There must be something about doing interviews during blistering hot days as every interview I've done the weather has been brilliant - maybe I should do more. This time round I had the pleasure of interviewing Aberdeen native Daniel Mutch. Being based is Glasgow the prospect of interviewing someone from Aberdeen was exciting. A leisurely walk to Woodlands Road in the afternoon sun was nice and it calmed the nerves a little as this was my first interview in eight months.
Deciding on a venue proved tricky but as we eased into a relaxed conversation we were happy doing the interview outside but a bench was difficult to find. The front seat of Daniel's car had to do. When we first met one of the first things I noticed was a slight limp which was the result of a broken ankle which was the result of a football injury. "I was playing football for my 5-a-side team on a Sunday night. I remember I was in the corner of the pitch I had the ball and then boy came in and he kind of kicked my ankle and that wasn't sore but then I just lost my body weight and just fell on top of it and I just heard it snap." he continued "I managed to not cancel any gigs while I broke my foot I relied heavily on lifts to be honest, I got through it okay so it's all good."
For someone with an acoustic guitar it was in unusual circumstances his musical journey started - as the drummer in a couple of bands. "I actually began as a drummer to be honest I was the drummer in a couple of bands. There was one screamo band I was in that was in back in the day. We were called Out At Sea." Which I think is a really cool name. Mutch goes on to say "Our first name was lionkillsantelope like all the one word and then we changed it. We had the whole synth and heavy guitars and screaming, I was the drummer so I was just leading the rhythm just hitting stuff. Then I went into another band as a drummer called The Go Slow we were like a Biffy Clyro esk four piece. I had ace fun doing it but I didn't feel really creative doing it. It was fun but I like making a song as much as playing one. That's when I moved on to playing the guitar again."
As a talented drummer playing in a couple of bands at what point does song writing come in? "I think I wrote my first song when I was 16 or 17. I didn't really do much with it I just kind of wrote for pleasure and I didn't think I could sing, I just kind of wrote them and then hoped someday someone would sing them." He went on to tell me about when he started performing as a solo artist. "End of 2012 I recorded a couple of quick bedroom tracks, put them on soundcloud and then I started doing the odd gig here and there in Aberdeen. At the turn of 2013 I got a cool support slot for Max Milner. He was on the voice, I think he was one off the finalists. His tour manager I think got in touch and said any chance you want to support. That's when I really started kicking off with the music and going this is what I want to do. I just kind of got on from there just putting all my efforts into it and seeing where it goes."
The song writing process Mutch varies "It's always been different. The first song I ever wrote was 'Counting Stars' that was off my first EP and that was done in ten or fifteen minutes. I remember distinctly closing my eyes, I had four bits of A4 paper in front of me and I just closed my eyes and imagined to myself what do I want to hear what's the kind of music I want to hear. Then I just heard this beat and then I heard a melody as well, It was all pretty surreal. Then I started writing and then it was done." He continues "To get away from that more often than not ill write a guitar part first and try and work a melody around the guitar. Because I'm solo just now I try not write to song that are just strumming chords. I like to get pretty intricate with the finger picking and get into the real nitty gritty of a song. It's a pain staking process it can be infuriating at time trying to find the perfect word or perfect phrase to say and it just drives you mental but once you find it it's so worth it. I would go music first then probably words afterwards."
Since we are a Glasgow based blog - I say we it's just one person but we sounds better - a little chat about Glasgow is in order. "I managed to play my first Glasgow gig at Pivo Pivo. So I played there and it was a great night. Glasgow was great man, it was a Tuesday or Wednesday or something. It was packed. There was heaps of folk there that I didn't know and they all seemed to enjoy it. So I had a really good experience of Glasgow first hand. I'm hoping to get a lot more experience of Glasgow in the future."
A necessary if not dreaded part of most interview has to be influences. "Influences would definitely be Ben Howard, John Mayer actually plays a big part in the song writing. He was the guy I started listening to when I mad the shift from drummer to acoustic song writer. I just loved the way that Ben Howard and John Mayer would take their stories and put them in song form and that's exactly what I wanted to do."
With heaps of time to write due to a broken ankle a new EP is definitely in the works. "I'm going back into the studio in July. I haven't actually decided on how many tracks it will be I might aiming for five. Slightly different sort of route I'm going down musically this time. I'm getting inspired by a lot of new music and hopefully that will take me in a different sort of path of what I'm wanting to write." Along with a new EP come lots of gigs and the joys of doing promotion. "Then trying to organise the rest of the year for promotion and gigs and stuff. I'm planning those just now. I'm planning to come back at least once a month just to keep myself active if not Glasgow at least Edinburgh or outside of Aberdeen anyway. Just to build a fan base and create a bit of noise."
You can listen to Daniel's EP's 'Anchors' and 'Chapter One' on Spotify now.
For more information check out Daniel on Facebook, Twitter and Soundcloud.
Deciding on a venue proved tricky but as we eased into a relaxed conversation we were happy doing the interview outside but a bench was difficult to find. The front seat of Daniel's car had to do. When we first met one of the first things I noticed was a slight limp which was the result of a broken ankle which was the result of a football injury. "I was playing football for my 5-a-side team on a Sunday night. I remember I was in the corner of the pitch I had the ball and then boy came in and he kind of kicked my ankle and that wasn't sore but then I just lost my body weight and just fell on top of it and I just heard it snap." he continued "I managed to not cancel any gigs while I broke my foot I relied heavily on lifts to be honest, I got through it okay so it's all good."
For someone with an acoustic guitar it was in unusual circumstances his musical journey started - as the drummer in a couple of bands. "I actually began as a drummer to be honest I was the drummer in a couple of bands. There was one screamo band I was in that was in back in the day. We were called Out At Sea." Which I think is a really cool name. Mutch goes on to say "Our first name was lionkillsantelope like all the one word and then we changed it. We had the whole synth and heavy guitars and screaming, I was the drummer so I was just leading the rhythm just hitting stuff. Then I went into another band as a drummer called The Go Slow we were like a Biffy Clyro esk four piece. I had ace fun doing it but I didn't feel really creative doing it. It was fun but I like making a song as much as playing one. That's when I moved on to playing the guitar again."
As a talented drummer playing in a couple of bands at what point does song writing come in? "I think I wrote my first song when I was 16 or 17. I didn't really do much with it I just kind of wrote for pleasure and I didn't think I could sing, I just kind of wrote them and then hoped someday someone would sing them." He went on to tell me about when he started performing as a solo artist. "End of 2012 I recorded a couple of quick bedroom tracks, put them on soundcloud and then I started doing the odd gig here and there in Aberdeen. At the turn of 2013 I got a cool support slot for Max Milner. He was on the voice, I think he was one off the finalists. His tour manager I think got in touch and said any chance you want to support. That's when I really started kicking off with the music and going this is what I want to do. I just kind of got on from there just putting all my efforts into it and seeing where it goes."
The song writing process Mutch varies "It's always been different. The first song I ever wrote was 'Counting Stars' that was off my first EP and that was done in ten or fifteen minutes. I remember distinctly closing my eyes, I had four bits of A4 paper in front of me and I just closed my eyes and imagined to myself what do I want to hear what's the kind of music I want to hear. Then I just heard this beat and then I heard a melody as well, It was all pretty surreal. Then I started writing and then it was done." He continues "To get away from that more often than not ill write a guitar part first and try and work a melody around the guitar. Because I'm solo just now I try not write to song that are just strumming chords. I like to get pretty intricate with the finger picking and get into the real nitty gritty of a song. It's a pain staking process it can be infuriating at time trying to find the perfect word or perfect phrase to say and it just drives you mental but once you find it it's so worth it. I would go music first then probably words afterwards."
Since we are a Glasgow based blog - I say we it's just one person but we sounds better - a little chat about Glasgow is in order. "I managed to play my first Glasgow gig at Pivo Pivo. So I played there and it was a great night. Glasgow was great man, it was a Tuesday or Wednesday or something. It was packed. There was heaps of folk there that I didn't know and they all seemed to enjoy it. So I had a really good experience of Glasgow first hand. I'm hoping to get a lot more experience of Glasgow in the future."
A necessary if not dreaded part of most interview has to be influences. "Influences would definitely be Ben Howard, John Mayer actually plays a big part in the song writing. He was the guy I started listening to when I mad the shift from drummer to acoustic song writer. I just loved the way that Ben Howard and John Mayer would take their stories and put them in song form and that's exactly what I wanted to do."
With heaps of time to write due to a broken ankle a new EP is definitely in the works. "I'm going back into the studio in July. I haven't actually decided on how many tracks it will be I might aiming for five. Slightly different sort of route I'm going down musically this time. I'm getting inspired by a lot of new music and hopefully that will take me in a different sort of path of what I'm wanting to write." Along with a new EP come lots of gigs and the joys of doing promotion. "Then trying to organise the rest of the year for promotion and gigs and stuff. I'm planning those just now. I'm planning to come back at least once a month just to keep myself active if not Glasgow at least Edinburgh or outside of Aberdeen anyway. Just to build a fan base and create a bit of noise."
You can listen to Daniel's EP's 'Anchors' and 'Chapter One' on Spotify now.
For more information check out Daniel on Facebook, Twitter and Soundcloud.
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