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Denim Dan, welcome to VENTS! Can you tell us about your latest album, This Way, That Way, The Other Way?
This record brought me back decades. Feeling like catching up with a good friend you haven’t seen in a long time.
I was reliving where I was at & what I was going through 20 – 25 years ago…as if transported back in a time machine.
The first song…”Born From The Tears Of G-d’s Eye” is a recent song that denotes the stages of life & choices we make.
The Title track…”This Way, That Way, The Other Way” is based on true stories. I can visualize a movie based on that song. Jack was sailing down the road through the desert of New Mexico where he spotted a soul with a very light load. He said his name was Dan and his best friend had stolen his van and left him out in the desert night cold.
The fourth song…” We Are Who We Are” is me complaining to a female patron at a bar about a new relationship gone wrong. At the end of the song I say..”I spilled my guts on you the drinks are on me.”
One of my favorite tracks…”Let Your Love Fall Down On Me [too]”was written and recorded in the mid 1990’s in Boulder, Colorado. It deals with jealousy, love, fear, trust, destiny as well as the people, places and things that have brought us here.
“Bernalillo Baby” was written in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the late 1970’s & recorded in the mid 1990’s in Boulder. A young pregnant woman, who had a brief encounter while on vacation in Florida comes home to New Mexico. Her father wants her to live on the family farm and collect assistance. She wants to live in the city and get herself a job.
Two songs were written in NYC right after 9/11 and recorded live in one take, weeks later in Boulder. They are, “Me Oh My”, which is about brother against brother still killing each other. When will it stop. The other song is “Looking For Your Lovin’, which has the President and the Mayor speaking at the podium trying to calm down the nation as people around the world become aware of the reality of these horrible events.
“Last Song On The Left” was composed by the late great Ted Shinn. A wonderful jazz/ rock instrumental piece with me uttering the occasional words…dance the night away. We pictured a music video taking place in a Western Dance Hall Bar with Ted tending bar wearing a red vest. Sadly, that never made fruition.
How do you want your audience to feel when they hear it?
These tracks have me feeling vulnerable with struggles of the human condition. Hopefully, people can relate to some of these songs. I can imagine deeper sentiments being triggered while folks listen as they do mundane things like driving in a car or washing dishes.
What keeps you inspired and motivated to write new songs?
These day’s we are fortunate to be able to split our time between NYC & Florence, Italy. I don’t have to look too far to feel inspired. In Florence, I feel like I’m living in a Renaissance painting.
In NYC I feel like I’m living in a Felini / Scorsese film.
How would you sum up your songwriting in three words?
Social commentary, Strong structure and Relatability.
If you could name one artist that has had the biggest impact on your sound, who would it be?
Steely Dan is a band that has had an impact on our sound. Their fusion of rock & jazz with their sophisticated chord progressions always blew me away. Denim Dan’s music, I believe, is part folk/rock/pop with a little jazz and classical overtones.
How has calling NYC home shaped your sound?
It isn’t easy to sustain a life in NYC. Yet, many people flock here from all places and walks of life.
On the Seinfeld TV show, at the dinner table, Jerry’s aunt says she loved her pony in Poland when she was a girl. Jerry then chimes in with…why would you leave a pony country and move to a non pony country. In NYC, I feel like I’m living in a movie. NYC offers you freedom to be as weird as you want to be. But, like the aunt missing her pony there’s trade off. I feel nourished by the people, the museums, coffee shops etc.
What’s next for Denim Dan?
Our next album is Santa Maria’s Dome. It’s a look at one on one relationships ranging from a budding May/December romance, a look at newfound friendships, an observation of a struggling marriage, exploring two friends trying to help another get over their addiction, and a whole heck a lot more.
Santa Maria’s Dome is expected to be released December 2023. Stay tuned!
Sent from my iPhone
“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty”
-Thomas Jefferson
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love. For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”
-Nelson Mandela
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