Danny Addison

And now here they are, Nick and Sue on Chatterbox. When the stars talk, they talk to Nick and Sue. Hi this is Nick and chatting to me today on this edition of Chatterbox Redux podcast is Danny Addison. And now in Chatterbox UK, we're just lucky enough to welcome Danny Addison. Danny, how are you, sir? Welcome. I'm very well. How are you doing? I'm all good. I'm all good. Not as sunny as it has been down here on the South Coast, but it's all right. It's all right. It's

still a bit warm. Same here. I'm actually kind of excited about some cooler days, to be honest, because it gets very hot where I am. Can I ask where you're based? We're in Hitchin. kind of just north of London, but not much. Yeah, it's more just our flat feels like it's got its own climate in of itself. It's just cool it down. Okay, so we'll talk about your new releases in a little bit, but let's talk about how you started Danny childhood. What influences did you have?

What did you like and what was being played at home as you were growing up? What were your parents into? I mean a lot of stuff. My parents lived in Africa for a couple of years and so they brought back with them a lot of... a lot of African music. So I couldn't name a lot of the bands. Only Alifaka Tore with Raikouda. I think that was the one that was getting played a lot at home. But then a lot of country music, like we'd listen to the Dixie Chicks. I think they're called the Chicks

now. And I think that really influenced my kind of violin playing because I'm a violinist. So I grew up playing violin and classical music

as well. and so yeah that that and a bit of uh then then was that influence with my older brother so white stripes gorillas uh red hot chili peppers a lot of that so it's a real a real mix of stuff yeah when you just say now when you want to chill uh what would you put on and listen to would you say but what were you into now I'm really into an artist called Foy Vance, if you've ever heard of him. He's an Irish guy, brilliant, brilliant songwriter. More recently, I've been listening

to some Jalen Nagonda, some Ethel Cain. I've been listening to Justin Bieber's new album, which I really like. Wolf Alice, huge fan of. Yeah, a lot of Billy Strings, a lot of stuff. Yeah, they're all great. Well, at what point did you decide you wanted to be a singer -songwriter? What point in your childhood or teens or whenever it was, did you feel that was your calling, maybe?

I think I was probably about 22. I'd moved to Manchester when I was 18 and I had written some songs as a teenager in a band at school but I

didn't know if that was my calling as such. I didn't really know what I wanted to do at 18 but then kind of by chance a friend of mine told me about this course up in Manchester where you can study pop music and so I sort of on a whim applied and managed to get in somehow and then it wasn't until maybe two or three years into that, I realized that actually it was songwriting that I really wanted to get into and understand.

And that was really my passion. And yeah, ever since then, so around 2020, 2019, sorry, I started putting out my own music. And yeah, this new album is a combination of all that since 2019 to now. kind of trying to pick the best bits. Yeah. Did being in Manchester actually help you at all? Because it's quite a vibrant city in many ways. Did it actually help you? Did you do any live stuff there at all? It was hugely,

yeah, it was incredibly helpful. I mean, it was so good for so many reasons, but I think one of the reasons I talk about is the community, the musical community in Manchester is actually pretty small, you know, especially the songwriting community is. OK. for such a big city. It did feel like everyone knew everyone and you feel like this really family, real family environment.

They're super supportive. And, you know, you want to, you want to practice, you know, sharing your ideas and, you know, experimenting with with songs and stuff. Manchester is a great place to do it. It's also not as crazily expensive as somewhere like London. So, you know, if you do want to prioritize doing something that's not going to earn you a lot of money, say you

also have the space to do that. Me, especially as a 22 year old, wasn't earning, still not earning a lot, but I definitely wasn't earning a lot back then. And yeah, it was really good to be able to just, you know, take that time and yeah

practice, practice. I mean Manchester's a place that has come up with some very big acts and groups going back to the 60s and things there but it's probably I mean it is a very vibrant city but I suppose I'm like any other southerner looking at it we see a map and there's this big sprawl of Greater Manchester but it's not all technically there's two cities there because if you look at Manchester city centre that side

of the river is Salford. Mm -hmm, which has got the BBC and all the stuff there and different things and so we look at a map But it's only a mattress only like really half of it is divided by that river isn't because you've got Salford on the other side And it is right really but um, I mean in many ways I'm surprised that Manchester isn't really the second city where it's Birmingham, but then again, I don't know But yeah, you say the music community small which does surprise

me, but no you've been there, you know, so Yeah, I mean, maybe maybe I'm thinking specifically like the singer songwriter community that the music music in general is and also maybe I'm just comparing it to London. It's probably, you know, it depends on what you define as small, I guess. But yeah, like the open mic night scene and the songwriting scene and the venues where songwriters tend to tend to turn up to perform. They're sort of well known by everyone. I guess

London is just this vast sprawling place. And there's so many different communities popping up in there. And I mean, one place I always talk about is a place called the Whiskey Jar in Manchester in the Northern Quarter, where, you know, there was an open mic night run by Joe McAdam. Shout out to Joe McAdam. He put on these amazing nights and would insist on everyone being quiet, you

know, when people came to play their music. That was huge for me because, you know, It meant there was no pressure for it to be, you know, this, this finished polished tune, but you did, you did get that kind of bar, you know, you play in front of 60, 70 people who never heard of you. And you got the opportunity to share what you were doing and, and, you know, work on your, on your craft, if you like. And yeah, like I

really, really miss it. I think that that's something that I It's one of the many things I think is so special about Manchester. Yeah, yeah, I loved it. I miss it. That's good. What about the move down south? I mean, that was to follow your career or, you know, what made you come down south nearer to London? Yeah, it was to follow my career. But I think really, it was just to be closer to family because my immediate family all live in London or around London. And I've been in

Manchester for eight years. And that's the other reason is, is I'd been there such a long time. And I think I just got to a point where I wanted to be able to choose when I was in a city, you know, and living in Hitching, very different. I also had never lived in Hitching as an adult. So I grew up here, but when I was 18, and so I wanted to, you know, try and, you know, see what it was like here, really, it was kind of, you know, I guess. I didn't know whether I'd

like it, but I had a fairly good idea. And yeah, I've loved being here for the last two and a half years. Very easy to get into London as well. that's where most of my um work is now and shows are now so yeah no it's great okay so what sort of size shows what sort of shows and are putting on when you when you're doing something live around london what what size venue we talk in and what sort of crowd are you getting Well, I mean, so we did a show at Paper Dress Vintage,

which we sold out. It's pretty small. I don't actually know what the cap is. Maybe like 100 people. That's in Hackney. And then more recently, we did the album launch show in St. Pancras Old Church, which was such an amazing night of music. I mean, it was such a fun gig to play. didn't even know there was a church in St Pancras. It's an amazing venue. I also didn't know it was sort of an active church when I found out that we

were going to play there. I'd assumed it was just a venue, but no, it's still very much an active church and they put on events there. Yeah, other venues, the Bedford. That's more sort of South London. I love that venue. There is, what's the place called? Spice of Life. So it's a great, great venue. Yeah, there's, I mean, there's just so many in London. So it's kind of like, you know, in Manchester, I could probably pick a

handful word. I'd really want to play. You've got Deaf Institute, you've got 33 Oldham Street, you've got Manchester Academy, obviously. But yeah, like London, I'm still learning about where all these places are. Wonderful, that's great. Okay, tell us about the album you brought out and the tracks that you're pushing as singles, we'll say. So tell us about that and its name and tell us about some of the tracks and how it come about. So it's called Porcelain. The

album is an 11 -track album. And I think I like to think of it as an album about reinvention and wearing the cracks that life can bring and not being afraid of that. I think it was really almost like self -therapy for me. I find that with music anyway. But yeah, the songs are about all sorts of different things, but I think that's the overall... concept. In terms of making it,

we recorded it in Brighton and in Belfast. So we did a Salvation Studios in Brighton, this beautiful studio with an amazing engineer there, Jake Stainer. Shout out to Jake, he was great. So with me, my brother and two other producers, Matt Weir and Simon Francis. and they also played on the record as well. So we all played on the record and we all produced the record. And so it was, you know, this really, it was the highlight of my life, really, like musical career, I guess.

Just getting to make that album with those guys. And there was no... you know, sense of ego. I've said this a bunch of times, but there was no, there was no sense of ego getting in the way of the music or the process. It was just everyone went in there to, you know, serve the music. And so I would, I would say Matt and Cy especially was so good at coming in and not, you know, very,

very conscious and not treading on toes. You know, me and my brother, Tom had, my brother, Tom produces all the music or had done up until

that point. So they were very sensitive to that that we we had been sitting on this music and they didn't want to you know uh tread on our toes or anything um um but i mean we having those fresh ears coming in and and giving their you know advice and and opinions on things was was was massive it's huge thing and yeah having them play on the record as well which is great okay Beckham Call, that's something of yours we've been playing. Tell us about the inspiration behind

that and how that came about. Well, I mean, that's probably one of the darker tunes on the album. I think it's that kind of feeling when you wake up in the middle of the night and everything feels a bit hopeless. I think we've all experienced that. Somehow things feel much worse at night than they do in the morning, or at least they do for me. And you can sort of feel like... Yeah, things sort of feel a bit impossible. So yeah, definitely not an uplifting track. But overall,

I think the album is an uplifting album. Just that one song is, yeah. But then the kind of the music video, we went out to the Netherlands to make the music video to work with some friends of mine who are circus performers and aerial

actors. area artists sorry and they also do a lot of fire tricks and stuff and that was um I would really you know recommend people go check out the music video because I think that that really um sort of sets the scene for the music in the best way um I'm hugely proud of that video actually it just my first time directing and and writing a script and then getting to go out there and make it um with these insanely talented guys I mean Kroningen in the Netherlands where

we did it is I found out quite well known for its circus performance. There's a circus there and I didn't know when I went there, I just had friends that did it. But then they invited a bunch of their friends down to join in with the video and they can all juggle, they can all do fire tricks. It's a crazy place and pretty ideal for someone like me who's wanting to, you know. match music with visuals. Another one we give him some spins to is Tribe actually, tell us

how that one come about. Tribe was sort of more of a COVID era tune. I was feeling quite frustrated with the social media, what would you call, echo chambers that we can sort of find ourselves in where the same opinions are just going round and round and round and you feel like you can't break out of that. So just how, when there is an argument going on, and so there are two sides to that argument, if you feel on the fence about this issue, you can be seen as the enemy, you

know? I feel like being on the fence about things is a valid place to be. It kind of annoys me that, you know, we almost... don't look at so many things like that as society, you know, you need sometimes a bit of time to make your mind up about things. And really hard, there's so much information, and so much information that might not even be, you know, reliable. You know, I think I think we need to all be a bit more respectful of that and appreciative of that.

and tribe is almost written from the perspective of the uh self -righteous you know like people get up on their high horse about things and that can feel really good because you're part of this tribe you're part of the you know the right side quite unquote but i think it can also be you know a dangerous place to be because you can end up quite a dark a dark place um by being by being so confident that you are correct. Okay,

that's the point. What's next? I mean, what are you going to push as a single next from the album? What's coming next with the album? Yeah, what have you got next for us? Well, we've released all the singles, but Stains was the last one, but there's a track on there which is... which is called And If and it's not one I've released on any other EPs. And I'd say with that track, that's probably the most proud I am of a song lyrically. I think it kind of stands alone as

its own poem, which is nice. And then it just kind of came very naturally. Yeah, I mean, I'd really encourage people to listen to the whole thing, but I'm excited for people to hear that one because it's one that no one's heard before. It's a shame that we sort of discovered you towards the end of the releases, but anyway, we're here to chat. If we were to have a chat this time next year, six months or even a year, what would you like to be telling me that you've achieved

in that time? What would I like to have achieved? I think maybe not one thing specifically, but I would just generally like to work more with others, collaborate more with other artists. A lot of this album was sort of recorded in one room, at least the demos were, and I spent time on my own. And then when it came to getting into the studio to record it, I was like, wow, getting to work with three other producers and an engineer

is... There's nothing like it when you're in that group and you're all in that room together working on that thing. So it's really made me think about the inception of songs and going through that with another artist, rather than just on my own and then bringing it to a group, coming into more rooms. I mean, I've done a bit of that already, but... None of this album's just got my name on it, you know? I'd love to release more music alongside another artist.

I think that'd be something I'd really want to do. Something to look out for and something to chat about in the future then, so that'd be an interesting one. Okay, so social media time. Tell all our listeners about your social media, how they can discover more about you, and yeah, floor's all yours. Well, I've got a website, dannyadison .co .uk, and that's where you can

find all my social media and music. And then there's a mailing list as well you can sign up for, where you'll get the latest of what I'm up to. Social media wise, I'm on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and yeah, I've got an ex, but I don't really use it. And then yeah, I would say I'm probably most... mostly on Instagram and TikTok these days. Yeah, I think that's good enough. That's good enough. Okay, well, Danny Anderson, thank you so much for coming on Chatterbox. It's

been great to meet you. We'll make sure you get a copy of this and now we know you, we'll be keeping an eye on your future stuff. So there we go. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me on. No, it's an absolute pleasure. Take care and thank you for your time. Take care. Bye. Bye. This edition of the Chatterbox Redux podcast was presented by me, Nick. Thank our special guest today, who was Danny Addison. All inquiries

please to nickelbum at myyahoo .com. Alternatively, you could write to us and send press releases or whatever you like to PO Box 26, the old Observer Building, Telford Road, St. Leonard's -on -Sea, East Sussex, I thank you very much for your company for this edition of the Chatterbox Redux Podcast and look forward to welcoming you again next time when our special guest is Johnny Taylor of The Horn. They've just got themselves a nice little gig supporting the Boomtown Rats on tour.

Catch you then. Bye bye.