Dominique Steps Into the Spotlight With Debut Single ‘You’re a Star (Get on Up)’

Dominique is stepping into a new chapter with You’re a Star (Get on Up), his debut vocal single and the first time the classically trained musician is putting his own voice and original lyrics front and center. Released today (September 25), the track arrives as an energetic house-inspired anthem about rediscovering yourself, finding freedom, and letting music pull you back into the present.

For Dominique, that message comes from a deeply personal place. Born and raised on the East Side of Columbus, Ohio, and now based in Los Angeles, music has been part of his life since he was a kid. He started picking out melodies on a piano at just three years old before eventually becoming a principal bassoonist in the Columbus Symphony Youth Orchestra. His musical background may have begun in the concert world, but You’re a Star (Get on Up) came from a much more intimate setting.

Dominique wrote the song just hours before heading into the studio, during a period of his life shaped by profound loss. After losing both of his parents to cancer, he experienced homelessness and addiction. Rather than allowing that period to define who he was, the song became a way of reconnecting with the person he knew was still there.

“So many times I would be outside watching everyone walk by, ignoring everything happening and judging people over silly things like material possessions,” Dominique says. “Sitting there with nothing, while no one would listen to anything I had to say, I knew I still had everything. I was still everything. I was greater in that moment than I had ever been before; just in disguise as a man who had no home.”

That idea of remembering who you are, even when life has convinced you otherwise, runs through the track. Dominique describes the song as the voice he needed to hear during that period, one telling him to get back up and reclaim the parts of himself he had lost along the way. “It’s the commanding voice inside that I had to find and listen to in order to get out of that situation,” he explains. “It’s like I’m going back in time to tell myself to wake up, get on up, and remember exactly who I am; and not believe what life or society or trauma had tried to turn me into.”

Musically, Dominique channels a wide range of influences into something designed to move. There are traces of his classical background alongside the sounds of church, gospel, rock, jazz, country, disco, and house, with the original track landing in a funky house space that feels particularly suited to its message. And yes, this is very much a song that wants us to get out of our chairs.

Dominique has also expanded the release into a sprawling remix package, giving the song plenty of room to explore different corners of dance music. The project moves through UK house, Afrobeats, Latin fusion reggaeton, disco, Afro house, tropical house, melodic house, funky house, and tech house, with each version offering a different way into the same central idea. That versatility was intentional. “I wanted to write something versatile enough to multiply into many other songs, each with its own unique production and quality,” Dominique says. 

The collaborative side of the project is just as important. Dominique co-produced the single and remix package with electronic music producer Velvet Code, whose work includes an official remix for Lady Gaga’s Chromatica. Rather than trying to reshape Dominique into something he wasn’t, the collaboration was about finding the production language that could carry his vision into the dance world.

“There were elements of the record that required the skill and artistry of another person, and Velvet brought exactly that,” Dominique says. “He went above and beyond to understand my musical perspective, my voice, and the messages I wanted the music to communicate. We worked incredibly well together across the production, remixes, instrumentation, and vocals. He never tried to change who I was as an artist—he helped bring my vision to life and elevate it. I’ll always be grateful for what we created together.”

There’s also something refreshingly human about the way Dominique approached the recording itself. Rather than polishing every breath and imperfection out of the performance, he chose to leave some of those moments intact, allowing the person behind the song to remain audible. “I don’t mind leaving in the things that show it really happened, that it was a person who did all of that,” he says.

That choice feels fitting for a song built around reconnecting with yourself. You’re a Star (Get on Up) isn’t asking listeners to have everything figured out before they start moving forward. Instead, it turns music and dance into a way of reconnecting with something that might have been buried underneath everything else.

And now that Dominique has finally put his voice out into the world, we get to experience that message alongside him.

You’re a Star (Get on Up) is out now on all major streaming platforms. Give the song a listen below and get ready to get on up.

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You’re a Star (Get on Up) is available to stream on all major streaming platforms.  Additional remixes will be released on Oct 9th and Oct 16th. Follow us on X and Instagram for all queer stuff!

Featured Image: Image Courtesy of Project Publicity.