“Songwriting, Bounty Hunting and Life Beyond Music with Danny Michel - By Marshall Veroni Rrampt Magazine ~
When you picture one of Canada’s most prolific singer-songwriters - an accomplished, road dog folk-rocker who’s toured the world with acts like The Tragically Hip, Sarah Harmer, Blue Rodeo and Cheap Trick, to name a few - you may envision someone who enjoys going out every night, keeping a packed schedule and maintaining metropolitan status.
So, it might surprise you to learn that Danny Michel would choose tending to the trees in his forest (not a metaphor) over an extravagant house party any day of the week.
I think we get preconceived ideas about who artists are because when we see them perform they embody a feeling more than they do a person to the point where we can’t help but see them as larger than life. This was my impression of Danny when I first saw him perform at Summerfolk Arts and Crafts Festival in 2012.
As he took the stage with Kathleen Edwards for an encore performance of Binary Star, I was transfixed. As a teenager, I’d invested all of my time in listening to the busiest cuts from indie pop stars like Phoenix or Two Door Cinema Club, but here was this guy, doing none of that, just bearing it all with a guitar; and for the first time I felt the weight and the impact that a song could carry on its own.
In our chat over the phone on an early winter afternoon in January, we talk about old cars, chainsaws, Belize, the importance of nature, how it looks to find inspiration, and most of all what makes a good song.
~Writing
It might be indicative of my attention span, but after we’ve been chatting for less than three minutes, I start off by asking “what makes a great song and how do you go about writing it?” Danny laughs “okay, starting with the biggest question.” Sure, maybe I could’ve built up to this one a little more, but if I have a great songwriter in front of me, I want to ask them how they do that thing they do best.
He explains that while it’s completely different for everyone, in order to discern whether a song is great or not can be broken down into a few simple parts. If you can answer certain questions honestly and correctly, well, you’ve got a good song on your hands. Danny tells me that when he was younger “he wanted to be the guy with the hot licks”, a guitar virtuoso whose undeniable talents could knock the socks off any music buff within the vicinity. “But” he says “as time went on, I cared less and less about that”.
He began to realize that when listening to music, it wasn’t the playing chops or the layers of production that moved him to his core, it was the song beneath that did the heavy lifting. Recalling Neil Young’s performance of “Harvest Moon” on Jay Leno in 93, he says “I heard the words of the song for the first time”. In this hauntingly beautiful arrangement, without the frills of the recording, Neil’s delivery of the song speaks for itself.
He describes this phenomenon as “the campfire test,” explaining that if a song can’t be played around a campfire in its barest form, or “in its underwear”, then no amount of production can make it truly great. Sure, production can liven something up and can even allow a great song to flourish, but before it’s hit with sonic makeup, you have to ask yourself question number one: does this song pass “the campfire test”? Does it connect with listeners in its most basic form?
On the topic of writing and recording, Danny tells me about his “bounty hunting” philosophy, explaining "once a song is written, then you have to catch it & bring it back dead or alive”
He’s talking about capturing a song in a studio environment. Sure, you might have the world’s best song, but if the light isn’t right, the air is too dry, or anything is happening to offset the balance, you might record it all wrong. He says “once you've tracked down the song and snared it, you have to capture it forever in a recording. Over the years, I've recorded a good song the wrong way—dead—because it was too fast, too slow, in the wrong key, or had the wrong groove. Now, everything is about finding the best way to present the song and bring it back alive, kicking and screaming.
He shares that one of the most surefire ways to learn how a song should be presented is by performing it, saying that ”over time a song will reveal itself to you & how it should be played, which can take years, but catching it at its perfect place in the studio is the magic".
This magic is something I’ve heard artists talk of time and time again. Something I’m personally wary about digging too deep into, because to decipher what it means would be to ruin it altogether. It’s the reason that some of Danny’s “favourite songs were written the fastest”, the reason songwriters often feel they’ve been “gifted” a melody, and the cause of the worldly phenomenon known as “creative flow state”. He recalls a 2004 interview with Bob Dylan on 60 Minutes, where, when the voice of a generation is asked how he wrote some of the greatest songs of all time, he responds “I don’t know how I got to write those songs” and “they were almost magically written”.
Whether it’s paint, prose, or melody; this is a sentiment I hear echoed in every conversation I’ve ever had with an artist. Danny bringing it up only furthers my understanding of it And, in this case; to understand it is really just to accept it. Whether it’s the bones, the road test or pure magic itself, he says a song is “all about connection…If it makes you cry, laugh, or it rattles you in some way; it’s doing its job.”
~Comfort Zones and Belize
Curiously, I ask “what about creative block, or the need to search for new inspiration in order to write?” Danny replies, “it’s important to get outside of your comfort zone”. If an artist is struggling to finish a new song, he suggests they “drive out into the country”, “buy a ticket for the ferris wheel, ride it to the top and finish the song there”, or “write in the morning while your brain is still soft”.
These changes of scenery or early morning rises might feel like added distractions, but what Danny is getting at is the importance of your setting when writing. Being somewhere that is uncomfortable or unfamiliar to you, whether it’s a mental space or a physical one, will pull the good material out of you.
If enough of your psyche is being distracted by a new town, a city-top view or a slumberous state, your subconscious will have room to flow freely and you’ll capture some really sincere writing.
For as long as he can remember, he has found inspiration outside the world of western folk music. This is apparent to me in records like Sunset Sea (2010); a project with reggae and rocksteady influence coursing through the veins of his songs. This international influence seems to show up again and again, leaving a unique mark on his efforts; and for good reason.
For him, part of his journey as a musician has involved finding worldly influence. Digging into sonic forms of expression that weren’t immediately familiar. So, as we’re talking about comfort zones, Danny shares a formative story about collaboration, international influence and stepping outside of his. Twenty years ago, he took a trip to Belize, and what started as a vacation, turned into a fascination with its culture, its people and a group called The Garifuna Collective. This collective, dedicated to upholding the traditional Garifuna language, got under his skin. Back home, listening to records they had produced, he found himself uniquely inspired by the idea of working with them.
And, in 2011, he did.
“It was nerve wracking,” he says, explaining that he’s typically a “control freak in the studio,” but in this case, stepping into an entirely new world of instruments and musicianship, he had to let go of what he was used to and, in some senses, go along for the ride.
He paraphrases one of his favourite quotes from David Bowie, saying "If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel comfortable. Go a little bit out of your depth, and when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.”
In 2012, he released Black Birds are Dancing Over Me. The album was produced in Belize with The Garifuna Collective and producer Ivan Duran. Upon its release, it was celebrated with nominations for a Juno, the Polaris Music Prize and a sold-out North American tour that Danny embarked on with The Garifuna Collective.
During his time in Belize, he found inspiration, community, friendship and a love for the people. Finding his own way to give back, Danny founded a charity devoted to providing scholarships to local students at the Caye Caulker Community School, and has since raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for this cause. To learn more about The Danny Michel Ocean Academy Fund or to donate, visit Dannymichel.com/causes. The way he describes his experience In Belize, I can’t help but feel inspired to push past my own comfort zone. If this is an example of what’s waiting on the other side of nervousness and uncertainty, it seems ridiculously worth it to persevere.
~Rural Passions
Outside of songwriting, and after years of heavy touring, he chooses to take regular time off from the road to nurture some of his other hobbies at his home in rural Grey County. Danny tells me he has trouble playing instruments that are “too new…with too much shiny gloss”. He shares that it’s hard to find the right feel in a guitar that is fresh off the shelf, and that he’s gone as far as “sandblasting a brand new guitar neck in order to make it feel older”
Years ago, this appreciation for the past led him to tackle what has become an operation of miniscule proportions. I’m talking about the ultimate source of Saturday morning joy: slot cars. Danny is quite the purveyor. Since he started, he has developed an impressive miniature slot track empire of city streets, ma n’ pa shops, drive-in theatres and a collection of vintage slot cars that would make any nostalgia buff swoon.
He says “the new ones run way better, but (like guitars) there’s nothing like the originals”. Affectionately named Danlandia Gardens Speedway, you can experience the allure of what redefines a “small town” in the neon-lit video for the title track of his 2023 record Ghost Town. You can also find the track @Danlandia Gardens Speedway on Instagram.
His passion for retro cars doesn’t end there; he’s been the proud owner of a Hearse, a 78 Pinto and an all-original 1970s Boogie Van that inspired Dan’s Space Van; a web series, worthy of a watch, that he tells me “might make a return”. Here’s hoping! Living rurally makes sense for someone who spends a lot of time on the road; it’s like a reset, and as a nature lover/ hobbyist, Danny is drawn to the space that Grey Bruce offers. He says “I think we move too fast and need to learn to get back to simple daily tasks”. He describes how he’s able to find balance in his life because of the time he takes working as a “tree steward” in his forest, “chopping wood”, or “doing anything that isn’t music”.
He also loves the creative freedom that recording in the woods provides, admitting “I like to have a home studio where, if you hit a snare at 3am, you won’t upset anyone”.
This makes sense coming from someone whose early interest in music revolved around recording. He tells me he was introduced as a 10 year old when he discovered a reel-to-reel and would “experiment with speeding up and slowing down” recordings of his own voice. He talks about experimenting with microphone placement, discovering the “mind-blowing” four-track tape recorder and how a love of recording has influenced the way he creates now. He even mentions that he’s hoping to track a “kitchen table record all on tape” someday soon.
I ask him what some of his favourite things to do locally are and he mentions Summerfolk Music Festival, where he’ll be headlining this year and Four Winds Music Festival —one he’s really hoping to return to.
Before we wrap up, I have to ask this genre-blending artist what exactly he listens to. He shares with me a playlist he’s curated, called Habibi HiBaby. It represents some of his current go-to’s, and presents an entirely new listening experience for a western songwriter like me. The track list features artists like trad-African/ rock group Tamikrest, Egyptian pop fusion band Sharmoofers and Mongolian folk group Hanggai (or 杭盖乐队). With each song, I’m inspired by a mixture of completely unfamiliar sounds; and emotion, energy and themes that feel universal.
Danny Michel is a man of many interests, skills and insights. Whether he’s building a miniature city to scale, launching an internet variety show, or crafting an award-worthy album; he does so with his full heart.
He’s someone who would rather break the tension mid-performance to have a laugh with the audience, than “play the songs perfectly”; someone who gets “just as much enjoyment from a good gig as a day spent chopping wood”.
Maybe that’s where the magic comes from. This ability to not only step outside the confines of perfection, but to relish in the seemingly mundane, to create feeling where others don’t see it, and above all else to capture art that we can’t help but be moved by.”
