WW: Hello Dan, How are you?
DW: I'm well and seem to be doing better all the time.
WW: Tell us a little about you, your life.
DW: I'm a guy who has been fortunate enough to stay alive in the music business for many years.
WW: Did music always influence you?
DW: I'm not sure. I've always been curious about it.
WW: Where do you get the inspiration to write your own lyrics?
DW: A lot of it comes from observation, watching the world
around me and how people respond to it and to each other. Some songs come from one or two jotted lines--or a would-be title that seems interesting--that set up a mental framework that I begin to fill in. I write fragments in a notebook and look for something to spark an idea.
WW: Did you always know you wanted to be a singer?
DW: No. I used to try to find singers to be in bands with. I sang on my demos but didn't want to be a lead singer. Eventually I accepted the role because I couldn't find
anybody I liked and also because I began to improve. I sang in a couple of cover bands and that helped me get better. I'm more of a "character singer" than a real singer like Rick Bailey or Devin Lima.
WW: How did you join with 111 Records? Tell us about it.
DW: I met Brad, head of 111, while he was in LFO. I was the bass player for a couple of years. I gave him my two previous albums and I think after a while the music started to grow on him. When he decided to start a label he asked me to be on it.
WW: How would you classifly your music? Could you explain it for us?
DW: It fits loosely into what most people call "singer/songwriter" which means, I think, that the song comes first: before the face, before the voice. I am primarily a
composer working in a pop realm, not pop compared to Justin Timberlake, but pop compared to Captain Beefheart. I use some traditional structures like verse/chorus, verse/chorus, bridge, chorus out but I also devise structures. I listen with an "inner ear" and try to let the song reveal itself for what it wants to be.
WW: Do you have any CD's out, where can we get them?
DW: I have two CDs on the Red Cow label which can be purchased at redcowrecords.com or cdbaby.com
WW: Tell us about your new CD, Guesswork.
DW: Several of the songs were written while touring with LFO. One of the songs, "Nothing to Hold" Brad calls the "LFO song" because it mentions some road experiences and includes a nod to their fans. "Sleep", was written in the mid-ninties and is dedicated to Kevin Carter, the photographer who took the Pulitzer prize winning photo of the starving Rwandan child being stalked by a vulture. He later committed suicide. "I Don't Mind" was written while I was recording with Art Garfunkel. I recorded all the tracks at home on a 16 track reel to reel tape machine, dumped it all to computer and recorded vocals at Rick Bailey's studio.
WW: If you had the chance to work with any other artist, who would you like to work with?
DW: I don't know. Somebody like Bette Midler. The work she did with Tom Waits on his album "Foreign Affairs" is astonishing! In the liner notes he says, "Bette, you're
colossal!"
WW: What music are you currently listening to?
DW: I'm kind of busy but I enjoyed Radiohead's new record. Also Robbie Fulks, Lucinda Williams.
WW: What do you have in store for the future?
DW: I've started writing my next album. I plan to tour solo after the first of the year and then record again.
WW: Thanks! Wild Writings wishes you the best in your future music career.
DW: Thank you
