but you’ve never seen me in a movie. You haven’t seen that depth yet. But you have heard my music, and that’s important to me. It’s important to me what’s going on and how it’s being done. I don’t want people to be like, “Oh my God, Daisy.” I want them to continuously be like, “When are you going to release new music?” That’s what I want. I want them to say, “I love the music.”
When fans hear the new music, what do you think they’re going to hear that they might not expect from you?
Moving forward, maybe just a little bit of a different sound. Instead of a band, like a regular traditional band with a guitar player, a bass player and a drummer, you’re going to hear more of something that you might hear when you’re going to a club and there’s a lot of EDM, so you can dance more, but you’ll also have those elements of the band. Someone described it as ethereal.
I can’t always say, “I think I’m going to be like this,” and then I put it out, and that’s what people think. It’s what they really decide. I make a cake, and then I say, “Here’s the cake.” And then they eat it, and they’re like, “It tastes like this,” or, “It tastes like that.” Exactly. They kind of decide, and that’s just what it is. But the one thing that I do know is that I make it always from my soul. That’s the only thing I know.
It seems like you really are working on a lot of different things. In addition to your music and working on yourself, you’ve also got the Rock of Daisy merch line – and I love the message of it: rock, recovery, resilience. What does that mean to you personally?
It was created with me and another fan. She’s from Australia, and she created Rock Resistance and Recovery. It’s basically about recovery. It’s about the music and how rock ‘n’ roll and music and these things saved my life, and it’s true. Rock ‘n’ roll music and the MusiCares Foundation were part of what originally helped get me paid for my rehabilitation in the first place and helped keep me sober. I’m very grateful to them.
Another person, Tim Ryan, works with musicians a lot. They help people recover. I can’t even believe that I could be considered part of that. When somebody says, “We are with these foundations, and we’re rock ‘n’ roll,” and stuff like that, that’s what those things mean to me. It means everything to me. In order to keep going, and for people to believe in that, I have to stay sober. So rock, recovery, and you’ve got to be resilient, because there’s been a lot. I’ve been going through a lot since I started.
You’ve also got the Cult of Daisies collection coming up. What can fans expect from that line?
The Cult of Daisies is a cute little kind of joke because people think that I’m in a cult. I’m not, so I came up with Cult of Daisies. You’ve got the unicorns, you’ve got daisies, and you’ve kind of got some skulls and ’90s kind of things. The tight tank top will say “cult leader” or “cult member.” It’s going to be something like that, and maybe something with my boyfriend. It’s going to have that ’90s kind of thing. It’s going to be limited. There will also be sweatpants and a sweatsuit, basically, because I like that. It’s just really cute, kind of My Little Pony-type stuff.
When you look at everything you’re building right now, what are you most excited about?
I’m most excited about the music again, and the merch, because people seem to really respond to both of those things. I’m really excited about the merch. People are just like, “We love this.” And the music keeps me going. When I’m feeling like the world is ending, I’m like, “Time to go record your voice. Do something.”
Follow Daisy on Instagram, shop the Rock of Daisy collection and listen to “Dahlia’s Blue” and her other (and upcoming) music on Spotify.
