Veteran singer-songwriter, producer, and entrepreneur Denise Marsa continues to evolve as an artist, bringing her emotionally driven songwriting into the dance music world with a growing collection of collaborations and club-ready releases. Known for creating what she calls “pop with purpose,” Marsa blends personal storytelling with infectious melodies, using music to explore heartbreak, healing, freedom, and the experiences that connect us.

The accompanying music video takes that message into the heart of New York City, bringing Marsa to The Music Inn, Manhattan’s oldest music store. Moving through the store and into its intimate West Village basement, Marsa is surrounded by musicians, friends, family, and fans, including owner Jeff Slatnick, her first NYC guitarist Frank (Francis) Bosco, and her niece Stephanie Colorado. The result is a video that feels less like a traditional performance and more like a celebration of music, community, and the people who have been part of Marsa’s creative journey.

Her recent work with UK remixers Jim Sullivan and Craig Jones has resulted in seven consecutive Top Ten hits on the UK Music Week Commercial Pop Club Chart, with their latest collaboration, “HOLE (Until Dawn Remix),” continuing that momentum. The track transforms heartbreak into movement, pairing bright guitar, buoyant synths, and shuffling dance beats with a message of finding freedom and joy after difficult experiences.

In this interview, Marsa discusses the story behind “HOLE (Until Dawn Remix),” the making of its music video, her longtime connection to New York’s music community, and how she continues to find new ways to turn personal experiences into music that brings people together.

Tell us the story of this song, why did you choose to visualize this song specifically? 

I was thinking that during tough times musicians tend  to push through it.  To stand up against  what’s going on and either protest it or help others to cope. We are change makers and we become more active either playing live or writing and recording. Maybe people listen more to music during times of needing support. They may listen to the music from their high school or college days, to ease the pressure of the current times.  I thought let’s bring people into the world of what makes music come to life, namely the instruments. Non- musicians as well as musicians might welcome some time in an incredible music store and the West Village has the Music Inn. It’s my way of saying step inside another world; it’s good, and cool and safe.  I recommend walking into any musical instrument store near where you live. You will feel very different when you walk out to how you did when you walked in. And why not learn to play an instrument – so good for the soul! 

What was the inspiration behind this video(visuals, storyline, etc.)? 

 Again, it was the potential of musical instruments and music stores wherever they are. The video starts with me walking into “work” and straight away I am at the front desk, greeting people, showing them the shop’s incredible contents. Welcoming them into this world of magic that all musicians rely on, a world of instruments. Showing people around the space and the instruments while singing. It is a video of discovery with me as the singing music store-tour guide, singing the song, and being in this space, a positive space with a rather intense song, which in the chorus invites people to not want to crawl in a hole, but to feel whole. The song invites people to jump on the train to …freedom. 

What was the process of making this video?

It came together quickly, once I had the idea to film in a music store. I was in Tucson when I had the idea and reached out to a friend Mark who owns the Chicago Music Store, however he was out of town. So once I was back in the city, I went to visit Jeff at Music Inn and he was like yea, come on in, sure, when? 

Jeff is a love and one of a kind who supports musicians 100%. All of us. At any stage. It was soul gratifying, fun, and a big thanks to Jake Ehrlich from Reel Hound Media who made it a smooth and free form shoot. He has a great eye and he knows exactly what to focus the camera on and for how long.  The store is like a magical musical labyrinth and Jeff is the mystic.  We were all in sync that day. I then edited it and he cleaned it up a bit, added a few touches and we were off. We did not film a lot, we knew what we wanted during sections of the song, and we pretty much got all the shots in one take. So the editing was fairly straightforward. 

And big news to share–we just found out today (8.12.2026) that the remix released after “HOLE”, “EVER DIE (Until Dawn Remix)” just peaked at #5 on the UK Music Week Commercial Pop Dance Charts! 9 top 10 since May 2024 in a row! Surreal! We have a new lyric video out for that too.