Florencia Minniti takes the music world by storm

Florencia Minniti still remembers the first time she fell in love with creating music. 

The then-middle-schooler would sit in her room and listen to her father, who was part of a local band in their hometown in Argentina, play the piano and guitar from their living room in New Jersey, and she would sneak down to watch him play and hear him sing — even joining him sometimes. 

One day when her father had left for work, she spotted the piano and knew she wanted to play, even though she had no idea how. She started to make up tunes and melodies, and began recording with her dad’s small piano recorder. Eventually, she composed a song book where she would jot down ideas and store it under the piano bench. 

“I feel like I got into it and I never stopped, because there were certain things throughout growing up where I felt like no one understands me, or I’m not able to communicate it fully through words,” Minniti says. “Growing up I just felt so misunderstood and it was really frustrating, because I would want someone to understand and to not be alone in it, but the only way I could feel like I could express how I was feeling was through writing a song.”

Now 22, the Baldwin Park resident never stopped reaching for her dreams, and she is embarking on the next chapter in her musical journey.

BLURRY VISIONS

Minniti released in June her first single, “Blurry Visions,” with the help of her producer and friend Thomas-Ray Armstrong. 

The song is a personal anthem of resilience and a constant fight to believe in oneself.

“I wrote this song while facing the struggles in listening to myself and not wanting to live in fear anymore,” Minniti says. “It is buzz-worthy, because nowadays, it can be hard to trust your own instincts against the influence of the outside world. Listening to so many messages on what is best for you rather than trusting oneself can rapidly take us down a rabbit hole of misery and self-doubt and ultimately make you believe that you are not good enough.”

The debut single is part of the young artist’s five-song EP, titled “Blurry Visions,” set to come out in the next few months. Corey Phillips served as Minniti’s mixing and mastering engineer for all the songs.

“The EP is a roller coaster of emotions and a bit depressing — but also hopeful,” she says. “One of my favorites is actually a more positive song called ‘On My Way’ that talks about looking towards the light and moving forward despite the darkness of your past. It’s a rebirth, like the start of something new.”

The second song, “Hostage,” a collaboration with the help of producer and friend JArthur Grubbs, is set to come out soon, just before the release of the new EP.

“It’s honestly so surreal to realize how far I’ve come and to recognize that this is my life right now,” Minniti says. “I wouldn’t be living out my dreams and be where I am today without the amazing group of talented individuals I get to work with and call my friends. It’s like there’s always something new to learn and they truly help bring my visions to life.”

Writing in a dark pop style, Minniti often uses hidden metaphors in her music and derives inspiration from artists such as Ariana Grande, Tate McRae, Demi Lovato, Billie Eilish, Lana Del Ray, Selena Gomez and Doja Cat.

However, Madison Beer played the biggest role in helping her form her vocal style. 

Most recently, the performer was in New Jersey to film a music video for “Blurry Visions” with her music video crew, which includes Kevin Shaw, Cole Decker, Rahi Raval and Dylan Varian. 

PASSIONATE PERFORMER

Although Minniti studied film in college, music was always her passion. 

She attended Full Sail University, where she learned both sides of the performance aspect, collaborating in the studios, networking, recording and meeting artists, producers, and mixers.

In 2019, she decided to pursue music as a profession. Minniti performed her first original song in front of an audience at an open mic event at the college. Although she was nervous, the outpouring of positive messages surprised her and motivated her to follow her heart to pursue her passion. 

She says sharing her struggles and experiences is what drives her enthusiasm to share her music.

“If at least one other person listens to the song that I wrote and they cannot feel alone in their struggles and feel like someone else understands — that is a dream of mine,” she says. “That’s why I like to write in hidden metaphors. They don’t have to go through the same exact situation I did to be able to have similar feelings and emotions and to understand or enjoy the music.”

Minniti began to search for artists with similar goals to her at Full Sail, which is where she met her current producers, as well as Yasukuni Masuda, with whom she is working to compose larger orchestral and cinematic songs for a different project. In addition, she is currently working with mixing and mastering engineer Mark Barrie on these new upcoming songs. 

After graduating in 2020 as part of the college’s accelerated program, Minniti knew she wanted to continue to chase her dream of creating music that makes a difference. 

FILM FANATIC

Minniti’s extensive résumé also includes one of her first loves — film. 

Her passion for film started in high school, where she attended Middle Bucks Institute of Technology on a part-time basis. 

Although she worked in audio her first year, she directed and acted the second year and says she loved it.

“You have people’s full attention at that moment, they are sitting down in a theater ready to watch this film and they’re not going to just get up and leave,” she says. “You have the opportunity to give them an experience and to give them an experience and present them with a different perspective. You can literally change the world with the arts.” 

The students at the school created short films together and competed in their hometown of Pennsylvania before then competing nationally in competitions such as SkillsUSA, The 10 Day Film Challenge and more.

The young artist recently has had the opportunity to combine her love for film and music through the creation of producing her first music video, and storyboarding the layout, helping in the planning process, and managing the crew in different states, for her upcoming second and third music video. 

Minniti even created her own film business, Minniti Films, with her father. 

In January, she won notable awards for her short film “The Promotion,” composed by Brandon Rufer, which was an official selection in the Indie Short Fest, Los Angeles International Film Festival, and a finalist for the Cannes World Film Festival.

The psychological thriller film also was nominated for awards and selections including an official selection for the Paus Premieres Festival in the United Kingdom, an official selection for the Sessions by Lift Off Global Network in the UK and Los Angeles, an official selection in the Madrid Film Awards in Spain, nominated for best original score in the Indie Short Fest in LA, an official selection in the Orlando International Film Festival in Florida, and an official selection in the Crystal Ship Mini Indie Film Festival in New York. 

In addition, Minniti was an award winner in the Cannes World Film Festival in France.  

EARLY LIFE

Minniti was born in Argentina but grew up in New Jersey and Pennsylvania before moving in 2018 to the Orlando area for college at Full Sail University. 

Although she took a few piano lessons in her younger years and played clarinet in her elementary and middle school bands, her earliest memories involving music were when she auditioned for a young performer’s workshop for musical theater for the Bucks County Playhouse Youth Company in 2015. When she realized she loved singing and acting on stage, she continued musical theater throughout high school and loved the rush she felt from a live audience. 

The first time Minniti performed one of her original songs in front of an audience, she wished someone got it on camera. 

The performance was for her middle school talent show when she was in sixth grade.

“I remember my fingers were shaking so much as I touched each key on the grand piano, and the popular girl came up and complimented me on my song after — even though she had never talked to me before in her life,” Minniti says. “I knew I wanted to feel that feeling again, and now here I am, lucky enough to feel that feeling everyday.”

In addition to singing and songwriting, the performer also plays piano and the baritone ukulele, mostly by ear.  

In the future, she hopes to go back to school and study music theory, although one of her bigger goals is to get her music into shows and films. 

Her mom, Cecilia Regueiro, loves to paint, and her dad, Vincent Minniti, shares her love of film and music. One of his dreams is to expand upon their film company and run it with Florencia. 

“I wanted to find something where I could combine my strong passions of film and music without having to choose between the two crafts,” Minniti says. “This would do that for me, and I can’t wait to make it happen.”