All right. Welcome to the latest episode of the
Dan Time podcast, number 15. I'm your host, Dan
McCardell. I always say something similar, as
you know, in this spot, but it's truly good to
be speaking to you today. I've been well under
the weather. Let's just put it that way for a
couple of weeks. And my voice has suffered as
a result. So with these episodes spaced a week
apart, I've been able to focus on my recovery.
and get a serviceable version of me presented
to you today. Make sure you take care of yourself
as best you can this winter. I'm going to keep
it vague, but you know, there's some junk out
there just ready to plant itself in you and take
you down. Try not to let that happen. Sometimes
you just can't do anything about it, but there's
your advice. Okay, for those of you paying attention,
there was no Friday challenge on the socials
this week. I'm sure I disappointed dozens of
people, but it actually gave me time to rethink
the concept. I may come back and rebrand it as
more of a Friday check -in, but it won't be,
hey, here's what I've been up to, this is what
I've been doing this week. If you want to hear
me talk about me, the best chance... probably
in this intro or to get deep into an episode,
depending on the flow of the conversation. So
the Friday challenge thing will still be some
prodding, some suggestions for you and sure,
some challenges from time to time. Okay, folks,
my guest today, Dan Thomas. Dan Thomas, where
do I begin? How do I properly introduce this
guy? I know you don't know him yet, but you're
going to love what we dive into here. First of
all, I'm just going to say Dan Thomas is a man
with a giant heart, a big, big heart. He loves
what he does. And dare I say he loves connecting
with his audience. He believes in the good of
people. And Dan Thomas truly makes it fun to
follow Dan Thomas music. Look him up on Facebook,
on Instagram. And if you connect with the songs,
you're going to love the material on those pages.
Now, once you get past him just being a real
likable guy, you get to the music, get to the
meat of it. I'm so fortunate that I landed on
his page. I heard the songs, I reached out, made
the connection and got the buy -in on his part
to do the Dan Time podcast. Dan's songs are deep.
They're heavy. They will grab you. You're going
to go to a place that maybe you haven't been
to in a while. Maybe you're not sure you want
to go there. but these are some deeply introspective
songs that touch on heartbreak, self -reflection,
relationship turmoil, and also profound grief.
But there are also songs, such as All the World's
a Stage, that encourage the listener to quote,
get outside your head and see the world for a
while. Dan was so gracious with his time. This
is a far -reaching conversation. We have some
laughs, of course we do, but we also get real.
and we sit on some topics and we explore. And
I so admire how Dan is willing to confront all
these different emotions in his songs and open
himself up for the world to see. There are lots
of chances to see Dan perform in December. If
you live in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands,
Luxembourg, be sure to go to DanThomasMusic,
like and follow his page and you can see his
tour dates on the cover page. And just announced
coming September, 2024, Dan Thomas will be performing
in the U S and Canada. Can't wait to see what
dates materialize there. If you listen to the
show and you live in one of these countries and
you go see Dan Thomas perform, number one, go
say hi to the guy. Number two, drop me a note.
I will have a special Dan time one of a kind
piece of memorabilia just for you. I promise
you that. Okay, the social media pages, at DanThomasSolo
on Instagram, DanThomasMusic on YouTube, danthomassolo
.com is the website, and DanThomasMusic on Facebook.
There is a video component to this episode. Now,
it won't be released at the same time as you're
hearing the audio version, but stay tuned as
I will be uploading the unedited video version
to YouTube Gets a little wacky. That's all I'll
say just some unexpected Diversions on my part.
That's all I'll say but stay tuned for the video
companion piece All right, without further ado.
Let's get right to it folks. It is Dan Thomas
time Dan this is I feel like I've known you for
at least a couple years just our preliminary
conversation here I'm having a ball just chatting
you up right now Uh, the folks at home or listening
wherever you're listening, if you're going for
a jog, if you're on, uh, if you're in your car,
Dan Thomas, where do I begin here? Dan, you asked
me, and I would have been curious as well when
we were confirming our time schedules. Hey, Dan.
Oh, by the way, where did you discover me? And
I said, well, I ran a Google search on Dan and
musician or Dan songwriter. and I landed on your
website and I was a couple tracks in and I thought
I've got to at least reach out to this guy because
again, some people assume that I just contact
anybody and that's not true. If I see a story
there or I see something original that I just
think would be a great guest and someone that
would be very appealing and inspirational to
my listeners, I at least take a shot. So Dan,
just thank you for making time for the podcast
today. Thank you for that that very flattering
introduction and yeah I did I did laugh when
I got your email that said I googled Dan and
musician that really did I that gave me a chuckle
I enjoyed that but no thank you for reaching
out it's a the fun thing is that when I first
got your email like I've spent I've been doing
this for a little while now and Anytime I see
emails, anything that resemble that at all, for
the longest time they're not, they're not really,
you can tell that they're not really addressed
to you and they're quite generic and so I'm kind
of used to sort of seeing those and feeling like,
yeah, this isn't someone who actually wants to
interview me. But then I actually looked and
saw, okay, no, he's, he is addressing me by name.
Like there are details in there. So i'm just
about getting to that stage at my of my career
now if I can call it that Where i'm getting genuine
offers to come and do these sorts of things and
like oh, that's nice So i'm still not used to
it. So I still looked at the emails like hmm
I don't know. Let me let me look into this guy.
Let me see see his podcast like oh, it's a it's
a real podcast Yep, this is this is legit. All
right, i'll i'll email him back i'll see what
happens and uh, yeah i'm glad I did because Like
you said up top, the, uh, the conversation so
far has been what we would call sparkling. Well,
we both have small children. And so we had, um,
some very relatable. We had a very relatable
discussion about that. And Dan, when I, when
I first visited your site and I always like to
check, you know, if somebody at least has their
music out there for download, that's important
too, because I want to be able to promote it.
So, uh, you can find Dan Thomas. on Spotify,
Apple Music, wherever you find on any streaming
platform. The artwork really jumped out at me.
I thought, well, that's really neat and an original.
And it's really eye catching. And then when I
jumped into some of the tracks here, I think
in particular, loving you ain't fun anymore.
This is on this is on the latest release. I thought
and I thought is Dan. Peering into my past it
feels like he's describing a relationship a relationship
to the tea and Then I got to ghost in the mirror
I mean that one really hit me deep and they I
feel like there's something for everyone here
Dan What I like about your music is It's introspective
But you you go to places that some songwriters
don't quite go that they don't quite go that
far and And these are subjects that are near
and dear to people. They are deep in their minds,
deep in their conscience. And it may be some
things they don't want to think about anymore.
But I think it's healthy to address some of this
stuff. And without me rambling too much more,
take me through your songwriting and how some
of these songs like these come out. You know,
Lovin' You Ain't Fun Anymore, The Darkness in
Me. I watched that video. It took me back to
that time period and the isolation, which I think
is still relevant to some people today. Take
me through some of your creative process. For
those of you who are watching the video version
of this, you can see there's a small white door
behind me. And after that very glowing set of
reviews from the wonderful Mr. McArdle here,
I don't know if I'll be able to get my head through
that door anymore. So thank you very much for
all of that. Writing process. With me, The key
thing for me is to find a hook, like a melodic
hook with the vocal. When I'm sitting down to
write, it varies, but the general trend has been
that I will have a guitar in hand and I'll just
play around trying to find a chord sequence that
I like, just to see if I feel like there's something
I can work with. Then once I've got that, I'll
just hum or just make like phonetic noises just
to... to see if I can find a tune that I like,
but once I've found that melodic hook, like a
good example is in the song Holding On To You,
when I kind of came up with that, and I'm holding
on to that, that melody, I was like, okay, yep,
that's something. It's not there yet, but that's
an idea that's worth chasing. And then once I've
got that, that's when you kind of develop...
for me you develop what the melody is going to
be and then you write the lyrics and then you
kind of massage the two together to see how it
works. Sometimes the lyrics end up influencing
the way that the melody goes like it changes
it a little bit and then sometimes the lyrics
just I spend time just going no the melody has
to be that the lyrics have to fit here so it's
a case of trying to chop things and get syllables
out in places and then eventually it feels right.
Sometimes it's a really quick thing and sometimes
it takes absolutely forever and sometimes there
are songs that have been in the works for years
and they still haven't found their right, their
final format. The interesting thing you mentioned
Ghost in the Mirror that started life as a rock
song that was very kind of that melody was very
uh but me and my producer kept looking at recording
that one and then it never we were never entirely
happy with how it sounded and then i started
playing with uh because i really love Fleetwood
Mac and i like the like the Lindsay Buckingham
era Fleetwood Mac because Lindsay Buckingham
is an incredible guitarist And I wanted to I
really love the song landslide that Stevie Nicks
wrote with him playing guitar. And you've got
that finger picking pattern. And up until that
point, I and still I still am to a degree like
I've not been like a finger picky guitarist.
I'm more like a I'm a strummer with a plectrum.
But I thought I really want to learn that song
and play it properly. And so there's a there's
a picking style called a Travis picking. I think
it's named after an old country guitarist named
Merle Travis. And it involves like your thumb
going between two bass strings and then your
index finger and your middle finger like picking
two higher notes which when you get it to speed
comes up gets with that if you're familiar with
the song landslide it goes there like that very
kind of going between the notes in a really like
beautiful, wavy kind of sound. And I thought,
I really, really, really want to learn how to
play that. And I finally managed to crack that.
And then I sat down with Ghost in the Mirror
and I wonder what that sounds like with that
kind of with that kind of playing to it. And
it just completely transformed how the songs
sound. And I immediately called my producer and
said, Martin, I've got something I need. We need
to do this. You mentioned Fleetwood Mac and the
timeless quality to their songs. Fleetwood Mac.
is not 70s music, is not 80s music. Those songs,
and I remember hearing the dance for the first
time, and they were not really on my wavelength
at that time. I was listening to a lot harder
and heavier music, but I was working in a record
store, and I think that's around the time that
it was released. I play drums, so I just love
Mick Fleetwood's sound on that album. It was
so crisp, just so in the pocket. The dance is
an incredible record. Christy McVie and just
the way they compliment each other. And yeah,
I don't want to say that Dan Thomas is a spitting
image of Fleetwood Mac, but I see what you're
saying there. When I listen to your tracks, going
back to that timeless quality, Dan Thomas's songs,
they don't sound like songs from the 2020s or
the early 2000s or the 90s. They just... kind
of have a quality to them that 10, 15, 20 years
from now or longer, they'll still be very appealing.
You also seem to harness this energy into your
songs where they could be blown up in an arena.
Like you could play some of these tracks on a
grander scale and it might work. I think all
the world's a stage. The chorus in that song
is just a booming chorus. And yeah, I could see
where some of this stuff you almost have some
freedom there where you can take it to an intimate
audience or you could take it to Tens of thousands
of people and reinterpret it. Is that do you
go for that or does it just come out that way?
It's like yeah, it's it's not it's definitely
not something big. Thank you once again for that
beautiful compliment It's not something that
I think I never think about it in terms of like
where these songs are gonna be played I'm just
I'm just like It's in terms of where it all comes
from. I mean, I don't want to get too artistic
about it all, but it's like there's that whole
idea of like no one ever really knows where it
comes from. And like a lot of us in the artist
community often feel like we're it's like we're
channeling something like just it's almost like
you black out and then you come to and go, oh,
there's this there's this thing. There's this
piece of art. And who knows? It's kind of like
it's ephemeral, isn't it? It just kind of comes
out of the ether. But usually I find there's
something on my mind and then I just, I'll find
a mood and kind of go, right, okay, there's a
mood to this. What kind of, what am I thinking
about? What's been bothering me that fits with
that? Or I also have a bunch of notes, excuse
me, on my phone that I've just written down little
ideas. maybe it's a little lyric or two maybe
it's just it's literally nothing but here's an
idea for a song something about this write it
when you get the chance and i'll just i'll flick
through and find something oh yeah that that
will fit quite well with with this and it just
it comes out that way it's it's never been a
case of like oh could this what does this sound
is this something that could be replicated in
like an arena or anything i i have never dared
to dream yet that my music would be played in
in arenas at the moment i'm i've i've been playing
in in the corner of of pubs and bars and or any
uh It's like small grassroots music venues that
are generous enough to have me play. I don't
have any kind of like grand. I have no delusions
of grandeur about what I do and what I write.
I mean, but all of that stuff would be absolutely
lovely and I will never deny that. But yeah,
it's like I say, I guess the short answer to
that is no, I don't ever think about what the
hell they would sound in an arena setting, but
I might start to now. Well, there's just a I
feel like the real authenticity to these songs.
And there's also some female vocals. And I was
going to ask about that. Who is the the backing
singer on some of those tracks? Like, I think
it's the ghost of me and loving you ain't fun
anymore. And maybe a couple others. So there's
a couple of different people. The one on loving
you ain't fun anymore is is my wife. That's that's
Nicola Thomas. And just for those of you that
haven't haven't heard it. It might be funny the
fact that I'm saying that my wife sings on a
song called Love and You Ain't Fun Anymore. But
that song is about an ex lover of mine from a
very long time ago. And yeah, she's always loved
that one. My wife has loved that one, sorry,
because it's got that kind of country music vibe
to it. I remember I wrote that song on a plane
and I don't actually drink alcohol anymore. At
the time I still did. And I think I was just
drinking whiskeys on a plane. And I just thought,
I'm just going to attempt to channel my inner
Chris Stapleton and see what kind of like whisky
tinged heartbreak song I could come out. Because
I was listening to a lot of that kind of that
kind of country music at the time. I love people
like Chris Stapleton and Jason Isbell and like
those kind of singer songwriter not necessary
in mainstream Nashville country sounding country
singers and I thought what's my version of that?
What's mine? And I just went back to a well that
I've been back to many times which is this one
particular relationship that for the sake of
decency I won't even name the person in question.
And I do genuinely hope that she is happy these
days But yeah, we were not right for each other
and it manifested in some ugly ways in in our
relationship I like what you say in the song
because this again really spoke to me step by
step here Especially where the your family and
friends my friends and family told me that you
were no good for me and I was heading for disaster,
it was plain to see. That's exactly I think what
has happened to a lot of people. If you get to
be in your 30s or 40s or older and you didn't
marry your high school sweetheart, you're not
still, you know, you've probably gone through
some version of this. Depending on the type of
person you are, I mean, you don't recognize yourself
at an earlier age as just prey for the wrong
type of person. I mean, they see you from a mile
away. They know that you're going to give them
That supply that they so desperately crave you're
going to You know, I think that phrase love bomb,
you know, you're gonna get love bombed by somebody
and you're gonna they're gonna tell you that
All these things about you That you know that
are flattering and then it's just a bunch of
trickery And before you know it you're in too
deep, but it happens to the best of us Yeah,
I just heard this song. I thought wow that is
um I believe it was a relationship or two before
I met my wife and Finally, I think the breaking
point hopefully people can relate to this if
you're in a situation like this people who are
listening and You see the writing on the wall
But you're not sure how to get out when your
father or let's say your brother or sister says
well You can keep dating her you can keep dating
him But I'll never have anything to do with them
if that matters to you. That was kind of the
breaking point I said well, I'm not gonna be
able to bring around the holidays. So This thing's
over. I gotta find a way out Do you know similarly
it was a it was a very similar thing with me
in that often I've had quite a few relationships
where there are kind of like there are a number
of people in my life who are the kind of the
sounding boards for she's not right and one of
them is my sister my younger sister is always
is very good at seeing like my partner's who
I choose like my parents my mother particularly
because my mom's a very warm and welcoming person
who will always do her best to kind of like even
if she has reservations about a person she'll
be like well they make they make him they make
him happy and and I'm perfectly prepared to kind
of put a lot of my stuff aside for the sake of
that my sister is a little bit more direct and
she she will she'll look at them and go nope
they suck you can and I think that's I with this
particular relationship I sort of really sat
down and said look what is it what is it you
have against her and she was like and she was
like I just she just doesn't seem right for you
and I just I want better for you I think I spent
a lot of time in denial in that particular relationship
I am I wasn't or at least I just wasn't able
to be I wasn't able to be honest with myself
in in that Emotion in that way emotionally, but
I remember just to cap off the thing about my
sister I remember scaring the absolute bejesus
out of my my now wife by foolishly telling her
like before she met my sister like oh, yeah,
like it's kind of really important like My sister
my sister usually hates all my girlfriends. I
can't like looking back now in my late thirties
and I can't believe I said that to someone who
I'd just started dating said oh by the way you
have to really get over my sister otherwise she'll
hate you and because she always hates my girlfriends
and yeah there's a lot of at this point in my
life there's a lot of me looking back on myself
and going god that was dumb that was idiotic
but yeah there was a lot of lot of stuff in that
relationship where I wasn't able to be completely
honest with myself. And interestingly, at this
point in my life, I'm also able to look back
now after a while after I've written that song
and kind of I'm able much more able to recognise
the ways in which I got it wrong as well. And
that, I mean, not to excuse some of the behaviour
that this person indulged in, but how I kind
of like didn't help myself and Let my own shortcomings
that allowed that person to manipulate me more
than they possibly would have been able to had
I had a bit more of my own emotional wherewithal
and Again, it's that it doesn't excuse any of
the stuff that they did or said or made me feel
but it's just I Definitely didn't help myself
either. I can completely relate to that and you
probably weren't the best version of yourself
looking back you think well No wonder that thing
ended up the way it did that experience but out
of it came this wonderful song that I just encourage
everyone if you want to pick one track to get
started on I mean I would recommend all of them
but loving you ain't fun anymore you can find
if you just look search Dan Thomas on your favorite
streaming platform another song and I know you're
also working on some new material but the darkness
in me the video I know it it does kind of specifically
speak to that COVID period. And I know in the
UK, things were very restrictive. We had over
here in the States, some things loosened up a
little bit sooner, I think, than overseas. But
the video captures it well, where you're walking
around these empty streets that used to just
be buzzing with excitement and people and good
energy. And there's just nothing there. And you're
looking up at the the lights and maybe some of
the residential buildings, and that's where everyone
is held captive, basically. I guess it was a
sorrowful time for a lot of people. When you're
out there performing now, coming out of the pandemic,
it's hard to believe it's been three or four
years, but are people in the pubs and in the
bars over there, are they loosening up? Is everyone
just happy? Are they resuming what they used
to do? Are there some people that are a little
a little tight, I guess, or how is it over there?
It's mostly, I think, it's mostly back to normal.
I think I've said in a previous interview recently
is that sometimes I think it's almost like it's
gone too back to normal in the sense that we're
in danger of like kind of forgetting a lot of
the lessons that I feel like we were learning
during COVID and particularly with regards to
what are the jobs that are important to keep
society going and who the real heroes of society
are and where we should focus our attention and
our efforts. We had a big thing about clapping
for the NHS over here. For your American listeners,
on a Thursday evening at 8pm during that first
lockdown, it started spontaneously. People would
get outside at 8pm and just... across the nation
and we just applaud for like a minute, two minutes.
And it would be applauding for all of the emergency
services workers in our National Health Service.
And it became like a weekly thing where we would
go out and like just kind of show appreciation
for that. And now we're at the point where a
lot of where the services in a very dire strait
and in a lot of crisis and the government kind
of aren't giving them the funds that they need
to do things so all the the nurses are kind of
going out on strike and everything like that
and all the papers are going back to their usual
shtick of uh down with the strikes and everything
else and it's like didn't we weren't we like
clapping for these guys like a couple of years
ago and it's and it's things like that just make
me think okay oh so none of that we're just gonna
forget all of that stuff happened But sorry,
I went off on a bit of a tangent there. But the
emotion, like I said, where the emotion just
it dies down, you think, weren't we just all
unified here and all on the same page? And now
it's as if it didn't happen. Yeah, there were
definitely there was definitely like, I'd say
between that March and maybe June, end of May,
June, there was there was a real there was a
real feeling of solidarity. here, to me at least,
it just felt like for just that brief moment,
it felt like the whole country and the whole
world was kind of like, OK, this is serious.
We're all we really are all in this together
because this virus does not respect age, race.
creed, sex, political affiliation, or anything.
It has an equal opportunity to kill all of you.
And yeah, so that that was kind of a real unifying
factor. And then there were a bunch of like internal
political things going on in this country. And
then, of course, things going on across the pond
in the United States. Obviously, George Floyd
kind of came within that first lockdown period
for us. And then it just kind of Those sorts
of things reignited a lot of divisions again
and it was like, oh, okay, cool. Yeah, we're
back to kind of shouting at each other on the
internet again. That was fun while it lasted.
But yeah, at that time that I wrote that song,
it was like a month into the pandemic when I
wrote that. There's a place in Hartford, where
I lived at the time, Hartfordshire, a place called
Four Street. which is where all of the bars and
nightclub establishments are in that town. And
at the time we were allowed out for 30 minutes
of exercise every day. That was the only time
you were allowed to leave your house. And because
my daughter was only a year and a half old at
that point and in need of a lot of care at home,
I took a lot of my exercise at night when Both
she and my wife were asleep. So I wandered into
town and it was the Thursday before Easter Which
in the UK we have like a four -day bank holiday
weekend So like we we get off work on the Thursday
and then we don't come back until the Tuesday.
So we get Friday Saturday Sunday Monday as like
a four -day weekend and normally on the Thursday
of Easter over here everyone starts celebrating
in that very British way where we all get mind
-bendingly drunk in a way that puts most other
nations to shame. Not in a good way. And yeah
you can see people on the street kind of being
drunk and mess but of course there was nobody
this was like 10 30 11 p .m. and There was nobody
out because everyone was on lockdown and all
the businesses were closed. And it was just so
eerie to walk down 4th Street, this place that's
so vibrant and full of life in all of its glory
and its shame, to be just silent. And the only
things I could hear were my footsteps echoing
and like the electricity from the lights humming.
And I think maybe there was like a car somewhere
off in the distance, like one lone engine. And
it was so even looking I could see like above
a lot of the the establishments there are a lot
of there are people people living in the buildings
above and you could see some of those lights
on and that's when I say in the song like signs
of life high above it's like you can see all
these people who are locked in their homes that
okay well life is still here but it's like it
can't get out it can't do anything and I just
remember writing on my phone this stream of consciousness
stuff like all these notes because I'm thinking
There is absolutely a song to be mined out of
this somewhere. I would be Insane if I didn't
try and do something So I went and wrote it all
down and then I came back and then I just massaged
all of the best bits into Into something and
then that became that song is that music video
as well. That is that is 4th Street that we filmed
that on and The next line I wrote down here trapped
inside till only God knows when People forget
that if you were under certain restrictions in
certain countries, you also had that, I guess,
existential anxiety of how long are we going
to live like this? Is this going to be another
month? Is this going to be another year? You
really didn't know. I think that may have impacted.
Will it ever go back to where it was? That was
the other question. Sometimes it was less a question
of when will this end? It was a question of will
this end? Right. When it wasn't like a guarantee
at any point, especially in the music industry,
because we're one of the first industries to
close down. And the music industry in the UK,
I don't know what it's like in the States, I
imagine not too dissimilar, but it's still recovering.
There have been some lasting impacts from...
from covid that even though we've been out of
restriction out of major restrictions now for
at least 18 months uh it's not bounced back in
the same way the audiences haven't come back
in the numbers that they were in the first place
because some people like the the psychological
damage uh especially if they were more vulnerable
it's like it's it's done it's that's that's been
it's been broken now so yeah so so for some people
they are still kind of those people who are trapped
inside till only god knows when Oh, I think people
really missed going to a live music venue during
that time period. And I think back to 2017, 18,
19, and some of the performers that I'd see on
the marquee at our local concert hall. And then
it just hit such a lull, even when the restrictions
were lifted. Even now. things are happening at
this particular club but it's like I don't see
that it's not as many acts as you would think
or national acts that we used to get. I imagine
it'll come back and depending on where you live
maybe it's not as depleted I guess. Yeah it's
definitely not bounced back fully over here.
I mean if nothing else a lot of the acts just
couldn't couldn't sustain themselves whilst we
were in all the major restrictions. So a lot
of them just have kind of hung up their spurs
and have quit doing it now, which is, oh man,
that's heartbreaking. You think all the music
that you're not going to get now because of things
like that. People make some difficult choices,
I guess, if they had a day job. Maybe some folks
don't imagine that. Most musicians probably have
some other career that they've they've got to
sink into to pay the bills and I guess there
are some people that made those tough calls of
Wow, I just got to put this on the shelf for
a few years Maybe not forever, but I'm just not
gonna be pursuing this So many hours a week.
I just can't you know Sure. Yes. I mean, yeah,
I mean I don't I this isn't this isn't my full
-time job. I was, I never thought I'd be in a
position to say this, but I was very lucky that
I had a day job that was not affected by Covid.
And again, I can't remember what kind of, what
sorts of protections and like emergency packages
and things that were put together in the States
at the time. We had a furlough scheme. in the
UK where if the companies kind of furloughed
all their employees the government was paying
up to 80 % of their wages throughout a set length
of the pandemic which obviously ran up quite
a large bill in the end but I was lucky and I
didn't even have to get furloughed because my
job could continue. unabated I just had a lap
I was just issued a laptop and just worked from
home and I spent a long time kind of railing
against that kind of life and obviously I know
and I still um more about this and what I want
to do versus the day job, but I remember thinking
I never thought I'd be in a position to say,
man, I'm really glad I wasn't a full time musician
when that pandemic hit, because I know I know
so many people who were musicians at full time
and they just their incomes just completely evaporated
overnight because they couldn't they couldn't
get out on tour. They couldn't really that some
of them were able to record some things. But
as most of us know, recorded music doesn't produce
much income for musicians these days. And most
of the money that any of us are able to make
is that when we go out and tour and particularly
when we're able to sell merch or like synchronization
deals with like TV and film, which was another
industry that was completely shut down. So there
was nothing new happening there either. Yeah.
So it's an industry that has that got really,
really heavily hit. And it's like I say, it's
still trying to bounce back now. Well, Dan, I'm
I'm glad that we didn't lose you I know I just
recently discovered you but as far as losing
you as your As far as your impact out there and
the music that you're putting out and the new
music that you're working on And before we get
too far along, I just want to run through I'll
also post these Your tour dates coming up just
want to speak to the December dates that you
have scheduled For some of my listeners who are
in the UK or Germany Dan you're making a run.
You're pretty busy schedule there the first few
weeks of December Cree fold Dortmund, I'm taking
a shot. I haven't pronounced some of these locales
either in a long time or this may be my first
shot at but Zarbuchen Stuttgart Karlsruhe, I
hope I'm pronouncing all that correctly and then
you're over in Amsterdam on the 7th of December
8th and Luxembourg But all these venues and dates
I'll also post on my social media pages as well
But a great chance if you're in the UK because
Dan this episode will probably come out on the
19th so There'll be a chance to see you there
at the end of this month and then going back
into the first of the year But yeah what tell
me a little bit about what you have planned I
know some things haven't been firmed up all the
way, but some of the places you're performing?
Yeah, so we've got, there's a list of dates on
my social media that shows how busy I am for
the rest of the year. And only when I put that
poster out, I realized, wow, I really am quite
busy this year. That's crazy. So I've got, where
am I at the moment? It's the fifth today. So
yeah, we've got, I'm doing a short run in Yorkshire.
in Leicestershire, not Leicestershire, Lincolnshire
next weekend. So going to be like in Hull and
Leeds and Scunthorpe. Where did I miss? York.
That's the other one on that little mini tour.
Yeah. So I've got a little run there and then
there's going to be a run a lot of around like
the Birmingham, Doncaster area. And then into,
like you say, in December, we're going out to
Germany and the Netherlands end to Luxembourg.
Then we've got a couple of smaller shows over
here back here over in the UK. One's going to
be for Christmas Eve, which is a very local show
to me in a place called Clifton, which is like
Bedfordshire way. It's a it's quite a small village,
but there's a pub called the Admiral on Christmas
Eve. If you're in the Bedfordshire area, please
come and check it out. It's going to be fun.
And then after that, the things that they're
not they're not properly out there yet. But we've
got some plans for the new year that are going
to be a lot of fun. There's a there's going to
be a particular thing to keep an eye out for
around February, where there's there's going
to be a short tour of sorts that will be used
to record a music video, followed by a another
European run in April, a longer one. for a couple
of weeks and then a UK run immediately after
that and then a very short break and then I'm
off to Latvia and Lithuania and Estonia for a
run of dates as well and that will take me through
to middle of May and then after that I will probably
sleep for a week because I'll be absolutely exhausted.
Um, but, uh, yeah, the, there's going to be a
lot more, there's going to, there's a lot of
live performances planned and in this planning
stages, uh, for next year that will run up into
what I hope will be like a November ish release
for the new record that I'm currently working
on. Oh, excellent. Dan, I wanted to ask, and
I also don't want to get too far ahead without
putting in a plug for your friend, Martin Colton's
podcast. I so enjoyed listening to this episode
that you guys recorded the BTS creative Academy
podcast, please Download and subscribe to Martin's
podcast anywhere that you listen to podcast.
I guess if you're listening to this one Just
run a search on that s I'm sorry BTS creative
Academy One thing I didn't get to the entire
episode, but Dan you were starting to talk about
when people who you don't know come up and give
you some feedback on the songs that they heard
that night or What have you? Then it's really
cool to hear I think for all of us. It's always
Nice to hear somebody's opinion. Who's not your
friend or your cousin or your brother What is
it like when or do you have people approach you
after a set? Who say kind of the same things
like what was that song you played the darkness
in me or what was that? Loving you ain't fun
anymore. That was a That really spoke to me.
Do you have people who come up afterwards and
tell you what something meant to you or meant
to them? I'm sorry Yeah, and it's that's that
certainly happened recently like over the last
I'd say year or year and a bit now and now I'm
starting to do get out there and do more and
more shows but Yeah, like it's always it's amazing
when if you if you have somebody who who really
connects with like one particular song and wants
to come up and talk to you about that song afterwards
and particularly like what it meant to them.
It's it's it's incredible. Like one of my favorite
ones is that so I have a I have a song that is
out. It is out. There's a version of it that's
out on the streaming. platforms already. It is
getting redone as part of the new record that's
coming out. There's a song called The Hole You
Leave Behind which, trigger warning for those
of you who might be affected, it is a song about
miscarriage. Me and my wife attempted to start
a family and before we had our beautiful baby
girl we did we tried once before and seven weeks
into the pregnancy and sadly we we lost that
child and that was a devastating week for us
that where we were just we both then just spent
the rest of the week off work both of our bosses
were I phoned my boss and my wife's boss the
next day after we found out and told them the
situation and they were both they were both great
they both immediately said don't don't come into
work we're just please be at home and stay with
each other and just take care of each other so
yeah we spent that week kind of at home just
just grieving and holding each other and crying
a lot of the time and we also we thought it was
a strange week we had a lot of fun together and
kind of grew very close and sometimes we were
laughing and then like Minutes later, we'd be
sad again and crying and and I did the only thing
that I know how to do in terms of processing
emotions as I thought I need to write a song
about this. So I sat down and wrote about the
story of what happened and it's obviously it's
a very sensitive subject. So it's the one it's
the song that people talk to me about the most
and One of the guys that we we did a run of me
and my tour manager did a run of shows in Europe
in the April just gone. So April of this year
and the last show Is a place called Stalberg
and the guy who put the show on for us his 70
year old dad was in the audience. So they're
two local German guys and I say I performed that
song And the guy who was running it, Rob, came
to me in the break and he wanted to talk to me
about that song. And he said to me that that
song helped me have a conversation with my 70
year old father in the audience about my sister
who died before I was born. And that it totally
blew me away. Absolutely. I was gobsmacked. I
didn't. It's like one of the heaviest things
that somebody's That a stranger has ever said
to me and I was I just felt like kind of Honored
and like flattered that I was a part of Helping
them have a conversation that could only really
bring them like closer together to have this
talk about this family member of theirs who was
like was gone way too soon and Rob never got
to meet. Yeah. So I just said, I'm so glad I
could facilitate that conversation for you. And
like moments like that as an artist, it's like,
that's brilliant. That's amazing for me. It's
like just to know that this piece of art that
I made that came from such an awful place, like
has helped to like heal people. And that's I
don't know, I don't know. Maybe that sounds a
little bit too grandiose, but like just to give
them that kind of just to help them process the
things and just and feel a bit more OK and a
little bit less alone than that's job done. That's
that's that's fine by me. That song really, you
know, I hit my wife and I haven't experienced
that, thank God. But when I first heard the song.
And if you haven't heard it yet, I don't want
to give too much away but it does kind of start
off maybe like a love song and You know, I think
it's the third verse third or fourth verse and
it just hits you and you almost have to go back
which I had to do and and go back 15 30 seconds
and make sure that I heard the lyrics correctly
and Yeah, it's one of the most powerful tracks.
I've heard because again that It goes back to
what I said at the top of the episode. You approach
some subjects in your songwriting that I don't
want to say nobody goes there, but you don't
see a lot of artists who are maybe presented
to you by record companies. You're not going
to hear this on the radio. There's some good
stuff on the radio, and there's some good songs
at the top of the Spotify playlist, but I think
you really have to... Be open -minded and explore
other artists because some of the best stuff
is just not it's not going to be as accessible
and the Country music radio. There's some very
good songwriting out there a lot of your top
artists are Performing songs that are written
by other people but the emotional tracks, I think
they just scratch the surface sometimes and Sure,
but but that track in particular. I think that
it's powerful And it may, like you said, actually
have a healing power for those who have gone
through it or opens a conversation, like you
said. Yeah, I'm glad you picked up, by the way,
the the how the first it first it doesn't it's
not obvious what it's about. And it's because
I very deliberately wrote it that way that the
first two verses make it sound like it could
easily be like a romance that went wrong and
that. it's oh it's a love that's gone away and
then the third verse it's very direct with no
this is what this is actually about and and i
i appreciate that somebody's kind of picked up
with that because for the most part everyone's
always said to me because i used to be quite
coy with what it's about until it got to that
point um but people it meant that people were
even not listening when i played it or they kind
of said that they knew what it was all about
so now i'm very upfront when i when I start playing
it I say I tell I like to tell the stories of
the songs before I go into them on stage now
which means that I spend for some people's tastes
probably a little bit too much time on stage
talking there are definitely some people who
make that opinion known but there are also a
lot of people the people who kind of get it and
like what I do they people they say I love the
way you tell the stories I love knowing more
about what you're singing about and I think okay
that's cool that you guys are my audience then
you guys get it and that ties into what you were
saying about um the different uh like the the
good stuff now not necessarily being in like
the top 40 and and I think it's a wonderful thing
about music now is that everything is like everything's
broken off into lots of small niches there's
no you can you can sort of put it one way of
like there's no like water cooler moments with
bit with like film and television and music but
what's what's beautiful instead is like no everyone's
now got their thing it's like it used to be like
the the good advice was like oh you know you
need to write like broad songs that like everybody
can appreciate whereas the advice these days
is like no no no just dig down and find your
thing because trust me there is an audience for
whatever it is that you do whatever it is that
you're into whatever kind of weird art that you
want to make there are you've got the power of
the internet now there are hundreds if not thousands
of people who will get what you're doing and
and you and you can be therefore be more authentic
that way which yeah it means like you say you
you gotta do the work you gotta like go looking
for the stuff that like jibes with you but once
you find it oh it's It's magic like some of my
absolute favorite artists in the whole world
have a very small but very very like passionate
and motivated fan base that will like that will
that are they're passionate and motivated enough
to give them the career that they need in order
to keep going but they're they've got these wonderful
levels of fame where they're to their fans to
that they're all small community who know who
they are and get what they're doing that like
they're like friggin rock stars, but like they
could still just walk down the street and just
be like some guy. Like, no, it's not like, they're
not like Ed Sheeran or anything, or like to use
like, I don't know, a more American example.
It's like, it's not like Steve Tyler or something.
They're not gonna like just say like, oh my God,
there's Steve Tyler from Aerosmith and like.
Mob him or whatever They can just walk down the
street and just get on with their day and just
you know go to the post office or go to the grocery
store and do their thing but like their fans
like know them and will stop them and never chat
with them, but yeah, it's the kind of fame such
as it is that I would I would like I would like
that kind of career where There's a bunch of
people who know what I do and really love what
I do and come out and give me the career that
I need. But I'm also able to just go to the park
with my child and everyone else there just goes,
oh, it's some bald guy with his daughter. You
said something on Martin's podcast that I thought
was so relatable and so refreshing to hear. And
again, I want people to listen to this episode,
Martin's episode. But when you said, I don't
need all these extravagant things. I don't have
to attain all of this material wealth. And I
just want my daughter to be happy. I just want
to have a happy fulfilled life. And you probably
get more out of touching other people with your
music and getting like, like you said, that feedback
and creating something that resonates with somebody
on a deep level. That's probably more fulfilling
than the guy that's sitting on a mountain of
money. Because I've certainly met some old, wealthy
folks, and not all of them look like something's
lacking. But I would say a good number of them
who I've met in my career, you think, geez, why
are they not happier? How come their children
don't talk to them when they're adult kids don't
come see them and they've yeah, they go play
golf they go But they don't seem like they're
as happy as I would think they would be but there's
there's something behind the eyes isn't there
there's just there's like a there's a sparkle
that's maybe not there but um yeah without without
wanting to like tread uh retread too much of
what i said on martin's podcast because yeah
like uh like dan said uh you should definitely
go check it out i think the only place that i
know that's available is on youtube but uh but
yeah definitely go check it out if you if if
you're able to um but uh It's what I say on that
podcast is like it is that some people are motivated
by those kind of More material things and that
is absolutely fine It is not for me to say that
that you should not be motivated by those things
and it but what it comes down to is you got you
have to work out what makes you happy and Pursue
that and and if that's those material things,
that's fine That's not a problem as long as you're
not hurting anybody else in order to do it But
yeah, I just the more I kind of engaged with
the world, the more I realized that that paradigm
of success of like the the money, the car, the
the house and like all those material things.
You know, I was born in the 80s and like we were
growing up. I didn't grow up under Margaret Thatcher,
but like her legacy kind of definitely. like
Reagan in your country, it kind of affected the
discourse in that way. But yeah, the more I grew
up, like the more I questioned like, yeah, I
don't think that's me. It doesn't like, it certainly
didn't motivate me. Like it definitely wasn't
something that made me get out of bed. It was
just kind of like, yeah, okay, I guess. And then
I sort of realized that there are other ways
to measure success and it was all about like
what worked personally for you and yeah for me
it's me and my wife are a lot more about experiences
rather than than things that don't get me wrong
we we have a we have a pretty comfortable existence
where we're quite quite sort of happily middle
class and i will never pretend that we're like
oh we're poor and we're happy but um yeah we've
we're we're reasonably comfortable but it's like
we don't it's not our lives aren't defined by
that and it's more about like pursuing the things
that the experiences and the fulfillment that
will make us happy. For my wife she's starting
out in self -employment as an ADHD coach. For
me it's my music and then for both of us between
us it's just it's raising our daughter into like
this kind person, this kind... wonderfully kind
and wonderfully funny person that she is, because
those are the things that both of us value is
is kindness and humor. And yeah, it's about finding,
finding your own path and finding what success
means to you. That's beautifully spoken. It's
not judging other people for what they're seeking.
Because some people everyone is is different.
Everyone's wired differently. but I relate to
what you're saying. I like to, if my children
are happy, and I know that you have a background
in theater and acting. Again, Martin went over
some of this stuff as well, but my son, my oldest
son, Warren, he had his first summer camp this
year, and I thought about maybe a traditional
camp, but then I stopped myself. and said, wait
a second, he's always reciting things. Whether
it's a movie he's been watching or when he comes
home from school and recites a whole lesson plan.
And so we enrolled him in a theater camp and
he so enjoyed it. And I think that's, I would
recommend any of my listeners that have children,
nobody's more in tune than you are to their tendencies
and their quirks and their interests. You know,
if you see something there, put them in a position
where they might really thrive, you know, and
so we put them in this theater camp and I wish
we could have him doing something all throughout
the year. We just don't have the budget for it
right now, but certainly we'll do another camp
because he loves that sort of thing. And I know
with your daughter too, does she enjoy what you
did growing up? Yeah, I mean, she... She currently
goes to, there's something on a Saturday morning
called Stagecoach over here where it's like,
they just get, it's like an hour and a half and
it's like they do like dance and singing and
performance and everything like that. And yeah,
she really loves it. We always hoped that she
would enjoy any kind of, you know. being theatrical
because me and my wife were both theatre kids
like growing up up until like fairly recently
we were both still doing uh what we would call
uh amdram in this country amateur dramatics like
uh community theater i guess you guys would call
it there um But yeah, so we kind of we always
thought well, it's obviously what makes us happy
is that she finds the things that make her happy
But like we always thought hmm It would be really
nice if it was the theater because obviously
we share that we'd have that we'd be able to
share that passion with her and I am not a I'm
not a sports person at all But if my daughter
turned out to be into soccer, I would be like,
yep. I'll be watching her every Sunday morning
I will cheer her on I will learn the rules and
pretend that I like it. But yeah, I'd obviously
be, I'm glad that she's not into that and that
theatrical stuff seems to be more her thing.
Also art, art's her thing, like drawing and colouring
things. She'll happily sit down and just draw
and colour things for what feels like forever.
But yeah, it's great. She does seem to enjoy
that stuff. I mean, I don't, it's very early
on in all of that at the moment, but I was told,
I picked her up yesterday from a session and
I was told she had the loudest voice when we
were doing the singing. I thought, okay, that's
good. I don't necessarily know if that means
that she's the best, but she's definitely got
the confidence to project it. And so that's cool.
That's fun. I'm glad that she's having that fun
at the moment. Maybe the apple didn't fall too
far from the tree. Yeah, I think between me and
my wife she wasn't gonna have it was it's not
a massive surprise Well, then this has been fantastic,
I mean I could talk about your career and and
Just explore more avenues here with you. I know
that you're you're writing some new material
We mentioned a couple times this conversation
and you may have even already told me when you're
planning to release some new tracks Yeah, that's
right. There's an album that's in the works at
the moment. I'm currently demoing it with the
idea to get a couple of musicians I know to come
and play on it. This has got like the rough ideas
so I can send that to them and say this but better
please and then we'll demo it with them on it
and then we'll go in with a producer to get it
recorded. So that's all in the works at the moment.
The idea is that the album will be out sort of
like this time next year uh but there'll be like
a couple of singles in advance of that throughout
the year like hopefully april time april may
will be like the first one and then there'll
be maybe one or two more uh between that and
the album release so yeah but throughout 2024
there there should be releases coming uh so yeah
watch this space gracious listeners and uh we
will have at Dan Thomas music for you to listen
to very, very soon. Dan, I almost forgot everyone
who listens to Dan time and enjoys this podcast,
please interact with my guests on their socials.
Dan, your Facebook page is you're so interactive.
That just really struck me. It is a fun destination
for people to follow your music. The videos on
there. Specifically, I think you had you're on
your way to a show in St. Albans, maybe. Is that
correct? Yeah. Is that the one from me in the
car? Yeah. Coming back for you. I love that.
I just turned on a camera and I just I just chat
nonsense when I do it, because that's that's
just me. And I go, yeah, they send that on put
that on the Internet. It's really great because
I go to a lot of pages. I wouldn't say that anybody's
doing it wrong, but your approach to interacting
and connecting with your fans, you really make
it a fun experience for them. They get to see
a different side to Dan Thomas, whereas they
just listen to the music, you've got one impression.
But then they see, oh, he's got a great sense
of humor too. Oh, bless you. Thank you. Yeah.
I mean, I wouldn't have discovered your music
if I just hadn't run that ridiculous Google search.
And I'm so glad that I did. My hope for this
podcast is that the concept of Dan talking to
other Dan's will at least inspire you to find
a common thread with other people. And whether
your name is Steve and you're like, well, let
me shoot. I never thought about that. Let me
look up other Steve's who play bass guitar or
anything like that. Just we're more relatable
than we think we are. And so that's what I'm
trying to to promote here, and I'm so glad that
I discovered Dan's music because of the concept
of my show, and that I'm able to expose Dan to
my listeners. Well, Dan, you've been so generous
with your time here. I usually wind down with
some random questions, just some yes or no skittles
or M &Ms type nonsense. You got time for maybe
three or four questions? Yeah, totally, man.
I've got time. I'm good. OK. Where so over here
in the states, you know, we do our shopping at
Publix Target Walmart. Oh my gosh. I mean anybody
listening to this show who works at Walmart and
nothing against you I'm just not a big fan of
your store or the experience and where do you
guys do your shopping for Your essentials your
groceries and then I have a follow -up question.
Okay, sure. We've we've got We've got a couple
of what we'd call supermarket stores. Tesco is
one that we use. They're the largest private
employer in the country and the second largest
employer overall behind the National Health Service.
I found it. My wife used to work for their head
office. That's how I know those details. There's
other places. There's Asda, which is owned by
Walmart. There's Sainsbury's, Aldi, Lidl, Waitrose.
That's kind of like a more upmarket one. Morrison's.
Yeah, there's lots of like these different like.
Superstore brand places and they'll they're all
like a different sizes as well They've got like
different categories of stores. You like you've
got that the superstore ones where you can have
like you've got like clothes and Electronics
and stuff in there and then you've just got all
the way down to Like the little there was like
almost like little corner shop versions where
it's like they just have your basic groceries
and like you can pick up the paper or whatever
in there and or your magazines or just your beer.
But yeah, we have a plethora of choices in the
UK. Well, we have Aldi. We're starting to see
more Aldi over here. Oh, OK. I didn't realize
it got to you guys. Yeah, I like Aldi. It's a
little bit different experience. The question
I have that connects to this, do you ever or
do you ever wish Let me back up. Do you ever
jump on the back of your shopping cart and take
it for a ride through the parking lot? You know,
when you're hitting a little patch there where
you can really get some speed. Do you ever see
anybody do that or you ever go for it every once
in a while? All the time. Yes. My wife gets so
upset with me. I was so I will push it down the
aisle and kind of like lean over the bar and
make sure my feet are dangling in the air probably
also shouting we Think that's the bit that upsets
my wife But I was thinking about that all day
and I was thinking I hope Dan says yes. Oh god.
Yes, absolutely It's I I am 37, but that does
not mean I'm a grown -up Do you have the accelerator
hand dryer in restrooms? The end the elevator
It is basically a high -powered air blaster way,
you know in lieu of paper towels You're using
the the men's room and you're coming out. Do
they have those? We have yeah, we have something
similar like we used to have like we used to
have like the good old -fashioned head or the
hand dryers that would just ineffectually sort
of spit air at you. And now they've got like,
there's a brand, there's a brand, it's UK, a
UK based brand called Dyson, which they regulate
their main sort of stock and trade is vacuum
cleaners. But they also do these, they have things
called air blades as well, where it's like, you
put your hands in it, and it's like this one
big, high pressure bit of air that kind of takes
all the water off of your hands. But Yeah, we
have, we do have those. Yes. I have a, I have
a friend of mine who refuses to use those. He
says it's just, uh, he doesn't trust it. He thinks
that the germs are going to be flying everywhere
with your wet hands. And, um, he, he just does,
he does not like them, but, uh, okay. Not, no,
I've never thought about it actually. Um, well,
cause they do, cause they do say, don't you,
that like when, when you're, if you've, uh, if
you've been to the bathroom and you've been for
you know number two without getting into vulgar
language on this podcast. I don't know how much
we can and can't swear. But come right up to
the edge. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. If you're going for
going for Tuesdays, then you should when you're
before you flush, you should close the lid because
of something they call toilet plume, which is
when you flush, it's like it just sort of sends
a lot of the bacteria up into up into the air.
And particularly if you're in your bathroom at
home, they say that stuff just ends up landing
on you. Think about that landing on your toothbrush
and then that will make you close the lid. And
it definitely worked on me. I'm like, I don't,
I've not looked into myself. I don't know how
true that is, but it's enough to make me think,
well, if there's a chance that it's true, it's
not exactly hurting me to put the toilet lid
down. So on a similar note, I can kind of think
that, yeah, I can see how like high pressure
blasts of air could if there is any bacteria
but the counterpoint to that is that it's to
dry your hands after you have washed them so
therefore if you have washed your hands correctly
they shouldn't be blowing bacteria around so
there's the rebuttal to your friend is is that
well if that's something you're worried about
wash your hands better man there you go jimmy
i'm gonna go ahead and out him Please feel free,
Jimmy, to send your rebuttal back to me. I'll
have a respectful debate with you about this.
We can disagree and part as friends. That's how
I like to roll. Dan, when you're performing and
somebody comes up to you with a request, there's
probably a lot of songs where you say, hey, listen,
I appreciate it, but I don't really know that
one. Do you have to turn a lot of people down
and say, I just don't play that song or I'm not
going to play that song? Or do you get people
to ask you to play songs that you think, dude,
could you have come up with something besides
Freebird or? I mean, Freebird is not really the
best example, but I mean, that's that is the
that's the quintessential one, isn't it? Like
the quintessential heckle from somewhere in the
audience is hearing. Rebirth and just go oh don't
be that guy come on that's a that's a cliche
at this point surely uh but yes to answer your
question i i do i i have because a lot of what
i do to to try and make money from what i do
is i'll do like the covers shows so i'll just
go to uh a bar on a friday night and play a set
of of cover tunes and um there are there are
some people who will ask ah can you play can
you play this song and to be fair most of the
time if i don't know if i know it then then i'll
go yeah sure i can okay i can do that if i know
if i know it and i haven't played it yet obviously
um but uh if i if i don't know it and i say i'm
really sorry man i don't know that song for the
most part they're kind of like they're like oh
okay now no worries no no problem or in the very
least they'll be all very obviously disappointed
but like respectful about it. Occasionally, you
know, I work in a, it's a line of work where
I encounter a lot of drunk people. And a lot,
sometimes drunk people aren't very polite or
reasonable. Or they were three hours ago, but
then now they've had. Yeah. Oh, I'm sure they
are. And the rest of their life. But yeah, I
have, I have caught them at their most uninhibited.
Yeah, there are certain songs that people will
call and I'll just say, no, like the the go to
one is this is also another cliche. And I don't
know if it's as big a cliche in the US because
obviously it's a British based band. But Wonderwall
by Oasis is like sure, particularly as a guy
up on stage with an acoustic guitar. It's like
people go like. there are certain people when
they're really drunk will be like play wonderwall
and it's like I have real opinions about playing
wonder about about wonderwall and like The when
people call that out and and I'm sure this is
not true of everybody at all But it just makes
people come across like the worst gen X bores
who? Like think music stopped in its entirety
in the year 1995 no new songs have come out since
then Wonderwall was the end of music and they've
they've not Developed their imagination probably
because they took one too many pills in the 90s
That is as broad stroke and aggressive as I get
about my music opinions. I'm sorry if there are
any people out there who love Wonderwall and
that does not reflect their life at all because,
you know, all shapes and sizes, all walks of
life and everything else. But yeah, there are
I have encountered a lot of the most aggressive,
difficult people I've ever encountered in this
job are the Wonderwall crowd, the Oasis crowd.
Oh, okay, it's another one of these guys. All
right, cool. We're doing that at this gig tonight,
fine. I could see that. When I was, I did some
college radio in the late 90s in a band that
I really, I guess I could say fell in love with,
but they turned me on to... Really opened up
my eyes to some new music was the verve and Richard
Ashcroft Oh, yeah, is is he still pretty well
regarded around there? Did have you seen him
perform or do you like his music? Do you know
what? He's he's one of those guys the verve and
Richard Ashcroft is he is he's well regarded
He's one of those people that's just never really
been on my Radar that much not just because not
because I don't like it or anything, but the
only the only song There's bittersweet symphony
is like the big one of theirs. Yeah, that gets
played a lot over here. It always just makes
me think of the movie Cruel Intentions because
it's just it's in the finale of that. But then
there's the song that the drugs don't work, which
I know I've heard, but for the life of me, I
can't even remember how it goes right now. And
so that's it's just like they're just a blind
spot. in my musical education. Because I think
we've all got that with certain bits of pop culture.
For a very long time, I hadn't seen the movie
Schindler's List and people said to me, you've
never seen Schindler's List. And I'm like, no,
I just haven't got around to it. And then one
day I did. And I'm glad I did, because it's a
great piece of art. But yeah, it was just one
of those things of I hadn't got around to it
my wife when we met she'd never seen any of the
toy story films and she was 30 when we'd met
and we kind of of that generation like how have
you gone through life with that there was a bunch
of Disney movies that she'd not seen because
she's a little bit older than me so they were
cut they're a couple that from like that Disney
Renaissance period like around like the Lion
King and everything where that she'd missed those
so yeah I guess so by the point that I'm making
is yeah, Richard Ashcroft and The Verve are just
one of those for me. It's just like they've just,
we've just not crossed paths properly. You know,
if you have missed a lot of those children's
movies growing up, you get a chance to catch
up on them if you have a child. If you have a
child and you have a pandemic going on and a
Disney Plus subscription. Dan, what, speaking
of of, well, let's just say, what's your favorite
or one of your favorite albums to listen to front
to back? Something that maybe you liked, you've
liked ever since you were 19, 20, 25. Is there
a band or an album? I know you mentioned Fleetwood
Mac. Is there? Yeah, rumors by Fleetwood Mac
is is a timeless classic that I I got into when
I they were a blind spot for me for a while but
I got into Fleetwood Mac when I was 22 and I
I was I was watching I was I was getting my first
tattoo done At my my my university friends flat
He had a friend who came by who was a tattoo
artist and so she was in town So she was doing
sort of like cheaper tattoos for pit for his
friends it was all she was all licensed and everything
it wasn't like backroom dodgy stuff uh but uh
to distract me when i was getting my tattoo down
in my arm uh he was playing guitar hero in the
corner uh and a song came on and i was like dude
what is this and he said oh it's Fleetwood Mac
i'm like okay cool i i guess i'm into Fleetwood
Mac now it was the song go your own way which
is uh to my to for my money still like one one
of the all -time like great songs and uh and
yeah so I then went and listened to particularly
the Rumors album but like a bunch of their back
catalogue and I was shocked by how many of the
songs I actually knew because I'd heard other
artists play them like Eva Cassidy did a cover
of Songbird which is her version is beautiful
but like the original that Christine V wrote
was amazing Dreams by Stevie Nicks that was Covered
by an Irish band called the cause And then of
course the song the chain that that great bass
line that That was the the theme tune for Formula
One racing in In the UK so like that's all of
that Whenever that like grand as it for me one
or Grand Prix and but yet like there's a there
was like a car a race a car racing thing where
that the theme tune for it in the UK was that
section of the chain so like listening to the
record I'm like oh my god I know this oh my god
I know this and it's and it's like you like we
were saying earlier on about some of those songs
it's like they're just like you said they're
not 70s songs they're just they're songs for
all time you just you can listen to that album
at Anytime and i'm i'm pretty sure that a thousand
years from now if human society hasn't completely
collapsed There will be people picking up rumors
and go. Oh my god, man This is so relevant to
today, even though this came out over a millennia
ago So yeah, I guess rumors is one um Going I
was going to just say it's incredible that fleet
I mean Fleetwood Mac was it was bound to implode
or disband You just think about the huge personalities
in that band and the potential clashes that ended
up happening. But the fact that they were able
to keep that unit together to create those songs
before they had to go their separate ways for
what? A couple of decades. It's just. I mean,
it's wonderful that that. Yeah. Room is especially
it's like it's it's an even more remarkable achievement
that. It's considering what the state of, just
the absolute dire state of their personal relationships
at the time. Like John McV and Christine McV
were getting a divorce. during they broke up
and got divorced whilst they were making that
album. Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham broke
up during that album. Mick Fleetwood was going
through a divorce with his wife whilst they were
making that album and it's like the fact that
they didn't just all scream F you and leave is
cause for like it's like that's that's impressive
enough but then not only did they stay and they
finish an album the album that they made is an
absolute timeless classic that like I said is
still you listen to it now and it's like it's
just it sounds just as powerful as it did in
1977 when it came out it's yeah it's just it's
just remarkable like again you say they they
obviously went their separate ways before coming
back and then they've gone and done it again
because Lindsay Buckingham has gone from the
band now and And sadly, Christine McVie is no
longer with us. So I'll never get to see that
era line up of Fleetwood Mac. And that's something
I'm very, very bitter about. But yeah, like,
who knows? Maybe those guys are kind of destined
to come together and break apart until, well,
until they all, like Christine McVie is done,
until they all start shuffling off this mortal
coil. And one track there, I was looking at the
dance and I was trying to remember this song
that I love so much. I'm so afraid. Oh, it's
the fifth one right after they perform Riannon.
Dan, I think that I got to go back and listen
to it and see how much orchestration is going
on. But just hearing that song in my mind, I
feel like that's if I saw you perform live and
I wanted to throw a real wild card out there,
I'd say, hey, Dan, could you play? I'm so afraid.
I think you might be able to do it. Might be
able to do it justice. That's one. Thank you
for the compliment. Two. Challenge accepted.
I'm gonna go and have a look and see if there's
a if there's a version of that I can put together
That's a that's a great cut. That's a good. That's
a great choice the vocals especially Lindsay
Buckingham spoke. I think he's lead vocals on
that song. He is yeah, you should hear if you've
not heard it you hear the the album version,
which is on the album that came before Rumours,
which is like their second, their second self
-titled because there's a self -titled one from
back in the 60s when they were a British like
blues band. And then the Lindsay Buckingham Stevie
Nicks era was kicked off by a second self -titled
one. And I'm so afraid is on that. It's it sounds
largely the same, but there's kind of there's
lots of like dual guitars and things on. on the
original and the key is a little bit higher so
it's it's an interesting listen to hear the the
dance version versus that one but uh yeah if
you've not heard it check that out okay well
is there um any other bands or podcasts that
you listen to something that you'd like to promote
things i'd like to promote oh god um in terms
of podcasts and stuff uh nothing that's jumping
out at me at the moment i mean Frank Turner is
an artist that's very dear to my heart. He's
an English singer -songwriter. I take a lot of
my cues from him. He's like nine albums into
his career. He's about to have his 10th one now.
Very excited for that album to come out. But
yeah, any album of his, his most recent one is
an album called FTHC, which is short for Frank
Turner Hardcore, which is like... a t -shirt
design that he had for a while um that album
is is outstanding start to finish uh his his
very first album sleep is for the week is and
but week is spelt w e e k like as in you can
sleep in the weekday um love iron song the album
that came off it Frank Turner's back up catalog,
everybody just go and check or check all of that
out. He's a difficult man to pin down in terms
of which one is is his best. He takes a lot of
his cues from people like Bruce Springsteen.
So like that's that's what gives you the idea.
Like if you had like Bruce Springsteen with a
very decidedly English voice, then yeah, you've
kind of you're getting closer to what he's all
about. Have you heard the band The Bug Club?
The Bug Club? No. Buggers in like insect. Yeah,
I believe it's the bug club of my friend Tom
Quay from the Alpha Metallica podcast he he turned
me on to them and I know they put their they
perform in the UK. They may be based there as
well Yeah, the bug club. I'm gonna write that
one down. I'm gonna give that a go in a bit I
don't even know what how to describe the genre
but out in the streets is a single Yeah, that's
what I would throw out there and I was I'm just
Wondering maybe if some of my other listeners
in the UK have heard of Heard of this band as
well, but he threw it out there. I checked him
out I really like it. It was way off my radar
I've got the bug club. There's some some songs.
It's art marriage yesterday's paper Is that we're
looking at the same band? Um, there'd be pure
particles. That's one of their albums Yeah, marriage
is a single Green day in f -sharp. That's it
That's a curious title. I would say some of their
subject matter the the lyrical content is often
irreverent Okay, so it's kind of silly like short
and round Six o 'clock news by just to throw
a couple of those out there We can't all play
saxophones. That's that's a great title Yeah,
they're good at least for some comic relief because
I played it and my he's almost six but my five
-year -old the backseat he loves Out in the streets.
I think it is some of the stuff you if you listen
to it's real catchy even for Your kid you could
play it if you're riding around with your kid.
That's cool. Yeah, I'm looking I can see here
like it's got like fans also like and there's
a bunch of bands there who I've I was just trying
to see if there's anything like that I can latch
on to in terms of like if there's bands that
I recognize, there are no bands I recognize in
there. But to me, that is that's that just means
I've got a whole bunch of other bands to go check
out now, too. So that's cool. Well, Dan, I don't
know when or how you could ever make it over
here. I'm on the Gulf Coast of Florida, close
to the Alabama border in the states. But we've
got certainly has some venues over here. If you
ever come stateside and make it this far down,
would love to see you. Wonder I I would love
to and I've looked I've looked at into kind of
coming and doing some shows in the states before
but uh Yeah, your your your visa rules are a
little bit on the restrictive and expensive side
at the moment for me But I trust me as soon as
I am Possibly able because I will play anywhere
and everywhere that people will have me and if
there is if there's a room full or even half
full of People who are willing to listen. Yep.
Oh, I will find ways of doing it and be there
Well everybody listening again if you're like
me and you live in the states Or you're just
not gonna be able to see Dan perform in person
for a long time There's plenty of stuff out there
to sink your sink your teeth into go to the website
It's it's Dan Thomas solo. It's like it's because
it's like my name and then solo as in I'm a solo
performer The only way it's all that's also my
handle on the socials The only way I've ever
been able to get people to remember it is it's
Dan short for Daniel Thomas like the tank engine
solo as in Han Solo That's the only mnemonic
device I've ever been able to come up with because
the reason being is that having a name like Dan
Thomas makes me really, really difficult to Google.
You just get a lot of Welsh guys on Facebook
because Thomas is a very common Welsh surname
for those not in the know. But yeah, because
my mother didn't give me an out there interesting
name and I have a very flat sounding surname,
second name as well. Yeah, I had to just just
put if I just put danthomas .com like that's
taken. Let's put it that way. I could say annoyingly
somebody already took Dan Thomas music. That
was and it's not it's a page. It's not even being
used anymore. So frustrating. But yes, danthomas
.com. Well folks find him on on Facebook on all
the socials check out the videos the darkness
of me video crawling on the floor Holding on
to you. I think you're gonna find something that
will appeal to you Dan I hope I didn't take up
too much of your time. I have just had a ball
Not at all. I've had I've genuinely had a blast
talking to you and this has been a lot of fun
So thank you. Thank you for having me on and
thank you listeners at home for checking out
Dan's podcast and listening to me chat rubbish
for way too long. No, no, you're just fine, Dan.
OK, everybody. Well, that's it for this episode
of Dan Time. And remember, find a common thread
with folks. Get out there when you see people
who are a little closed off. Sometimes you might
read people wrong. They might seem arrogant or
off putting. They may just be trying to get comfortable
again and they're trying you know, or they may
have just lost a loved one You never really know
what's going on with people. So Yeah, try to
find a common thread get out there Have some
fun with yourself. I always come back to that
theme Get on the back of a buggy a shopping cart
at this part of the show Dan at the end I always
ramble and it I never quite know how I'm gonna
land it but No, that's great. I was going to
add to add to that in all of that. In the in
the spirit of what you were saying is there's
a great line in the show, Ted Lasso, where he
says, be curious, not judgmental. That's perfect.
Be curious, not judgmental. It's like you say,
you don't always know what's going on with people
and. Uh, yeah, just approach everything with
curiosity and empathy and you will go far. It's
not something that we're always able to do. God
knows. I struggle with it sometimes and for sure,
but, uh, I always try and make it right when
I realized that I've got it wrong. And if you've
got an idea, Dan will tell you, get it down on
paper. If you've been sitting on this for a while,
if, if the pandemic, um, took the wind out of
your sail. Maybe maybe right now is not exactly
the right time, but keep that you got that idea
Don't forget to write it out if you've got that
guitar. It's been sitting there pick it up start
writing But Dan this has been perfect. I would
love to have you back on If we could do another
episode next year sometime Yeah. I, yeah, you,
you, you name the time and the place, man. And
I will, and I will, uh, I'll, I'll move some
things around and I'll make it happen. Okay.
Dan, have a great night and, uh, folks be good
and I'll see you next Sunday on the Dan time
podcast. All right. If you love that episode,
if you're enjoying the Dan Time podcast, be sure
to download and subscribe so you never miss an
episode. You can reach me at dantimepod at gmail
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you as a listener. Hope you have a great week.
I'll see you next Sunday.