You're on the Dan time podcast. I am your host
Dan McArdle at Dan time pod on Instagram Facebook
X and YouTube Dan time pod at gmail .com And
I've got another fantastic Artist to introduce
to you today somebody who's gonna fit nicely
into an existing playlist My guest today is New
Zealand indie rocker Dan Sharp We dive into Dan's
songs, including his latest single, Late Night
Poetry, and we highlight the EP and single of
the same name, Man Don't Cry, where Dan broaches
the topic of men and mental health. You'll hear
Dan perform an acoustic version of Man Don't
Cry on this episode. Between the brave, bold,
and given up, that's the title of Dan Sharp's
upcoming LP. Be sure to follow him on all channels.
He's at Dan Sharp music on the socials and dansharpmusic
.com And here are the guys making music with
Dan on this latest project Stan Bicknell on drums
Brad Craig on bass Will Henderson on keys and
Johnny McClain on horns of percussion currently
based in Mount Manganui, Dan grew up in rural
Awetera OK, we're going to kick it off here with
a preview of a track from the Man Don't Cry EP.
This is Interstellar Runaway. Folks, it is Dan
Sharp time. I used to wear the world loosely
Cated to curiosity I could carry all the weight
on my shoulders But now I'm sick of feeling tired
Where's the warmth I need to inspire? I'm left
fighting for a piece of my own mind, of my own
mind Do I fight for a piece of my own mind? Waiting
on a sun that just won't rise for me I can't
go back, yeah I'm done with mine I can't stay
blind, I can't stay blind, no Today it is my
pleasure. I'm super excited because I've been
listening to his music here for a couple weeks
Getting some goosebumps here Dan with some of
the songs over 1 million streams on Spotify alone
New Zealand based Recording artist singer songwriter
Dan Sharp is my guest today Thanks for being
here Dan. How you doing my friend? I'm doing
very well. Thank you for having me Yeah, so you've
been pretty busy I'd say releasing a couple EPs
a new single Man, I gotta say I kind of I usually
start with the new material from my guests and
work my way back and I could see a progression
in your sound. It really comes together. I think
the current single late night poetry Yeah, is
just a really crisp sound almost getting a little
bit back to basics, maybe, adding some saxophone
in there. And this is just a real foot stomper.
I think you described it as, you know, it bounces
along beautifully and you couldn't have said
it better. So I'm really enjoying the catalog.
How are things going now? Are you writing? Are
you performing? You do a little bit of both?
Yeah, there's kind of always a... a hybrid amount
of many things going on like creating and then
I guess the packaging like what are you doing
with the things that you create and what are
the goals? So I often find myself wearing many
hats and I currently I suppose the hats I'm wearing
it's all about releasing music and the best way
to do that is generally performing alongside
a release. So then it's looking at how best to
put this music on a stage with the people that
have been in the band and how to really just
get this stuff out there. But I am starting to
crave the creative part again, because they're
kind of like chapters in a book. It's been a
while since I wrote the music and I'm finding
I'm literally... waking up with lyric ideas and
hearing things. And it's been a little while
since that's happened for me. And that kind of
suggests that it's time to start creating again
as a routine thing, which I'm excited about.
It's really cool. I can imagine that the wheels
are always spinning, new ideas, new experiences
that you want to capture in your songwriting.
The first track that I heard and and I probably
will come back to late -night poetry, but the
first song I Took a shot on was man. Don't cry.
Oh Wow, this one is just kind of a you want to
hear it over and over once you get started on
it You also described this is one of the heavier
hitting songs emotionally that you've recorded
One of the you know, one of the main lines in
there What is a boy but an extension of the man
who who made him just love these lyrics by day.
He's building an empire Betrayed again by night.
He's breaking He's faded to a double standard
life and he wonders why the man don't cry Performance
wise and and sonically I've been wanting to say
this to you for the past week here this this
is a a big venue song to me. It sounds like the
type of song that you're performing in front
of a big crowd who's kind of jumping in unison,
and you just about got them in the palm of your
hand. I mean, it's like really carved up and
composed for, I think, just that big stage atmosphere.
Like a festival atmosphere. Yeah, I'd agree.
It feels like it wants that. It feels like it
wants to be played on the biggest stage and it
would sound at home in that space. Kind of has
some flares of Springsteen. I don't know why
Sting comes to mind, but maybe just sort of that
live component of Sting's package, you know.
But you really hit one on all cylinders there.
Oh, thank you. I really appreciate that. It's
funny because Sting is somebody that isn't...
I've not really connected deeply with the Sting
catalogue and as I've progressed as a writer,
I've come to appreciate a lot more about Sting
and the sound of Sting and I... Only in the last
couple days, this is the third time I've heard
Sting come up and, you know, hadn't come up for
years before. So I feel I generally trust things
in like, I don't know how to describe it, but
things come at the right time. Springsteen found
me definitely at the right time and maybe I was
at the right time in my kind of journey to connect
with that and Springsteen is absolutely the right...
I guess example reference point, but there's
definitely, if we talked in a year's time, I
imagine Sting's going to be put in that conversation
as well. I can just feel it and I'm excited to
go and dig into the entire catalog. It's just
funny how these things work. Yeah. See, you know,
when I was younger, I didn't really listen to
a lot of Sting's studio records, but I heard
one of his live albums. And you have some of
the horn section involved in some of that and
I was like, okay, okay I can I get it now Yeah,
I think you I think you really are on to something
there the song for me I love man. Don't cry but
interstellar runaway. I was thinking about this
today I was listening to it this morning traveling
to work and I said this is this is the goosebump
song It takes about a minute minute 15 or so
But you look down and yep, yep, the bumps on
the arms when you make liftoff on that song.
How does that one go over? Do you get feedback
on Interstellar Runaway? It's funny because our
first outing as a full band performing that song
live is this Friday coming up at our local venue,
which is... sort of the venue around and that's
the show opener actually is that one and I've
been I've had various formats you kind of touched
on it there and that introduction is is an evolution
of my music has taken place the way it's presented
in the way that I have I guess going out on the
road and done certain things, even the color
scheme, the branding, everything, it's definitely
all taken shape over time. This will be the first
time with a saxophone on stage in the band. And
it's sort of a new, it's a bit of an overhaul,
new musicians who are on that same page. And
I'm excited to see how it goes, but I know how
it feels in the room when we play it in that
song. just, it sets the tone. So I imagine it's
going to be the opener for, for the foreseeable
future. And I love how, um, you, you include
on the man don't cry EP, a real stripped down
demo version. It sounds like, uh, the song old
chairs, just very, very raw. And it's, I think
the, the recording is appropriate for what you're
singing about. Um, you touch on a lot of subject
matter that's I think very close to people who
are listening, relationships, things that have
not gone so well. And on some of these songs,
I know you take ownership sometimes of a relationship
that has gone sour, hasn't quite worked out.
On some of those songs, are you writing from
experience or do you have characters in mind?
I would say everything comes from an experience
and that is sometimes not always my first -hand
experience but it's somebody close to me or something
like a dynamic that I see. Certainly the relationship
oriented stuff that has definitely been my kind
of first -hand experience and they often just
come from a moment. The songs will come out of
a moment where maybe... Maybe something will
happen you might hear something or you might
see something and you're reminded of a situation
and a new idea Not an idea trying to create a
song but a new thought comes to mind that is
a new lens on a situation For instance that song
old chairs, which was recorded in a way I'm approaching
recording. I want to approach recording from
an album perspective, and that song closes out
the first side of the vinyl, so side A, and it's
meant to be kind of like a, yeah, I guess like
a palate cleansing come down and just really
tender as that part of the story ends. But that
song, the genesis of it, I suppose, was... Yeah,
we're sitting in a house that was literally emptied
of everything that we used to have and and just
thinking about like sitting literally sitting
on the floor and going oh the furniture isn't
here and that's so emblematic of the things that
this house used to hold and what used to exist
inside it and I think it started out it was sort
of like the last I can't remember what the phrase
was but it was almost like the last night in
our first home And that that sort of kind of
took different shape. And anyway, it felt like
an important little just, I guess, just a snapshot
of a thought at a particular time in the whole
process. You know, it is a process. Yeah, I think
everybody has when you talk about the room and
the red wine stain on the carpet. Yeah, I think
you do a really good job of placing people here,
maybe whether they want to go back or not. But
everyone has has had that experience where They're
sitting in a room where you used to have deep
conversations with somebody used to laugh with
somebody there was a lot of a Lot of life in
that house for that room and now it's it's empty
but you see the traces of it so I just think
that's a really a Beautiful song and really shows
how you're you're okay being vulnerable and showing
that vulnerability Yeah, I've for some time felt
like my greatest gift or my power that I have
is that I'm not afraid to be vulnerable. And
I guess that there's some themes in there, particularly
the song Man Don't Cry, where it's almost calling
for people to be more vulnerable, particularly
men. Because how the line that you mentioned
before, like what is a boy but an extension of
the man who made him? Often it's a pretty classic
Kiwi trope around men don't cry. And I think,
you know, it goes everywhere tough, toughen up,
harden up. And if the way I see it is if people
don't have role models of vulnerability, people
role modeling vulnerability, how are they supposed
to learn? So all we're doing is reciprocating.
Yeah, I guess a cycle that has led to to pain
and bad outcomes. I think New Zealand has the
worst, maybe the worst, certainly top five to
10 suicide rate in the OECD. The statistics here
are really bad. And so while the song's not informed
directly by one specific situation like that,
it's certainly, what's the environmental... factors,
I suppose, or an environmental factor. And I
certainly don't think I've got the answers, but
I think questions are important and vulnerability
is huge. Yeah. I like how you said that. And
it takes a man to, and oftentimes to get men
to check into those feelings and maybe talk about
them and maybe size up their network, size up
the friends around them and think, do these people
really care about my well -being maybe I should
foster friendships with people that I can talk
to freely and openly and who might even ask me
hey you look like you're having a rough day or
you know you know that's that type of thing and
so that's just a powerful song in so many ways
speaking of the evolution of your sound on the
water went away ep And going going back a little
further. There's some elements here, which I
really love of R &B Some some hip -hop elements
even gosh a song like see the way that you used
to the opener Might be my favorite but gosh,
I love Louisiana I feel like Louisiana could
be played on an R &B station. It could be even
played on a country station I mean, it's got
you really deliver the goods on there. It's an
infectious song Yeah, speaking of Louisiana,
do you perform that one still? I do not, I don't
think it's going to be a part of this next little
run with the band. It was definitely, there's
a number of reasons and the evolution of the
sound is an interesting one because I really
did start out just as a bedroom singer -songwriter
producing my own music. as it's growing into
this band thing, some of those songs haven't
translated as well to that band arrangement.
But it's funny you bring that one up because
I always felt like that song was almost the dark
horse of that group. I did the production myself
on that one and I actually felt like if that
song had been put in a more experienced producer's
hands, something could have done a lot more with
that track. And I'm always interested because
There's the stories of songs that sort of sit
there and haven't necessarily done a ton and
then they connect with somebody in a particular
way and maybe a bigger artist connects with it
and they record it and all of a sudden, it can
really go places. But I love that song and I
sort of wish I had paid and got a producer who
knew what they were doing. Yeah. But I appreciate
your kind words. Oh yeah. I mean, folks, I like
to say this early in the episode. Feel free everybody
listening to hit pause on the podcast and go
to your favorite platform Spotify iTunes Apple
music wherever you download music and add a man
don't cry EP late -night poetry and and all this
material and start, you know take it into these
songs because What I love on this podcast and
I said it last week is that? You can get recommendations
based on what you're already listening to. Spotify
is pretty good at doing that. It's great. It's
a great way to build your catalog. But somebody
like Dan Sharp, you might not realize how much
you're going to fall in love with his songs and
he may not come across the algorithm. It's just
the biggest thrill of this podcast is to introduce
some of this music where Interstellar Runaway
hits me like a ton of bricks. All of a sudden,
Louisiana, I'm here in Louisiana, I'm thinking,
why in the world is this thing not a chart -topping
mammoth of a song? Or yeah, like you said, it's
got such crossover appeal that an established
artist could have picked that up and maybe they
still would. and record it. Possibly. Possibly.
I had, when the Water When Away EP was coming
out, I had just signed to a small record label,
an independent one, that a promoter here had
set up basically to try to get undiscovered Kiwi
artists just a little more recognition and maybe
some opportunity that wouldn't be there without
that. that extra layer of support. But I did
send that around to a number of industry people
in New Zealand and the consensus was, particularly
with the way that you used to, if Lois Capaldi
was singing this song or, you know, a big country
act, this song could be, you know, anywhere and
everywhere in the world. The songs primed for
that. And unfortunately, your platform isn't
like... at the place where it's going to carry
that song, but maybe things will change. And
I still feel like at some point, one of these
songs, so long as the songwriting is good enough,
at some point someone might be like, oh yeah,
cool, I'll give that a go. And who knows? Who
knows? Now, wrapping up on this, on the Water
Went Away EP, New Zealand musician website compared
you to Ed Sheeran, Lewis Capaldi Mitch James
Ryan Adams People listening if you haven't started
listening to the catalog yet just to give you
some idea They said within ease of lyric and
warmth of vocal delivery Effortlessly good enough
to remind you of your own favorite male acoustic
guitar wielding singer -songwriter At least on
these last couple EPs. You've gotten some recognition
here. You're getting across to the live audiences.
How do you see? Your sound progressing, you know,
are you do you have a new single new release
scheduled for later this this fall or in 2024?
Yeah, I obviously got an album coming out and
that's gonna be out in April and We've just been
going through the motions as to like the best
ways to when I say we me and this this label
that I spoke of Trying to figure out the best
ways to get that out and make as much noise as
possible, but I a Challenge that I've had is
that it's really difficult to tour Successfully
in New Zealand and make it financially viable
So the decisions that we're kind of weighing
up is where to put the the limited kind of resources
that we've got and is it go out on the road and
Spend the money that way is it to have some amazing
digital strategy video all of these things and
try to really reach an audience outside of New
Zealand and I do think that that is probably
the more sensible thing and I'm excited about
creating and yeah going on the road can be awesome
and it can also be really you need to be in the
right place to really make it work for you and
not be just a huge and yeah, it'll be interesting
to see what we end up going with, but yeah, lots
of new music. I feel like as an artist, present
day, as opposed to 2024, as opposed to 1994,
or how musicians and songwriters went about their
day -to -day business in the 70s and 80s, man,
there's a lot sitting on your shoulders. You
got to wake up every day and realize, Well, shoot,
I better generate some new content on my social
media channels. I got people I got a reply to.
And there's just so much kind of frontline engagement
with your audience that just didn't exist before.
How challenging is that where you're not just
writing, you're not just performing and recording,
but it's just almost this this never ending list
of you know, processes that you have to run through.
I think I've got a few thoughts here. I think
every person trying to operate in a modern business
environment has that same struggle, but where
they've got a... basically be active to be seen
and you lose relevancy really quickly and platforms
change, new methods come along. The thing that
was working before isn't the thing that works
tomorrow. And so there's a constant change, which
I think that can be a hard thing to come to peace
with is that you can't just kind of sit and forget
and just do one thing. So there's a constant,
your strategy has to be a strategy of constantly
evolving. I have seen and I've felt, I've felt
small versions of it myself where I just start,
I guess, pulling away from being active because
it does just feel like there's too much to do.
And in the past, the label, a big major label
and maybe for the biggest, you know, the biggest
artists in the world. They would still do this
where there's enough resource around them to
outsource that job and this job and that job
and like I don't expect Ed Sheeran's written
a Facebook post for the last 12 years and Since
since he really got picked up and even then who
knows I don't but Yeah, that's it's just another
thing that you have to be across The pros and
cons of it is that now? With the platforms we
have if you can manage to cut through you can
reach billions of people at really no cost to
yourself, whereas to go down that major label
path now, it really still is spend a ton of money,
gather enough, I guess, momentum and groundswell
and hope that it picks up and it doesn't always
do that. Yeah, I guess there's never been a better
time than now to be an artist like yourself.
I feel that. Yeah, I do. I think that that's
true. I think that to lament the old days and
that people used to buy CDs and used to listen
to vinyl and have great sound systems and not
just be listening on the earbuds. It's not really
looking at the big picture. You couldn't really
record a CD 30 years ago and have anyone know
about it unless you had all of these other things
in play. And those were... They weren't easy
to come by. I think anyone can create anything
now and that's amazing. It just means you've
got a different challenge. It's not just the
creative thing. It's how do I create some noise
around it? Right. I also want to say that speaking
of never been a better time than now for reaching
an audience. When I was a teenager, everyone
had a tendency to kind of put themselves in little
boxes. There was the punk rock guys. There was
the hip -hop and R &B crowd. There was the country
crowd. There was the metal crowd. And a little
cross -pollination, but really not a lot. But
I feel like today, kids are interested in listening
to all different types of music. They're not
satisfied to just stay in one department there.
Do you meet people who are like their bread and
butter is hip -hop, but they connect with your
sound? Yes, definitely. I would say that New
Zealand does a couple of things as its core basis
of what works here. And that includes reggae,
dub. There's a little bit of a hip hop overlay
there as well. But the singer -songwriter rock
thing has a lot less of an obvious home here
than in other places. But I would generally say
that people... people's variety of tastes is
probably higher than it's ever been. And most
people I know, most people that like music and
most musicians just have a ton of things, you
know, it's almost like it's mood based listening
now. And I think I read something around that
genre playlist. It's not genre playlisting anymore.
It's mood playlisting. So people want to... they'll
go to how they want to feel or how they want
music to amplify their current situation. So
a classic one here would be like a Kiwi barbecue
playlist. It's not actually about music that,
I don't know, barbecue just describes the mood
of sitting around having a beer and in the sun,
maybe going to the beach. And so if your song
touches into that space, it's a lot easier. This
is what I read how Spotify is kind of operating
now. Yeah. If you can make your song match a
mood, you can have a lot easier time of being
discovered on these platforms. Now you're my
first guest from New Zealand. Um, I've had Dan
Brody from Melbourne, Australia a couple of months
ago. Maybe it's been that long. So you're from,
is it Taupo, if I pronounced that correctly?
Close, that was pretty good. I live there, it's
Taupo, and I lived there for about four years.
I actually live a couple of hours north of there
now in a place called Mount Maunganui, and it's
right on the beach, and it's in what's called
the Bay of Plenty. We're about an hour from Hobbiton,
where Lord of the Rings, where Hobbiton was filmed.
But yeah, I grew up not too far from here and
it's definitely one of the beachier, sunnier,
warmer parts of the country. It's good. And I
understand you recently got engaged. Yes, I did.
Congratulations. Thank you. Yeah, no, that was
an awesome way to end. We had a trip overseas
and that was the perfect way to end it. Where
do you like to travel when you get some time
and opportunity to go? different places. Do you
have a favorite vacation spot or place that you've
been? Not really not a favorite sort of place
that we've gone read like more than once but
I will say Kiwis have quite a strong connection
to the UK and we've got like a easy kind of work
visa thing there so a really classic thing to
do as Kiwis kind of mid to late 20s, they'll
go and live over in the UK for two to three years.
We got the visa and we went over there thinking
we were going to set up and maybe live there.
And in the end, we bought a camper van and we
lived in that. We just did the summer, came back
here for summer, went back over there and lived
in this camper van in Scotland. We had five amazing
weeks there back down into Europe. Island has
been awesome. I've been there a few times, but
Portugal was the place that we probably loved
the most and yeah, lived in our van down there
for probably five or six weeks. And it was amazing.
Do you feel, obviously people who have listened
to this podcast are like, okay, here he goes.
He's just going down the rabbit hole. Do you
feel like, the minimalistic lifestyle, or if
you go on a journey like that and traveling,
does it allow for more creativity when you're
just, like I said, traveling and sleeping in
a van? It could. I'd say it's personality dependent.
And the time thing, I think everything's like
kind of seasonal if you've been in this kind
of... digital, urban, intense environment. Like
it's only natural that offsetting that with not
having all of the things and lower stimulation.
It's just like... It's kind of like a breath
of fresh air or something and you're like, oh
man. And then by the end of about four or five
months of it, we were craving being back. Like
that was almost too long. So yeah, I'd say it's
not the environment in which I get creative and
especially that traveling thing, but it's the
environment that I get inspired. And so like
going and seeing new things every day, reading,
incredible history, scenery. Just being in places
with stories that you haven't heard and like
perspective changing histories, that sort of
stuff informs a lot. And then I come home and
I'm here and I've built this studio that I love
and I'm really excited to just get to unpacking
all of this new sort of information and finding
ways to make it, yeah, I guess to tell a story
or to put my spin on it. Coming right back to
your current sound that you've achieved on late
night poetry and listening to the prior releases,
the prior singles. I just feel like you're very
comfortable in your sound now. Not that you weren't
on like, you know, chaos eyes, the water went
away EP, but I feel like you're really doing
exactly what you want to put out there. Like
you've settled into this straight ahead. I love
sometimes just hearing straight ahead, rock and
roll. And Man Don't Cry, like I said, it just
sounds like a live song. It's built for a festival
atmosphere. And Late Night Poetry, that's kind
of a repeat song for me as well. I like the percussion.
You seem to pay attention to the percussion element
of your songs. I don't want to bounce around
too much here, but there's what I would consider
an epic song, probably... Yeah, if I had to pick
one out by your hand, the final song on Water
Went Away EP, that's like the real experimental,
it gets a little chaotic at times and it really
builds beautifully. Yeah. Yeah, I loved that
song and I recorded that myself and I had a friend
in the States, actually in Austin, he recorded
the drums and sent them over and when all the
pieces fell in to play, I'd sort of mapped out
a part for him to play and gave him that. And
it was meant to be sort of just a closing track
and live. That was a huge song, but the recording
really just didn't connect at all in any way
at all. It's my lowest played song on all platforms
and it gets next to no plays, but it's kind of
like this little secret. well -kept secret I
suppose and I hear that particularly the ending
and it's it's exactly what I wanted to do and
the mood I wanted to create and the feeling I
wanted to create so yeah I'm really proud of
it and it's not impossible that I'll rerecord
that with some better production values at some
stage we'll yeah we'll see I think it may be
the longest song clocking in a little over four
minutes for coming up on five minutes and maybe
that's yeah I do like how most of your songs
are kind of You're in and out in and out but
it gets it gets the punch in Yeah, I I do feel
on my podcast sometimes it it gets a little long
in the tooth and I'm trying to work on that.
It's a personal flaw of mine Sometimes people,
you know, if you like a baseball here in the
states and you don't if you like a 15 inning
ball game maybe I have some listeners that enjoy
the carrying on on here, but Yeah, I do like
that your songs are really to the point and it's,
you either want to hear it back to back or they
just kind of, it gets you fired up. Dan, I guess
one other question or a couple other questions.
Do you have influences that are maybe that you've
carried with you for a long time? Is there an
artist that's just a top of the list favorite
for you or top three? Yeah, I've had a variety
of influences, man. Like I've gone through such
different phases musically from like really like
hard rock and metal to acoustic singer songwriter
folk stuff from the 60s and 70s. And it's always,
I think it's always been about the song and why
the song exists. It's not, I don't just create
music just so I can have music out in the world.
It's like, I feel like this thing needs to exist
and, or this... needs to be said or whatever
it is. And for that reason, Springsteen has always
been there or thereabouts. He's such an easy
person to point to because the songs, a lot of
his, the source material and the things he talks
about is there's an overlap with, I guess, the
tone in the music and the sound of the music.
So, but yeah, there's also a lot of like more
modern soul and hip hop artists as well that
I take a lot away from of just listening to this
album Malibu by Anderson Park on I've got the
vinyl and I just listen to it and man the ability
to communicate in that art form I'm really jealous
of that art form because he doesn't necessarily
have to abide by like a melodic structure in
the way that he raps and so you can just It's
just such a different way to communicate and
there's almost a lot less boundaries in it. So
yeah, I've been listening to that and it's just
really liberating. There's a couple of Kiwi similar
style acts. Avondale Bowling Club is one that
he's put out an album recently and it's just
a phenomenal art form. And these many, and I
love that there's such a variety of ways to communicate
stories and feelings. I want to kind of pluck
one song here from the slack tide EP going way
back to 2019 lifeline The song on here For me,
it reminds me of Johnny Lang did this this record
about 25 years ago wander this world and I Okay,
that's got some of that Johnny Lang flair for
me personally. I think everybody connects with
songs differently But I love it. It's real soulful.
Oh, cool. Yeah. I think that that was the first
proper single I put out. And to that point, I
was really connecting with Gary Clark Jr. And
I love Keb Mo. He'd be in that. Yeah, certainly
his first couple albums are more folky singer
-songwriter blues. And so, yeah, a wide variety
of stuff. I thought that that's where I was kind
of going, but as my songwriting has just evolved
and the textures and the sounds that I really
love, it's pulled me back towards more of a,
I guess, a rock songwriter sound as opposed to
that bluesy kind of swampy, gritty thing. Still
love it though. Well, Dan, where can folks, where
can they see you performing in the next few weeks?
Because I do have a few listeners in New Zealand.
Hopefully they listen to the show and hopefully
they're close to where you're performing. Yeah,
the only show that I've got locked in is this
band show. It's called Tōtara Street in Mt. Maunganui.
And that's on Friday, the 8th of March. And yeah,
the plans for the rest of the year, there's been
talk of maybe doing some shows in the States.
There's been talk of maybe some in the UK. And
so, yeah, I guess the best thing to do is probably
jump on my website and there'll be like a mailing
list sign up kind of thing that as soon as these
dates are sorted out and what it looks like,
then yeah, people can stay in the loop, which
is cool. Well, you know, on Facebook or even
on Instagram, when an artist announces dates,
there's always those people that say, come to
my town, come to my town. Yeah. So I'll put in
a plug for Pensacola, Florida, if you ever make
it. To the northern Gulf coast of Florida and
the states. Yeah, but obviously love to see you
Amazing man. Yeah, I've not actually been to
Florida. I have been to Louisiana and Didn't
quite get over to Florida, but I'd love to kind
of travel that whole East Coast. Actually, that'd
be awesome All right. Well Dan, this has been
spectacular. I hope you've enjoyed as much as
I have Yeah, man. Thank you so much everybody
listening. I think this is your same They can
find you at Dan Sharp music across most the channels.
Is that right? Yeah, that's right. I'll include
that in the show notes I guess one last question
anything that you'd like to plug that you're
listening to watching the the piece of film Content
that I've found the most beautiful and I've gone
back to is actually a Disney show and or which
is a Star Wars based thing now I'm not I like
fantasy. I like sci -fi stuff I like all sorts
of things, but there's something in there and
the Filming of that and the scripting of that
and the storyboarding everything that it's it's
just such a beautiful It's just it captures such
a beautiful struggle and yeah, I can't quite
define it because I don't have the terms and
I'm not like a huge film buff, but that has been
a really beautiful, when I see things like that
being created, I'm excited to go see the new
Dune movie because it's, I don't know, I just
love seeing people's creative output. It's such
a beautiful epic scale. It just makes you think
like, oh man, we... We can create and people
do create and we all should to some extent be
creating something off our offering Do you know
what I mean? Yeah, absolutely Tapping everyone
who's listening everybody's got a special skill
and For some of you that may be you're great
with your hands. You can work on vehicles you
can repair pipes or electrical components or
you like to write songs or you used to like to
write songs if you've got a guitar that's been
sitting in the corner in the closet and You don't
think your stuff's any good. Give it another
shot Give it another shot. Even if it doesn't
matter if anybody else likes it if you like if
you used to like to write Whether it's lyrics
or music or used to like to play drums. Give
it another shot If you've got the time, you'll
be you'll be happy that you did Yeah, then I
we talked about this beforehand and I don't want
to to put you on the spot, but do you have a
song that you'd like to perform or do you have
the guitar handy? I can definitely perform a
song. And I do have a guitar handy. This is a
new feature on the podcast and any of the musicians
who have appeared previously and I didn't invite
you to play, that's one of the reasons I asked
everybody to come back. Because I always figure
I'm gonna forget something. I'm not gonna ask
you something that I should have asked you So
I always like to have people back on a second
time so we could Spruce it up. But yeah, Dan,
what are you? What do you feel like playing tonight
I think tonight for me. I think it's still afternoon
the next day for you It's yeah mid afternoon
I'll play a little a little bit of man. Don't
cry. Maybe just a verse in a chorus And this
song was, yeah, as we talked about, it touches
on some heavier themes. It really did come about
from just observing a guy that I knew reasonably
well, just not have the ability to kind of communicate.
And I just watched him struggle and he, yeah,
just needed some guidance as a younger human,
I think, and it just left him a little incapable
later. This is a song called Man Don't Cry and
it goes like this. Walking down like his father
Walking out on his mother Broken arm when he's
still his eyes Inside his eyes Is a place he
tries to hide But there's no quarter By day he's
building an empire Betrayed Again by night He's
breaking, he's faded A double -standing laugh
and he wonders why The man don't Good stuff.
Good stuff, Dan. Folks, if you haven't already,
download the EP. Try it out. Man, don't cry.
Late night poetry. We're going to preview a song
at the top of this episode when I go back to
publish the audio version. So another surprise
there. This has been fantastic, Dan. Great to
connect with you from about, I think, 19 hours
time difference. Yeah. I'd love to come visit.
Your beautiful country in the next few years.
Oh, absolutely. You'd love it. You'd love it.
Anything else? Anything about New Zealand? And
I tried to pronounce the indigenous name. I don't
know if I really want to try it again. I'll mess
it up. But anything that you'd like to promote
about your side of the world? I think we're very,
very lucky here. We've got we're a little island
tucked away from a lot of the big you know, the
challenges of the world. We've got our own sets
of challenges, but Kiwis are generally pretty
resilient and pretty, pretty friendly people,
generally speaking. And yeah, traveling the world
definitely makes me appreciate New Zealand. And
yeah, I think things are a little bit simpler
here at times, but it's yeah, it's a great place.
And on the other hand, I've loved being in bigger
parts of the world where there's just Massive
vibrancy and music scenes and stuff like we are
quite small here But it's it's a nice place to
be in a nice place to create and yeah, I'm very
grateful Well the last thing I I wrote this quote
down I'm not sure where I pulled it from but
this is from you I always aspire to be authentic
in the pursuit of something beautiful No, yeah,
I must have said that I Love it, Dan. Well, thanks
for being here Best of luck to you in 2024 and
can't wait to hear new music. Folks, check him
out. Follow him on the socials and add his music
to your catalog. Create a Dan Sharp playlist.
Trust me, I would not steer you down the wrong
road. You're going to love it. Have a great rest
of day for you. It's winding down the evening
for me. Hope to talk to you again soon, my friend.
Awesome, man. Enjoy your night and thank you
so much for having me on. It's a real pleasure.
So yeah, appreciate it. Thanks. Okay, Dan. That's
it for this week for the Dan Time Podcast. You
guys have a wonderful week and be good to your
people and be good to the folks outside of your
bubble. Share a smile with somebody as you pass
them by. You never know how you can impact somebody
in a small way. Alright, we'll see you next Sunday
on the Dan Time Podcast.