Contemporary artist Christine D'Clario has been making music for nearly 17 years. Not to mention she's been nominated for multiple awards. But it hasn't always been an easy journey. Christine has been open about her mental health struggles and postpartum depression. Although there's been a lot of highs and lows in her life, she was able to find healing and freedom through Jesus.
Recently, I had a discussion with Christine about her mental health journey, her upcoming tour, and her latest album All That Remains (Hasta Poder Ver). Her life is a living testimony of God's goodness and faithfulness, and it was an honor getting to talk with her.
You've been a voice in the Latin music community for a while. What inspires you to keep making music?
What inspires me to keep making music is God's mercy. I've experienced a lot of hardship. As a kid, I survived sexual abuse, I lost my father to addiction, and I experienced culture shock being from a blended family. I never really fit in. I was raised in the church, and I became a worship leader as a young adult. But I was living a double life because of brokenness. When I was about 19 years old, God extended me an opportunity to live for Him, and I dedicated my talents to Him.
Fast forward about 10 years after being in full-time ministry and being a recording artist, I was diagnosed with infertility. I went through a hard patch of two years where I needed to learn to surrender and stretch my faith and believe while I couldn't see.
After that trial was over, the Lord supernaturally healed me. I conceived my son, Ian, and when he was six months old, I conceived my daughter, Kenzi. They're my two miracles where I get to see the grace of the Lord every single day. After I had my youngest, I had postpartum depression. It was dark, and it nearly took my life to suicide.
Three and a half years later, I have a very arduous mental health recovery and healing journey. Today, I can say more than ever that my life, giftings, talents, dreams, visions, and goals belong to the Lord. He's given me a chance to live again.
You've openly talked about your struggles with postpartum depression and anxiety. How has that journey made an impact on you and your music?
It bleeds into my music. This new project that I just released is called All That Remains, and in Spanish, Hasta Poder Ver. The songs on the record came out of my journey. For about five years, I hit a very difficult writer's block while I was going through my struggles with infertility and later the back-to-back pregnancies.
After dealing with postpartum issues and birth trauma, I couldn't write a single song that I thought was worth anything. But in January 2020, right before the COVID-19 pandemic, I started writing songs again. It's like a new wave of creativity that I had never experienced before was coming out of my journey and healing. The songs are like musical journal entries of my good days and not-so-good days.
When you're undergoing anxiety or depression, it's like a dance. One step forward, two steps back. Two steps forward, three steps back. You feel like you're never going to get out of the hole. But you're advancing. You might just be micro-advancing, but you'll see the effects in the long run. In that long run, the songs on All That Remains came about. It's the project that I'm most sure about because it's the one that I poured all my heart, soul, spirit, and tears into.
The more I grow, the more I heal. The more I uncover this vulnerability, the more my songs resonate. Not just with me, but with the people that surround me. That's a gift that I'm grateful for.
What advice would you give to someone battling postpartum depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts?
Don't let shame bully you. Shame is a bully and a liar. It's not true that you will be this way all your life. It's not true that you're ruined, and your quality of life will never get better. It's not true that you're the only one, and you have to stay isolated. It's not true that no one will understand. I've learned in this journey that more people are for me than those who are against me. If there's anyone who's against me and my mental health, it's simply because they haven't been through that valley, and they don't understand.
I've also learned that confession brings healing. James 5:16 says to confess to one another. Up until this point in my journey, I had never connected confession with healing. I had always connected confession with shame and the furthering of the problem. However, there's a spiritual law of healing that comes with confession and accountability. You'd be surprised how freeing and liberating asking for help is. "Let the weak say, 'I am strong'," as stated in Joel 3:10, and God's power gets perfected in our weakness, as stated in 2 Corinthians 12:9. It's okay to feel weak sometimes and to get help.
Darkness is sometimes necessary for us to value light even more. It develops more of the character of Christ in us and helps us partake in His sufferings because He experienced them all. I'm grateful for my times of suffering because it's in those moments that I become more like Christ. It's in those times that I get closer to Him. I get to know Him more.
You're going on the Hasta Poder Ver Tour this Spring with contemporary artist Evan Craft. What will those nights be like?
Those nights are going to be great. We've already performed two nights in Texas, and they were some of my best worship experiences yet. I'm finally able to do two key things: proclaim the hour of the Lord in my own life and heal, and impart that to other people who are struggling--especially after a global pandemic that has traumatized every person on the planet.
We all have suffered an attack on our mental health in some shape or form because of all the things that are going on globally. But when we come together, where two or more are gathered in Jesus' name, He is there. When we worship together, Jesus peels back layers, resulting in our healing and freedom.
During these worship nights, it feels like there's a new level of anointing that I'm experiencing. There's an explosion of God's presence in every one of our lives when we get together. The rest of the tour will be no exception. It's all happening from March 3 to 20 in a city near you.
It's been a while since some of us have heard live music. What's your favorite thing about live shows?
The connection with people. There's something that happens, but it's not tangible or physical. There's a moment in every worship night where our hearts lock arms. And everyone focuses on the Lord's presence. The atmosphere becomes weightless. But, at the same time, it becomes weighty with the glory of God. We finally connect our hearts to heaven. That's my favorite thing about live shows.
What's next for you? Is there any new music on the horizon for 2022?
Absolutely. There's still that stream of creativity that I talked about earlier. Previously, I would go to the studio and write songs with my friends whenever I had a project. But once the project was over, the writing and creativity would kind of stop. Then we'd go back for another project, write songs, and it would stop again.
Lately, the creativity hasn't stopped. I've been writing songs left and right. I have enough songs for three more projects, and I'm still writing more. I'm excited about that. I might start experimenting with new art forms and other genres, too. Why not?
Finally, how can we be praying for you?
Pray that the work that the Lord has done thus far in my mental health continues. Pray that my family, my team, and I are strengthened to continue doing God's work. Pray convoy angels bring people in to receive something special from the Lord at our worship nights. And pray that more and more souls get added to the kingdom of heaven through what we do.
Grace Chaves has been a fan of all things Christian music since 2016. She is NRT's news editor, and one of NRT's youngest writers. Homeschooled, Grace is an author, loves Jesus, concerts, and road trips.
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