Danny Daze

Tell us more about the process when you go in to sample things in the studio.

I do have a process, and it’s usually to go for a completely different synth to what I used last time, which is why I feel most of my tracks don’t really sound the same. You could maybe tell they were made by the same producer, but the sound is different. It’s actually really cool to sample yourself. I randomly play keys without knowing what BPM I’m playing at, then I sample that and it just creates different textures and different rhythms.

So, as an example, was something like ‘Silicon’ made that way?

Yes. That was me just sampling one note and then putting a huge siren thing behind it. There’s a lot of mistakes in that track – there’s a part where it does this roll, brrrr brrrr brrrr, which was a mistake but I left it in there and used it throughout the track. I try to do that as much as possible, using the mistakes.

Which synths did you sample for that track?

The Dave Smith Tetra was all I used on ‘Silicon’ aside from the kick and drums. The last one I did was a remix for Terranova which was all Moog Voyager except the drums. ‘Ready To Go’ was the JP-8080 – I took those bells and threw them back into Sampler, pitched them down and did a whole bunch of things to them.

Do you enjoy the challenge of working that way?

I don’t even think it’s a challenge – for me it was kind of common sense. I’ve never been one to try and sound the same, just because it’s boring. When I’m making music it’s kind of the same way I DJ, so that I don’t get bored of my own sound.

How much do you think the fact that you have that engineering background has influenced the way your music turns out?

I’ll be completely honest: I could have probably done it all on YouTube. Had YouTube been around when I went to school, I wouldn’t have had to pay $25,000 or however much it cost me to go there. I think I’ve learned more on YouTube than I have at the school. The only good thing that came out of there was basically just being determined and having dedication. Just seeing how hard people were working was kind of what I got out of that. When it came to training and stuff like that, they showed me the basics but you can definitely learn that on YouTube now. You can be a brain surgeon on YouTube now, so…

It sounds like you see it as a continual process, that you’re still learning and developing your craft?

Oh yeah, consistently. There’s always new ways to do something or new ways to sound different. That’s usually what I look for.

If you’re just starting out in production, it’s easy to make the assumption that anyone with a few releases under their belt doesn’t need to learn anything new.

I can see that. I remember thinking one of my favourite artists was a complete genius, then I ended up getting in the studio with him and he was like… not lost, but very, very slow. Like reaalllly insanely slow. So I just jumped in there and started working it. This was a guy that I looked up to and I was nervous of even getting in the studio with him. So yeah, it’s pretty funny that people would think I know everything up and down – it’s really not even remotely close. You’re consistently learning because there’s new gear coming out, there’s new DAWs coming out, you know? If Ableton is launching version 9 with a new time-stretching algorithm, you need to learn that and you need to see how far you can go with that. I use all the different algorithms on Ableton in a certain way. All those things, you’re just consistently learning.

What kind of things have you been trying to learn lately?

I guess lately it’s been the new gear that I have in the studio, learning how it is I can use it. Even if it’s just the Apollo soundcard and the plugins that it has – really dope compressors and distortion and stuff like that. But as far as recording and sequencing tracks, I pretty much have a clear vision of where I want this thing to take me.

it’s pretty funny that people would think I know everything up and down – it’s really not even remotely close. You’re consistently learning

It seems like you’re the kind of person who really thinks about the future rather than just seeing where it goes.

Yeah. This year was a very good year for me in a way where people’s perceptions changed. Next year, I do feel that people are gonna see what I have up my sleeve. I have a record label that I haven’t announced and we’re going on the sixth release. I haven’t announced it yet just because I kind of want the music to speak before there’s a name tagged on to it. So that’s gonna be next year along with an album.

So you’re going to reveal which label it is once it’s established its own identity?

100%

Was that a difficult decision?

No. I used to run a label and it was basically the same way. I used to release white label only. It was electro records, and we sold out. I’m basically taking that state of mind into this, where I want the music to speak and I don’t want my name to speak. I don’t want expectations and I don’t want disappointments. I just want the music to do the talking, then I can announce that it’s my label and then it’ll be easier to push. It’s definitely been hard to push.

That’s why I ask if it was a difficult decision, because one of the easiest ways to promote a new label is to associate it with an artist with an established fanbase.

It’s the easiest way to push me, myself as Danny Daze with a hidden agenda, but it’s not music-based. OK, cool, Danny Daze has a label, we’re going to get some press, but if the music doesn’t speak, then the label just kind of fizzles out. If the music speaks first, then you see that there’s someone recognisable behind it, then you know this person is in it for the right reason. I’m not in it for my own hidden agenda, I’m in it to try and get a family together and release music from Miami, music from Florida, people from overseas, people who haven’t been heard. That’s the entire purpose of the label.

Danny Daze plays Circus’s Ellum Audio showcase at the Arts Club, Liverpool, on Saturday October 31st. Tickets available here. You can also catch Danny at Extrema Noir in Antwerp, Belgium on November 10th. Find him on Facebook, Twitter and SoundCloud.