As an alumnus of UCLA, I am always extremely excited to hear about other Bruins doing awesome things. I recently had the opportunity to interview Lady Danville, a group of three guys that grew up in Danville, CA but didn’t end up meeting until after joining Awaken A cappella while at UCLA. Their music certainly has hints of their A cappella experience with Awaken and has won local accolades including the annual 98.7 Star Lounge Competition with their song “Tired Magician,” off of their self-titled debut EP. In addition to sounding great on the radio, Lady Danville knows how to put on an awesome show. They will be playing Saturday, August 2nd at the Ford Amphitheatre for the Kollaboration Acoustic Show (All Ages. Tickets $20-45. Buy Tickets) and can also be seen (for FREE!) at the Apple Store on 3rd Street in Santa Monica on Saturday, September 6th. Take the time and get to know Lady Danville:
Could you please introduce yourselves and state what part each of you play in the band?
Hi! I’m Matt Frankel, I play the Cajon and sing!
Hi! I’m Dan Chang. I play the guitar and sing!
Hi! I’m Michael Garner. I play the keyboard and sing!
What is something you would like fans/soon to be fans to know about each of you and/or Lady Danville as a whole?
We are just young chaps that like to write music! Michael used to be very politically involved in college, Matt has a dog named Ninja and Dan blows his nose a lot.
Are you guys originally from Southern California? If not, where did each of you grow up?
None of us are originally from Southern California. Our origins span from the east coast (Chicago) to Northern California. After “being birthed,” if you will, most of us moved to Danville, which is a cool suburb near San Francisco and grew up in suburban harmony.
When did each of you become interested in music?
Matt became interested in music when his 1st grade teacher, Lester Chun, taught him how to play the accorder. Mr. Chun then taught him the saxophone and some drums too! Dan found his love for music hiding in the corner of his Choir room freshmen year of high school.
Michael came out of the womb singing a Ben Folds song… that’s 73% accurate.
What other musical projects has each of you been a part of?
We all met actually in an A capella group at UCLA called Awaken A cappella. We had all sung before…Matt as a Musical Theater major, Michael with his keyboard, Dan with his guitar, so it was only natural for us to get involved in the evolving hip, yet still dorky, world of college A cappella. We loved it. Actually, Sara Bareilles was in the group with us, and we’re hoping to follow in her footsteps of being accomplished Awaken alumni who go on to getting our music heard by people across the country. So many people from our A cappella group have pursued the music industry, and we’re happy to be a part of such a great and accomplished group of people and musicians.
How did you guys end up meeting and eventually forming Lady Danville?
Mike and Dan met their first year in Awaken. Matt was already a part of the group, playing the role of “beatboxer.” Mike and Dan discovered their mutual passion for abandoning writing papers for late night music writing sessions. Mike and Dan formed a duo named “Mikey G and Dan from Danville,” and wrote a few great songs that won them the top award at UCLA’s Spring Sing. This really was the beginning of an extremely supportive UCLA fanbase. After all three of us graduated, we were in Michael’s room one day and there was a mini electronic drum kit that Matt picked up and started jamming on. Unbeknownst to Mike and Dan, Matt retained a few skills from the Mr. Chun days back in elementary and middle school. It didn’t take long before we became a trio and the three of us began meeting pretty regularly to play music together.
Why did you choose to name yourselves Lady Danville? Were there other band names you guys were contemplating?
There were definitely other band names we were contemplating. Thinking of a band name is one of those things you can do of for hours on end, come up with some funny stuff, but nothing will click. It’s funny, because people always think that the front-person in the group is going to be a “front-lady”…but much to their surprise, it’s three young guys.
What is your guys’ process for writing a Lady Danville song?
Usually the way it works, is one person will come to the table with something substantial for the base of a song (whether it be a melody, a lyric, a concept) and then we’ll put our heads and fingers together and start to come up with something. Some nights we’re ultra productive writing as a trio, sometimes as a duo and sometimes one person can get more done by himself…it just depends.
What are you guys currently working on?
We are in the studio recording a song titled “Sophie Roux,” and we are writing two new songs. One is a song that you would sing to someone that is going through a lot in life and the other is about trying to be a better person…pretty general descriptions, but I think it makes more sense in music form.
Who/What are the strongest influences on your music?
We are all very influenced individually by different artists, but generally as a group we are influenced by the music of Guster, Ben Folds, Jon Brion, Coldplay, Rufus Wainwright, Jack Johnson, etc.
How does living in Los Angeles influence the music Lady Danville creates?
Well, Los Angeles is quite the machine and we have written a song actually that highlights L.A. But the truth is, we would write this style of music whether or not we lived in this city or elsewhere. It always helps to be surrounded by creative people (which L.A. has a lot of!). And of course, when you live in a city as crazy as L.A., crazy things start to happen to you and crazy music starts a-flowin.
What venue, in Los Angeles, is your favorite to play? Why?
It’s hard to choose between the Hotel Cafe and the Temple Bar. We love them both so much. They are definitely our style because of the types of bands that play at them, the size, the atmosphere, the people, the booze, the babes, J, etc.
How do you think the LA music scene compares to the rest of the country right now?
I think the L.A. music scene is great! Bands move to L.A. to try to get their music heard, because there are so many people in L.A. that love going to listen. That being said, I think people in L.A. sometimes forget how great places like New York, Nashville (great Jazz!!), San Francisco, Detroit, Atlanta, Seattle, etc…have such great music too.
What are some independent bands, LA based or otherwise, that you are currently listening to?
We are huge fans of Cavil At Rest, The Payphones, Kina Grannis, Davey G. Project, Jason Reeves and Tyrone Wells (they started to get a little less Independent there at the end).
I read that each of you still have day jobs. If this is still true, what are they?
Michael works at GreenDot as a knowledge management analyst, Dan works as a healthcare analyst for Goldman Consulting Group, and Matt works in fundraising at UCLA.
Where is your favorite place to eat in LA?
Gushi
Hang out with friends?
Cloverdale, Manhattan Beach
Recover from a hangover?
Bread and Porridge
Discover new music?
Largo/Hotel Cafe/Temple Bar
Lastly, who would play each of you in the movie version of Lady Danville’s rise to the top?
Subscribe to our RSS Feed And checkout our coffee competition to win a $30 gift voucher to your favourite coffee shop : click hereDan: John Cho
Michael: Old School Robert Downey Jr.
Matt: Matthew Broderick
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1 response so far ↓
1 winnie // Aug 1, 2008 at 5:56 am
Love these guys. Great interview!
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Hello from London
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