An Interview with Danny Dyson
Conducted April 29th 2019
Danny Dyson is one of the Gold Coast’s new rising stars, known for his late night tunes on Instagram, and his extensive listing of local gigs, Danny is quickly becoming a recognised and sought after talent all the way from Byron Bay to the peaks of Mt Tambourine.
Meeting at a local café, we discussed family, life, music and career. I was eager to get to know this humble man who refused to let me buy him a coffee, instead shouting me lunch.
Thomas: “You’re quite a creative person, not only a musician but you’re also
doing a lot of graphic design and filmography; I’m curious at what age you
started playing music?”
Danny: “I’ve been playing music my whole life. There’s a photo of me when I was about two jamming out on an acoustic guitar. I’ve been learning and playing music ever since, and now for the last two years I’ve been playing professionally full time. I had this real itch to play and perform and to explore what I could do with music as a solo artist.”
TP: “But you’re not just gigging with cover songs, you’re also writing a lot of your own tunes. And so I’m curious who you create music for, and what message you hope to get across.”
DD: “It’s a way of expressing what I’m going through; basically like thinking out loud to the world. But at the same time I try to keep it ambiguously so that anyone can find their own story in it, and put their own meanings into it. It’s a great way to process, like talking with a psychiatrist.
Song writing is like going to the gym; the more you go, the stronger you get and the easier it is to just jump straight into the flow.”
TP: “Ok so this is a little bit of a curveball question, but at the moment who would you say is the most creative person you know?”
DD: “Ooh, that’s a tough one… I’ve always been a huge fan of Matt Corby. I love how he’s always listening to all these different records, both old and new and looking for ideas and inspiration. There’s this humility in that that I love; he doesn’t have this arrogance that says ‘I can make everything myself by scratch’.
I’ve also met so many amazing and inspiring artists and individuals over the last few years. The Gold Coast scene is very much a community, whether you’re down at Byron Bay or up here in the heart of the city, you’ll find musicians that are as excited and supportive of your work and ambitions as they would be of their own. I honestly love being able to just chat online about different ideas, or sharing and enjoying each other’s latest projects.”
TP: “So you touched on how these different people inspire you to create, is there anyone or anything outside the creative realm?”
DD: “I love old quotes and a lot of the
classic authors. One of my favourites is from C.S. Lewis:”
“No man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it” (Lewis, 1944)
DD: “So when I’m writing I never worry about being original, just saying exactly what I feel. And it’s not related to music at all, so you don’t feel the pressure of trying to be musically complex or technical or different. All you have to worry about is being you and saying what you want to say.”
TP: “So when you’re writing do you encounter creative blocks? And how do you overcome them?”
DD: “Whenever I get frustrated, whether it’s from something I’ve seen on the news or just stuff that’s going on in life, I go and write about it. I’ll write down the thing that’s got me riled up, or write down a song title or a single line or whatever the idea is, and then when I come to my writing time, I grab those ideas and flesh them out.”
TP: “So moving now to the more business/career end of the spectrum, there’s often the perspective that a creative career is less stable, particularly financially. What was it in particular that drew you to music over perhaps something with more stability?
DD: “I started busking in shopping centres and it was like a drug, and I just thought, ‘this is amazing!’ I just got hooked, and I saw so much opportunity to go into whatever genre I wanted, or explore anything you wanted to, as long as it was enjoyable for the people listening and for you. I also do weddings and corporate gigs, but I still often do gigs that don’t necessarily pay much just because I really enjoy doing them. You’ve got to balance it out. And I have a day job three to four days a week, so as to not put all my eggs in the one basket.”
Danny’s Instagram is full of shots from the stunning locations he plays, heart-warming weddings and wonderfully moving music, yet Danny is also very much a family man, often sharing photos and videos of the latest playtime shenanigans of his wife Naomi and their 3 beautiful boys.
TP: “You mentioned balance as far as career goes; for yourself, how do you go about balancing work life and personal and family life?”
DD: “Originally I actually moved from full time to part time in the office for my family. I could work three or four days and then have the rest of the week to spend time with them. Even now, I’ll have four or five gigs over the week, but the majority of those days are still left free to hang out with my boys or spend time with my wife. And then once they go to bed, that’s when I do all my practising and rehearsing and all of my writing too.”
TP: “We’re almost out of time, so one final question: for someone who’s looking to pursue a career in music – even any creative career – what advise would you give that person?”
DD: “With music it always seems that there are so many rules, and yet no rules at all; people can tour, you can do weddings, you can busk, there are so many different ways to work with music. So just get out there and start doing something. You don’t even have to leave home these days, you can start a Youtube channel, set up a Patreon and have people pay for your music and to support you. Just start somewhere, anywhere.”
If you want to check out any of Danny’s content or find out when his next gig is, follow him via the links below.
Join the discussion
Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.
Tom Page Creative 