"Like the ground was pulled away from under your feet."
Daryl Jay Kyle is a singer and songwriter of Moluccan/Indonesian descent, living in the Netherlands. He started singing at the age of 14 when his parents enrolled him in musical theater classes. Before that, he took piano lessons and was part of a local hip-hop dance group.
He soon began singing at church, where he discovered the personal meaning of faith. Along with Black Gospel music, he was influenced by the sounds of Jazz, Soul, and Funk, inherited from his family. At 18, Daryl started performing at major Christian events in the Netherlands, such as Teenzone Opwekking and Square.
After five wonderful years filled with amazing experiences, 2020 marked a turning point when Daryl participated in the national television program Hit The Road on SBS6. He finished in third place with an a cappella rendition of Change Will Come by Alain Clark.
The positive feedback from Roel van Velzen, Edsilia Rombley, Alain Clark himself, and others gave him the confidence to develop his talents further. He set a goal of releasing 10 original songs in a year—and succeeded! This journey was full of music, networking, and learning.
So far, the rosy side of the story.
However, this journey was not only a musical quest but also a personal one. During this time, Daryl was forced to confront deep personal challenges—he became a victim of sexposure.
Sexposure: The unsolicited spread of sexually explicit images online.
"It felt as if the ground was being pulled out from under your feet, and you had to balance on a thin thread to avoid falling. You feel powerless." Yet, Daryl found the courage to push forward. He experienced this as something beyond himself. Through conversations with friends and (spiritual) leaders, sessions with a psychologist, and writing music, he found a new way to express his emotions and thoughts.
These experiences culminated in his self-released, multi-part project Who Am I (2023), centered around identity, sexuality, and faith—themes that define the story he wants to tell as an artist.
Currently, creativity is overflowing. Daryl is working hard on new music and collaborations while taking his story to a national audience. One of his latest projects is performing as a backing vocalist in the Bruno Mars Tribute Band Treasure. This band won the immensely popular national TV show The Tribute – Battle of The Bands (2025).
