Danny Bars Interview
This brings about the 2nd Artist of the Week.
The second Artist we have is Danny Bars who is a Rapper based in Newcastle and he got in contact with us to tell his story and man he had a story to tell!!
His Bars are filled with stories, Political references, Punchlines with a side of Bravado.
Independent and ready to release new music he is gonna turn some heads this year.
This one is pretty big so I will cut down my usual banter and intro and get to it.
Danny’s links are below make sure you check him out and support this Underground artist!!!
https://www.facebook.com/DannyBarsHooker https://www.facebook.com/dannybarsraps/ https://www.instagram.com/dannybarsraps/
Enough from me here is the Interview.
Where did you Grow up?
When people ask where I grew up/where I’m from I sigh (on the inside) cuz its a pretty complicated answer even though its usually the shortest in a Q&A – to keep it brief – my parents are both fully English raised in Chelmsford a smaller city about 30mins from London – my Dad was in Foreign Exchange and as he didn’t have a degree he moved up in his business by being A.)really good at his job/creating personal&business relationships and B.) being willing to move at the drop of a hat.
With that in mind, I was born in Tokyo, Japan (my Birth Certificate is in Japanese) but I was still born a UK citizen and have no legal ties to Japan as we left when I was old enough to fly (8weeks) to my Dad’s next job in New Zealand – I became a Kiwi citizen as I lived there till age 5 (fun fact, ex-NZ Prime Minister John Key was a family friend and was at my 1st Bday because before politics he worked in FX Sales with my Dad in Wellington)
At age 5 we moved to NYC for a few months before relocating to the NJ Suburbs that many NY workers commute from – I lived in the US from age 5 to age 24 (and lost that Kiwi accent REAL quick haha) but when I turned 15 I became a ‘naturalized citizen’ meaning I’m actually a ‘tri-citizen’ as I have UK/US/NZ passports (and live in Australia – Newcastle specifically on my NZ passport as it doubles as a Special Category Visa) – I’m also a three-time first-generation immigrant, In today’s world I like to tell close-minded/racist people that because the fact that I’m white/male/English has given me a pass that isn’t fair but that’s the life I guess…so in summation, despite my US accent and spending just over half my life there I still identify as English (especially with the whole Trump thing haha)
How long have you been Rapping for?
I’ve been rapping for almost 16 years, I’m 31 now and started when I was 16 just writing raps because my mates and I took a TV Prod. class in High School and would just use Garage Band (this was 2005ish) to make beats and eventually i was the one that started rapping/writing to them since i was a fan of more lyrical rappers at the time (50 Cent/G-Unit/Dipset etc was blowing up then but I was discovering ‘Indy/Alt’ Rap like DOOM, Aesop Rock and producers like Preemo/Dilla/Madlib…then Lupe Fiasco started getting radio airplay which I couldn’t believe – and they, in my opinion, were lyrically echelons above what my friends listened to (though the one thing we agreed on, atleast until ‘Encore’ was that Eminem was one of the best ever) – I started recording music with a 20$mic/Sony Acid/1 Hip Hop sample kit/a dress sock to put over the mic as a cheap pop filter then when I went to Uni aged 17/18 I went to my first paid studio session in a BAD part of Philly but it was a big thing for me then.
After that, I found Radio/TV/Film majors at Uni and was able to record mixtapes and albums/EPs for free as they needed stuff for their portfolio’s etc and one was to promote a clothing company startup but then I started playing house parties/fundraisers/uni events…at one point my buddy Matt and I went door to door through the uni dorms tryna sell my mixtape. My biggest gig in the US was at Philly’s The Art Garage that’s hosted many Philly Native artists over the years and it was a pretty packed 200-300 people, nothing big, but the buzz I felt on stage is something I’ll chase until I physically can’t rap/gig anymore!
But now when people ask about how long I’ve rapped I just say, “15 years or so but only seriously for the last 10” – cuz that’s when I started gigging, then 5yrs ago I joined my former label that I’m not even wasting time naming here but I came away with two professional-quality albums, 5 Music Videos and a tough lesson the music biz (the former label head/producer posted bounties in exchange for my address/drunk death threats on social media etc) But I have done a gig in Sydney for Undergroundfest and opened for one of my favourite rappers, Locksmith (US) and PHFat (South Africa) as well as local acts like Electric Elements Crew/Sleepwalkers/BigRedCap/Nhostic&DJ Riley JM and many other talented acts not named here just in Newcastle which has a really underrated hip hop scene in my opinion.
Describe your Sound/Style?
It’s tough to describe my style cuz it has evolved over 15yrs but not much, I hate when people ask you ‘who you sound like’ – ya know, I don’t want to be another Eminem, I want to be the first Danny Bars – BUT sometimes if someone can’t hear your music the best you can do is try and classify it so I just say that I do ‘Alternative Hip Hop’ as that’s a catch-all term for artists I do like and probably emulate parts of their skillsets without even realizing it but that group includes Madvillain/DOOM, Aesop Rock, Eminem till 2004 and Lil Wayne from 2005-2008 during his punchline/bravado heavy mixtape days…
I am glad you asked the question though because I had little choice over beat selection when on my former label so my bars were almost all bravado/punchline based because rapping something real and candid over a generic trap beat just doesn’t sound right – so my new album just needs to be recorded/edited but the beats were done by local Newy producer TheifSweat and have much more in common with newer minimalist beats while still maintaining some variety through using samples/boom bap etc to give the production a vibe similar to J-Dilla/DJ Premier/Madlib…
But the other big thing I’m working on style-wise is basically creating a genre with a mate Andrew from Between the Lines in Tighes Hill – we call it JamRap and its basically an evolving collective that always includes Andy’s guitar riffs and my raps but will also have other guitarists/bass/drums/vocalists who can join if/when the chemistry is right – we call it JamRap cuz ‘Alternative-Experimental-Folk-Blues-Hip-Hop’ was a bit of a mouthful haha. But it’s cool cuz we’ve gotten good responses from fans of rap and fans of the other genre’s we’re blending.
Advice for the upcoming artist?
As far as advice I would say – find what you’re truly good at and do that, I don’t make beats cuz when I did they were okay, not great, just okay but as someone who’s always spoken a LOT and FAST since I was a kid I feel like rapping was what I was meant to do…I don’t mean to sound negative but it feels like everyone wants to rap but some people just aren’t meant to, I mean, someone’s gotta be a listener right? It’s just that Hip Hop has almost NO barrier to entry, with other genres you have to learn instruments buy equipment etc, but if you have a phone you can download free beats, type out some lyrics, record/edit the vid on your phone and post it just like that – and to be honest, it’s bringing the overall talent in rap down…that’s just a reality sadly.
Regarding the business side, don’t worry about trying to make money off your music, focus on getting it HEARD – the rest will follow if it’s meant to…
Lastly, the best advice I can give as far as writing technically based multi-syllable rhymes etc is to focus on the vowel sounds – the best rappers rhyme words that don’t really rhyme technically – for example, one of my oldest songs opens with “I’m super ill/so I shoot to kill/like the Zapruder Film” I didn’t look for ‘what rhymes with super’ I just focused on the vowel sounds so ‘Super ill’ is just a hard ‘U’ in super and a soft ‘i’ in ill and ‘shoot to kill/Zapruder film’ both have the hard u/oo sound and the soft ‘i’ sound – sorry if that doesn’t make sense but if/when it clicks you’ll start taking BIG strides with your writing…
Oh and don’t let anyone tell you what you can’t do (even me earlier haha) – if they are then they’re probably insecure – if you love it, do it anyway, for me, writing can be cathartic and therapeutic even if I don’t post or release the song or anything…
What is the first album you ever owned?
The first album I owned was the edited cassette tape of The Slim Shady LP and I just listened to that on my walkman for a year or so till the Marshall Mathers LP came out then I also remember having the edited ‘Chronic: 2001’ album on tape too – although if I’m being 100, I also remember having KoRn’s ‘Follow the Leader’ and Kid Rocks ‘Devil Without a Cause’ but those Em tapes are what made me fall in love with rap – but when I discovered alternative/indy rap I fell in love all over again when I heard three albums: Madvillainy by Madvillain (DOOM and Madlib), the DOOM/Dangermouse/AdultSwim album ‘The Mouse and the Mask’ and ‘Labor Days’ by Aesop Rock – all highly recommended to this day!
Who is your top 5 Artists Or producers or Albums?
Top 5s…Rappers, not in order would be: Pre-2005 Eminem, MF DOOM, Aesop Rock, Billy Woods, Earl Sweatshirt (and Kendrick even though that’s 6 haha) As far as Albums all I know is that Em’s first 3 (not including infinite) are a CLASSIC trilogy – I also rank Jay-Z’s Blueprint Album and Black Album very highly and most recently ‘Doris’ by Earl Sweatshirt and ‘Known Unknowns’ by Billy Woods.
Far as producers, id go right away with Ant of Atmosphere, J-Dilla, DJ Premier, Dr.Dre, and Madlib…and I know its 6 but id even say Kanye even though he’s had some big misses and he’s a dick – he’s had more hits than misses and some hits are truly amazing (he’s done SO MANY) starting with Jay-Z beats back in the day to his own beats on his first three (dope in my opinion) albums in the 2000s and did beats for tracks like ‘The Cool’ by Lupe Fiasco off his debut and more recently one of my favourite albums of last year, ‘DAYTONA’ by Pusha-T – I don’t do gospel but he had at least 5 DOPE beats on his new ‘Jesus is King’ project.
What is one experience in life that, without it, you wouldn’t be the artist you are today?
As far as ‘one moment’ its tough to say (one is def the first time I saw ‘My Name Is’ on MTV and ‘discovered’ rap – Rosa Parks by Outkast also got big around that time) but one that really sticks out – my Mum’s quite young and was a ‘cool Mum’ back in the day – anyway it was the summer of ’99 I believe and ‘Forgot About Dre’ was everywhere and it was on the radio as we pulled into our garage – my Mom was always impressed that I could memorize/rap along, to begin with – but Em’s double verse in the middle of the track was just starting when she turned the engine off – I kept rapping along in perfect time and about a minute later we got inside and I turned the radio on and I was dead on in sync with Em’s bars down to the syllable and my Mum said she knew I’d make it as a rapper – and she still does, top fan haha.
Who would be your Ultimate Feature/Colab?
Ultimate feature – even though he’s fallen off a bit recently I’d still go with Eminem cuz he’s basically the reason I started rapping and no matter what he’ll always be in the G.O.A.T. convo so yeah, id go with Em – plus, if I’m able to get Eminem on a track it means I’m rich and or famous so that’s always good haha.
What are some current projects your working on?
Don’t wanna make this Q&A even longer as I mentioned some stuff earlier but to recap I have my solo album ‘Jawn Doe’ produced by ThiefSweat coming late 2019/Early 2020 and right around that same time I’ll be putting out a ‘JamRap’ EP (current working title: Welcome to JamRap)
You can hear live versions of a song or two of ours (Like ‘Gods > GOATs’) on DannyBars.Bandcamp.Com and you can still see the music vids from my label days on Facebook.com/DannyBarsRaps and click on the videos tab.
Oh and I also found 4-6 partially finished songs that were meant to be on my third label album which was nixed soon as I left but I had written all 15 tracks already so any early versions are getting posted under the title ‘Unfinished: An EP’ with the only FULL/finished song, the single ‘mouseTRAP’ up on my Bandcamp page too – however when ‘Jawn Doe’ is released I will delete ‘Unfinished’ so I can shut that chapter of my career and move on the exciting new stuff as I haven’t laid a track down in a studio setting in almost 3yrs now so its time to show people how I’ve changed since leaving the label/growing personally/turning 30…and 31, haha but I’m REALLY hype about the JamRap stuff as its just so different with such broad appeal I hope people dig what I dig about it but that’s up to them haha.
Who do you think the best in Oz is right now?
I’ll be honest, I busk and do other music stuff like private parties/collabs/ghostwriting etc to pay the bills and busking makes up the majority of that but I’m getting by doing what I love and getting my name out there but honestly, it does make it harder to get into working on my own stuff when busking makes something I love (rap) a job – a fun as shit one – but its still a job for me so I went from being the guy who woke up and read all the hip hop blogs during my morning shit but now I barely keep up with US rap let alone Aussie Rap…
I don’t have any issues with Aussie rap at all, and after being here 7years now/collaborating with Aussies on everything, I’m becoming an American sounding Aussie rapper myself – I know its a boring answer but i heard Hilltop Hoods album The Hard Road when I was a kid in the US and when I heard the restrung version with the live orchestra remakes as a young teen in the US I was BLOWN away, I showed EVERYBODY – its corny but that’s probably my fav AUS album – I haven’t seen too many rappers live that are AUS based since being here but Rapaport and P.Smurf were really good live and were cool to banter/freestyle with after their sets but that was a few years back now. Hopefully, the next great Aussie Rapper is reading this right now haha!
Message to the Youth?
For the youth – do you – don’t try and be something you’re not because it will show in the music – also not everyone needs to be a rapper, if it doesn’t come naturally try producing or even doing promo or doing photography/videography for rappers live or music videos etc.
One quote I live by and think is worth sharing comes from former NFL legend Walter Peyton (known for his charitable off fieldwork) “When you’re good at something you tell everyone…but when you’re GREAT; they’ll tell you”
It took me a long time to learn that lesson and pack my ego up, but people also forget Danny Bars is not my birth name and is a character, one that’s based 90% on me but a character nonetheless – the most common thing I hear when I chat/meet someone who’s only heard my music etc is that I’m not what they expected, I’m non-confrontational, I’m a serial monogamist (not into one night stands anymore; I’m a sucker for a legit relationship), I’m really empathetic – like cry during movies/inspirational youtube vids or news stories like its nothing-empathetic…I don’t drink booze or smoke cigs but just by choice, I do however have a ‘friend’ who will smoke something all-natural with ZERO fatalities that helps with stomach issues and PTSD from a brutal mugging and rhymes with shmanabis…but ‘he’ didn’t start till ‘he’ was in Uni and he doesn’t condone underage drug use. (or any use of ice/heroin etc)
Thanks for taking the time to read about my life, I’ve always been longwinded and that clearly hasn’t changed but if you made it to the end, good on ya! Maybe you’ll see me on stage/the street busking or maybe ill see someone reading this doing their thing – as Killer Mike once said, ‘The closest I’ve ever come to seeing or feeling God…is listening to rap music; rap music is my religion, Amen.”
Show this Legend Some Love!!!!!!
Comment below or let me know who we should interview next!!!
Peace
Hustlers Handbook Music Revolution 