He's described as folk with a rock -and -roll
soul. This is Americana singer -songwriter, Austin
-based Dan Guevara. His debut LP, Lazy Days,
is available wherever you download music. And
before we get to the conversation, the Danversation
if you will, let's preview one of the standout
tracks from Lazy Days. This is Procrastinate.
Sorry if the song came too late, but I've got
a tendency to procrastinate See I've been meaning
to ask you But I can't seem to find the words
To tell you that I like you I'm sure you've already
heard Give me a chance now Baby, let's dance
now Oh, I could show you how How to do this twist
All right, welcome to the latest episode of the
Dan Time podcast. I'm Dan McCardell, your host.
And today it's my pleasure to bring to you Georgetown.
Austin area based singer -songwriter Dan Guevara
Dan. Thanks for being here. How's it going? Hey
Dan. Thanks for having me on the show. It's going
good. It's going really good. How are you doing?
Doing great today. We were just talking about
but just it it is if you think about it kind
of Comical the way that I I have to research
guests and do the outreach. I got to send the
email I've got a you know, however, it's worded
and we were talking about or I was saying, hey,
if I got that email to my inbox, would I think
that this is legit? Like, is this, really? So
what was your reaction, Dan, when you saw the
message from the Day and Time podcast? Honestly,
like, when I was reading through it, I couldn't
help but laugh. I was like, this is awesome.
another host named Dan that does a podcast called
Dan Time wanting me to be on the show, also being
named Dan. And I think you said something to
the extent of diving into the Daniverse. The
Daniverse, that's correct. I was like, yes, this
guy sounds cool. And then I looked you up on
Spotify and there you were. Yeah, it's kind of
an unintended consequence or result of The theme
of this show it actually facilitates some good
serious thoughtful conversation With people who
also have a sense of humor Nothing against anyone
who has declined to be on the show or who is
you know Just let that email fade into into the
dust Nothing against that, but I do like that
the people who do want to be on the show They
kind of get the joke and they and they like the
joke so uh It's uh, there's I gotta ask like
what is your first like um Like what what is
your your guests? First initial reaction like
have they said something similar to what what
I said or yeah, I've gotten a few emails back
one guy I think Dan Brody from Australia. He
said uh -huh. That's hilarious. I think that
was his first line was that's hilarious Usually
people it's generally a pretty cheerful like
oh that's cool or I have caught I've caught some
people where they say it's not the best time
but I like the concept let's you know check back
in in a few months or next year, but I see I
thought it was I wasn't really sure if I should
hit the gas pedal on this thing it took me a
few months to run with the concept but Hey, I
love it for my purposes alone. I mean the D section
of my Catalog, I mean, it's not a physical music
catalog anymore, but it's kind of inflated now,
but I've discovered a lot of cool artists and
I'm still jamming to them today and Dan your
most recent LP lazy days I was listening to it
this afternoon listening to it yesterday and
I really can't wait. I want to kind of talk about
your background first, but I like how layered
this record is. Thank you. You don't sit in just
one zone. There is friendship, there's romance,
there's grief, and a lot of emotions attached
to it. It kind of hits you in all the feels,
I guess, as they say. Yeah, definitely. I like
to... When I write songs, I like to tell a story
at times, but then I also like to just kind of
share like personal struggles that I've struggled
with in my life and just like what I'm kind of
doing to overcome the struggles and the people
in my life that have really just been there for
me during these really, really hard times. Like
I just... It's like this record was amazing like
it's it's really like I like to say that this
this record was a love letter to the singer songwriter
group that I'm a part of here in Georgetown and
It's a it's a love letter to those guys because
if it wasn't for them the record would have never
happened Because they got the juices flowing
like I had really bad writers block For about
three years and then I joined the group. This
was like ten years ago And I've been writing
ever since. So I'm just so grateful to all those
people that are in the group and recorded on
the record, like they all pitched in. And I really
feel like it was a team effort. Yeah, I loved,
I was reading about the songwriters group that
you're a part of and Alex Winters as a friend
and mentor, I guess. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, good
friend of mine, mentor. So she started the Georgetown
singer songwriter group. She actually produced
the record as well and sang on it and played
it on it, edited it, she did everything. I also
found this fascinating, Dan. You don't hear this
all the time and hopefully some of my listeners,
even if you're 22 years old and you've never
picked up an instrument, but you've always wanted
to play the bass guitar, you want to play drums
or start writing lyrics, it's never too late.
Dan, I was amazed that you learned how to play
guitar at the age of 17. Yeah. Yeah. So funny
thing about that is, um, I actually, my very,
very first instrument was the drums and I picked
up the drums at 14 and then I was, I was on a
couple of bands for a while. And then I was on
a pop pop rock band called city line horizon
for two or three years with my good friend, Brett
McMinn. and another local Georgetown songwriter.
But he was a mentor to me for a while as well
before I met Alex. But anyway, I was drumming
in his band, and then he did a solo project,
did a singer -songwriter type deal, and I drummed
for him. We played all over downtown Austin.
I met a lot of people in the music community
there and in Georgetown. And then I just decided
when I was 17, I'm like, you know what? I'm going
to start doing my own thing. I started writing
music and here I am. Wow. And growing up, like
a lot of people and maybe it's more prevalent
now, homeschooled some experiences that maybe
people had when they were 12 or 14. It wasn't
a few years later for you. Talk to me about how
that has shaped your your songwriting, maybe
your lyrics and Just your approach to being a
singer songwriter. Absolutely. So that that really
did have a big effect on my life because when
you're homeschooled, like, I don't know if you
know, but like if you talk to anybody else that's
homeschooled, but you're like very I felt like
I had a very secluded, very strict childhood
because I was raised Baptist for one. And so
we did like the old school thing, like we sang
from like the hymnals and everything. And it
was a real small church. There was only about
35, 40 people that went to that church. And so
there was that. And then I had a couple of friends
that went to the church, but I didn't have a
whole lot of friends outside of the church. And
of course, like, it's a little bit of, I don't
know if I want to say like slim pickings when
it comes to like, you know, meeting girls when
you're you're homeschooled. And so I feel like
whenever I kind of like I ventured out and started
going to a lot of shows and I met a lot of cool
people at their shows and I feel like music was
like my outlet to like the real world, the outside
world. And yeah, and it just kind of like went
on from there. Like I really, I really got into
the punk scene, believe it or not, early on.
And I just feel like all of those people were
just so warm and they were inviting and they
were just non -judgmental. I love that and that's
what started everything like that was my outlet
that was I always say music saved my life because
I struggled with depression just feeling you
know isolated and secluded for so long and music
just like Opened so many doors for me and now
I know so many cool people like I just love the
community That's a great perspective where if
you did grow up in public school and you always
had some connection whether you had two or three
friends or 20 friends, you know, some of the
guys are the most popular kids in school, but
but not having those connections and and And
then you reach the adolescent age and you'd kind
of like to go hang out with a girl Maybe go to
a movie theater or do whatever you know, it's
just not a part of the landscape So probably
a lot of good things about Or I'm not and I'm
sure you're not either as far as the approach
or some parents that want to choose that route
But I guess every case is different. You really
want to think about maybe building in, I guess,
some opportunities for your child to make up
for what they're not experiencing. Exactly. I
mean, I feel like my my parents, they they did
their best and they did what they thought was
right. Because like I said, that church was just
like super, super strict. It's it's kind of funny,
like I growing up like witchcraft was like not
Acceptable in this church and so I couldn't watch
Harry Potter Like there was like all these limits
and stuff and so like I kind of rebelled and
I really got into Lord of the Rings And I'm a
huge Lord of the Rings nerd like I love Lord
of the Rings. It's like my favorite trilogy of
all time Particularly return of the king and
so I'm like a huge music buff and I am a huge
nerd as well And I love sci -fi so So there's
that. Wow. Well, I did read about, and this is
something that I went through and I could relate
to, I wanted to put this out there as well, Dan.
The more I researched, I think your story is
very relatable for a lot of people. And one of
the things that happened to you, I was naive.
Sometimes I feel like I'm still naive. I like
to believe in people and trust people that their
intentions are good. But you unfortunately learned
the hard way. Writing your first or getting your
your first record deal Someone that or I'm sorry.
I'm probably saying this all wrong, but no No,
no, I know what you mean. You're talking about
the the making of Lost in Austin lost in Austin
that the first EP yeah, so like like I said before
like I was 17 when I first started writing songs
and I started just kind of like hitting it real
heavy. I did a lot of open mics around Georgetown.
I did some open mics in Austin. And I met some
really, really cool friends, like friends that
I still talk to this day, and they're very good
friends of mine. And like we play shows together
still, it's a lot of fun. But basically, like
in a nutshell, I had a teacher, a guitar teacher
that ended up being, he was a good friend of
mine, became a good friend of mine. Then we ended
up becoming roommates and he told me he knew
a bunch of people in the music business. I was
just like, okay, cool. He's like, yeah, I'll
get all your records made and stuff and I'll
do all the promoting, don't worry about that,
like the booking and stuff. Basically, he just
told me to give him a deposit and I didn't know
anything about music being in the music business.
So I gave him the deposit and about the only
thing that came out of that was he booked the
studio time to record lost in Austin. After that
was recorded, it hadn't even been mixed, mastered.
No copies were made like. like nothing was done
and I kept asking him like, hey, like, is the
record going to be done like in a month or when
are we going to get the CDs made? And he's like,
oh, yeah, I'll take care of it. I'll take care
of it. And it's never happened. So I ended up
moving out of the house that I was living with
him at the time. And yeah, I moved out. And then
I got really, really low and depressed and I
got discouraged. And I was just like, you know,
don't even know if I want to put this record
out now and then I thought about it more and
I was like I worked really really hard on this
record like I love these songs I believe in these
songs I'm gonna just I'm gonna put it out and
I'm gonna make it happen I don't know how I'm
gonna do it but I'm gonna reach out to another
producer I'm gonna get it mix mastered and I'm
gonna get work on getting the CDs made and so
that's what I did and I'm really glad that I
did because lazy days would have never happened
you know Wow, I haven't done that if I hadn't
like pushed into it and I'm just I'm so glad
that I did Yeah, that really could have let you
or could have sidelined your career. It sounds
like You know at at best This was like a front
burner thing for you but a back burner thing
for this guy and then it just becomes nothing
for him and So people listening be careful who
you put your faith in your trust in especially
when there's a transaction involved exactly and
if there's um i actually did end up signing there
was like a little it was like a contract like
basically saying like hey like he's agreeing
to do this i'm agreeing to do this and i always
read the fine print now and i i don't sign anything
that i'm not sure of like uh moving forward like
if i were to get signed by record company like
I would probably hire like a record a turn a
music attorney to kind of look at over look over
the contract and like make sure that I'm not
signing my soul away and I'm not gonna be left
high and dry with no record deal right and out
of all this money so that's that's the scariest
thing for me in the music biz is like don't just
like sign anything randomly make sure that you
you you really really trust Whoever you work
with 100%. That's trying to get you signed and
trying to help you out. Yeah, because you, uh,
you can easily see where there's people, there's
songwriters that they've written these songs,
they're hungry to get it out there to record
it. And then there's people that are ready to
prey on those types of people because they know
how important it is to them. Exactly. And I hate
that. It's like, dude, it's like, Starving artist
here yeah and i'm getting i can't tell you how
many messages i get on social media people like
a like i could promote your music for x amount
of money hey. I could get you a hundred thousand
listeners on spotify for x amount of them like
no no yeah no i can't tell you how many people
i block on social media right. I get a lot of
those two once i get enough. In the queue, I
did one episode or maybe it was a bonus episode
where all I did was I read my spam folder. Um,
you know, and I read these emails as, as if they
were crafted individually just for me when, you
know, there's like a blast email. It had some
fun with it, but lazy days, Dan, it's like, where
do I start here? I got some, uh, different questions,
but I'm really like really blown away by the
song, dear Anthony. And this was one of the singles
that preceded the record, is that right? Yeah,
that actually, Dear Anthony, was the very first
single off of the record. And at that time, I
didn't know if I wanted to make a record or not.
I was just putting out songs. And at that time,
when I put out the single, I had just written
that song. But I was like I really like this
song I really believe in the song this song means
something to me And I think it could mean something
to someone else you know like other people and
I was like I want to put this out and so I immediately
reached out to my good friend Alex Winters and
producer and Like I I knew that like she had
just started recording at this point and like
kind of producing her own stuff and she showed
me a little snippet of what she had been working
on, and I was just blown away by the quality
of the vocals that she had tracked for herself.
The instrumentation, the mix, the master, I was
like, I got to work with her. So we set it up
and she recorded it for me. She actually sings.
She does the harmonies in it. So you'll hear
her singing in the back. And yeah, that song
just it means so much to me. I wrote it about
a friend that was like really, really struggling.
He was at a very low point in his life and he
kind of just like wanted to give up altogether.
And I just tried to reach out to him as much
as I could and just, you know, encourage him.
And he's doing so much better now, so much better.
So it just that song is just. It's so powerful
and it just means so much to me. It's like I
think as far as like sentimental Cinematality
is that a word or? Yes, like it's it's very sentimental
to me. Let's just say that Well, it's a really
touching song I like these topics that you don't
I like Of course the premise of my show. I think
it's written somewhere. It's a rooting for other
people cheering on other people, promoting others,
and being genuinely invested in other people's
happiness in life. And I was listening to the
lyrics, took some notes here, where he basically
at the start of the letter, Dear Anthony, we
haven't spoken since God knows when, but I heard
you started drinking again. And I know happiness
is like a fading memory of an old friend. That
one is, what? What a powerful line there. It's
kind of like putting your arm around the shoulder
of a dear friend. You know that they're in a
dark place and everyone has been there at some
point, happiness. It's like a fading memory of
an old friend. It's so distant. I've gone through
that before. Everybody has hit that and how you
just captured that feeling really struck me,
Dan. Hope this letter brings us back together.
Oh Wow, this is almost over. Hope you're ready
to take flight just reignite your dying light
Was it emotion was it emotional writing this
these words it was it really was and What's what's
funny is like? That was actually going to be
the name of the the song originally was I think
it was your dying light Or yeah, you're dying
light or dying light It was one of those two
and then I thought about it more and I was just
like, you know what? That's that's a very bleak
title and there's not a lot of hope in that title
and I'm like, you know I want I want it to be
like this is like the song is a letter that I'm
writing to my friend who's really really struggling
Anthony and I thought dear Anthony was just like
the the right title for that song Yeah, and I
got to tell you like I've had really, really
cool responses from that song and I've met some
really cool people. I met a young man in Taylor.
I play at this place called The Loose Screw.
It's like a beer garden down there in Taylor,
Texas. After I got done singing the song, he
came up to me and he's like, hey, I just wanted
to tell you I really enjoyed your set. I really
particularly enjoyed your song Dear Anthony because
I just lost my dad and his name was Anthony,
so it really touched me. I started getting choked
up, man. That kind of stuff, it really hits me
right there. But I just thought that that was
cool that that song could do that for him. I
had never thought about the possibility of that
for anybody, and I thought that was really, really
cool. Don't know just realize that There's a
lot of people out there that are going through
the same thing that I'm going through that you're
going through You know, like we a lot of people
could relate I think, you know Yeah, I also like
musically how you craft these songs for maybe
an audience where if they've never heard the
song before and They're depending on the venue.
They're not paying attention to the first part
of the song and then all of a sudden There's
like these always these different elements that
I think capture the audience's attention you
know in this one the uh oh I'm not saying exactly
right but there's that element in that song also
in I think it's if we die I love you um there's
another kind of audience participation moment
and possibly I'm looking at the other tracks
here Lazy days for sure. I really want to talk
about lazy days because as I get older and I'm
not having any more children, but those lazy
days, man, if I could grab one of those Saturdays
from 2011 back, you know, with whether it's a
friend or a love interest or something, just
those days where you wake up and you don't have
to go anywhere. Yeah, and maybe it's raining
where to be I love days like that Yeah, I just
I wish we had more days like that in our lives
and I think that's that's really what I was Thinking
when I wrote that song. I'm just like man. I
just wish I had more days like this Like this
today was like a perfect day, you know, yeah
Procrastinate for me Dan. That's the one that
I I feel like I could hear that on my Pandora
90s 2000s and today station like procrastinate
is like missing from the, what do you call that?
The vault? Yes. It needs to be a monster head.
It's just screaming to be heard by millions.
Thank you. Thank you so much. I love that song.
It's funny because when I wrote that song, really
interested in this this girl that was a childhood
friend of mine right and I was super super shy
one of the reasons I started writing songs was
to you know meet girls and talk to girls and
stuff because I was so awkward as a child and
stuff and a teenager and so I basically like
never told her how I really felt about her when
we're childhood friends and you know and you
see it in the movies all the time you know and
and I like finally got up the courage to tell
her how I felt And it was about a week before
she was gonna move to Japan, the other side of
the world, basically. And I told her and I got
friend zoned, but she still wanted to remain
friends. And I was like, I procrastinated and
who knows what would have happened if I would
have said something sooner, I don't know. So
that was the whole concept of the song. I always
tell people I'm like just you know, like if you
really really like somebody like tell them how
you feel because life is too short Like you don't
know what's gonna happen, you know You don't
know if that person is gonna move to the other
side of the world or you know, like I don't know
man Life is crazy. So just like tell people how
you feel, you know, I agree Yeah procrastinate,
you know I've done that before like you said
you wait a little bit too long I think I did
that one time and the girl this was I was in
my early 20s And I just knew that she was about
to move to New York. Yeah. And I was like, what
do you think is going to happen now? It's like,
you got two weeks before this happens and now
you tell her how you feel. But I think we've
all done that. But it's a really catchy chorus.
I've been meaning to ask you on a date, but I
have a tendency to procrastinate. And so I encourage
all you got. Listen to the whole record, but
you'll have some fun with that song. Believe
me. Um, thank you a lot the uh, you know you
play piano on the record I think one of these
songs opens with uh, I don't know. Is it tambourine
or Yeah, so, um the tambourine so so that's at
the beginning of uh, if we die, I love you i'm
not mistaken. Okay. Yep There's this really cool
tambourine hit that just kind of like You hear
it once and then it kind of just like rings and
it just keeps going. Yeah, like it has like this
long I don't know, like reverb. It has like this
reverb that just keeps going and echoing. And
my producer, Alex Winters, it was her idea to
put that in there. So she like added that and
didn't even tell me she was going to do it. And
then she shows me and she's like, so what do
you think? And I was like, oh my God, I love
it. Like it's awesome, you know? So that was
her idea actually. And oh, as far as the piano
goes, that was my good friend. Noah Griffin who
actually plays the banjo on the record as well
he does the keys the banjo that you hear untrue
and if we die I love you so I used to work with
him at a like a nonprofit organization called
big. And they basically like help adults so they
provide jobs for adults with special needs. And
it's a really really cool cause and I used to
work in the cafe there so he was he worked in
the program with what we call the citizens. and
they made all kinds of things they made like
candles like art sculptures like all kinds of
stuff and they would sell it in the shop and
basically all the money that they raised went
to scholarships for these guys and it's just
so rewarding to work there i met so many cool
people that i still talk to today and i just
i i was scrolling through my instagram i think
and i noticed that he had posted a video of him
just like shredding on the banjo And I'm like,
dude, where have you been? I've been looking
for a banjo player. We need to talk. And so that's,
that's how that happened. I kind of wanted to
wait till last on this one, but man, why not
bring it up now? Angel's Landing, the way the
album closes out such a beautiful tribute to,
I guess your maternal grandmother. Yes. Yeah.
So this was my, my, my mom's mom. And, um, yeah.
So she, basically like like she had passed away
from a stroke and Whenever like she was getting
ready like she was just she was getting ready
to slip away You know just in crossover and she
just looked so peaceful At that moment like she
went in her sleep. So it was real peaceful the
way that she she went and I was You know, like
I said, I'm part of this Georgetown singer -songwriter
group. And so basically like every month we come
we come up with what we call a prom And so it's
like the theme of like what we're all going to
write, you know, and so that month it was angels
landing and I had just envisioned this angel
coming through the window right before my grandma
crossed and like basically just picking her up
and flying away. Wow. And so basically and there's
a line on the song and it's like it's she didn't
die. She just learned how to fly. Yeah. And that's
my favorite line of the song. And that's that's
just what I picture. Happen whenever she she
crossed over so So it's really kind of like it's
like a goodbye To my grandma because I felt like
I never I never got to say goodbye to her. So
that's that's my way of saying goodbye to her
Yeah, because um Again talking about relatable.
We've all probably lost loved ones Where you
just you were several hours away. You were committed
to doing something else. You just couldn't be
there or whatever happened Yeah, definitely also
something really cool on this track I'm gonna
give my age away, but I remember in the 90s.
I don't think this is really intended to be like
a secret track Maybe it is but There's the sound
of rainfall Yeah at the end of the song what
you think is the end of the song and so if you
get there folks Don't skip it. Don't turn it
off. Let it play out and then It's like maybe
30 seconds later than the piano starts back up
Yeah, whose idea was that? So that actually was
my idea like I had had this really cool vision
of The song just continuing and if you keep listening,
there's a little surprise at the end and my mom
had hope I didn't spoil it Yeah, I know right.
It's all good. It's all good. But my mom had
said she's like, you know, like whenever your
grandma was getting ready to pass I was actually
playing piano in the room for her just to kind
of like you know comfort her you know since you
know she was getting ready to pass and everything
and I was playing piano and she said I just wrote
this song this song just came to me and she played
it for me and I like started tearing up and I
was like oh my god I was like we need to record
this and it needs to go at the end of Angel's
Landing so that's my mom playing the piano at
the end there oh wow yeah So that was very emotional
too I'm getting choked up right now actually
thinking about it But like she was so nervous
to record like she had never Recorded before
been in the studio before but she like nailed
it and she got it in about three or four takes
It is just beautiful Dan. Thank you. And I Really
I find this album very comforting. I think you
can take this album or download it Either on
spotify apple music take it on the road with
you if you're having a difficult day or week
Or if it's just the end of the work day and you
just need to relax This album is going to set
you straight. We're in You know early spring
or not quite by the calendar Is it spring as
of today or tomorrow? Yeah. Yeah, I think I think
we're in spring now i'm not mistaken i'm pretty
sure now roll the windows down Starting out with
dreaming tree into the lazy days. It's a good
driving around music, which is how I usually
listen to my music but Thank you, but the closing
track Try it out. If this came to mind Dan to
people that are tossing and turning Everyone's
kind of got a lot on their mind. It's a really
tense era that we're living in so Having trouble
just falling asleep put this music and you just
need something comforting that's not just something
generic on YouTube. That came to mind today just
because of the rain element. Yeah, right. The
way the album closes. Yeah. That's actually the
name of the hidden track and it's not listed
on the back of the record, but it's called Rain.
That's the name of the track when you hear the
rain. That was my producer's idea to have the.
the sound of rain right before like going into
it. Follow Dan across social media at Dan Guevara
Music. That's G -U -E V -A -R -A. And if you
follow and subscribe to the Dan Time podcast,
you'll catch part two of our conversation as
soon as it's released.