And now here they are, Nick and Sue on Chatterbox.
When the stars talk, they talk to Nick and Sue.
Hi this is Nick and chatting to me today on this
edition of Chatterbox Redux podcast is Danny
Addison. And now in Chatterbox UK, we're just
lucky enough to welcome Danny Addison. Danny,
how are you, sir? Welcome. I'm very well. How
are you doing? I'm all good. I'm all good. Not
as sunny as it has been down here on the South
Coast, but it's all right. It's all right. It's
still a bit warm. Same here. I'm actually kind
of excited about some cooler days, to be honest,
because it gets very hot where I am. Can I ask
where you're based? We're in Hitchin. kind of
just north of London, but not much. Yeah, it's
more just our flat feels like it's got its own
climate in of itself. It's just cool it down.
Okay, so we'll talk about your new releases in
a little bit, but let's talk about how you started
Danny childhood. What influences did you have?
What did you like and what was being played at
home as you were growing up? What were your parents
into? I mean a lot of stuff. My parents lived
in Africa for a couple of years and so they brought
back with them a lot of... a lot of African music.
So I couldn't name a lot of the bands. Only Alifaka
Tore with Raikouda. I think that was the one
that was getting played a lot at home. But then
a lot of country music, like we'd listen to the
Dixie Chicks. I think they're called the Chicks
now. And I think that really influenced my kind
of violin playing because I'm a violinist. So
I grew up playing violin and classical music
as well. and so yeah that that and a bit of uh
then then was that influence with my older brother
so white stripes gorillas uh red hot chili peppers
a lot of that so it's a real a real mix of stuff
yeah when you just say now when you want to chill
uh what would you put on and listen to would
you say but what were you into now I'm really
into an artist called Foy Vance, if you've ever
heard of him. He's an Irish guy, brilliant, brilliant
songwriter. More recently, I've been listening
to some Jalen Nagonda, some Ethel Cain. I've
been listening to Justin Bieber's new album,
which I really like. Wolf Alice, huge fan of.
Yeah, a lot of Billy Strings, a lot of stuff.
Yeah, they're all great. Well, at what point
did you decide you wanted to be a singer -songwriter?
What point in your childhood or teens or whenever
it was, did you feel that was your calling, maybe?
I think I was probably about 22. I'd moved to
Manchester when I was 18 and I had written some
songs as a teenager in a band at school but I
didn't know if that was my calling as such. I
didn't really know what I wanted to do at 18
but then kind of by chance a friend of mine told
me about this course up in Manchester where you
can study pop music and so I sort of on a whim
applied and managed to get in somehow and then
it wasn't until maybe two or three years into
that, I realized that actually it was songwriting
that I really wanted to get into and understand.
And that was really my passion. And yeah, ever
since then, so around 2020, 2019, sorry, I started
putting out my own music. And yeah, this new
album is a combination of all that since 2019
to now. kind of trying to pick the best bits.
Yeah. Did being in Manchester actually help you
at all? Because it's quite a vibrant city in
many ways. Did it actually help you? Did you
do any live stuff there at all? It was hugely,
yeah, it was incredibly helpful. I mean, it was
so good for so many reasons, but I think one
of the reasons I talk about is the community,
the musical community in Manchester is actually
pretty small, you know, especially the songwriting
community is. OK. for such a big city. It did
feel like everyone knew everyone and you feel
like this really family, real family environment.
They're super supportive. And, you know, you
want to, you want to practice, you know, sharing
your ideas and, you know, experimenting with
with songs and stuff. Manchester is a great place
to do it. It's also not as crazily expensive
as somewhere like London. So, you know, if you
do want to prioritize doing something that's
not going to earn you a lot of money, say you
also have the space to do that. Me, especially
as a 22 year old, wasn't earning, still not earning
a lot, but I definitely wasn't earning a lot
back then. And yeah, it was really good to be
able to just, you know, take that time and yeah
practice, practice. I mean Manchester's a place
that has come up with some very big acts and
groups going back to the 60s and things there
but it's probably I mean it is a very vibrant
city but I suppose I'm like any other southerner
looking at it we see a map and there's this big
sprawl of Greater Manchester but it's not all
technically there's two cities there because
if you look at Manchester city centre that side
of the river is Salford. Mm -hmm, which has got
the BBC and all the stuff there and different
things and so we look at a map But it's only
a mattress only like really half of it is divided
by that river isn't because you've got Salford
on the other side And it is right really but
um, I mean in many ways I'm surprised that Manchester
isn't really the second city where it's Birmingham,
but then again, I don't know But yeah, you say
the music community small which does surprise
me, but no you've been there, you know, so Yeah,
I mean, maybe maybe I'm thinking specifically
like the singer songwriter community that the
music music in general is and also maybe I'm
just comparing it to London. It's probably, you
know, it depends on what you define as small,
I guess. But yeah, like the open mic night scene
and the songwriting scene and the venues where
songwriters tend to tend to turn up to perform.
They're sort of well known by everyone. I guess
London is just this vast sprawling place. And
there's so many different communities popping
up in there. And I mean, one place I always talk
about is a place called the Whiskey Jar in Manchester
in the Northern Quarter, where, you know, there
was an open mic night run by Joe McAdam. Shout
out to Joe McAdam. He put on these amazing nights
and would insist on everyone being quiet, you
know, when people came to play their music. That
was huge for me because, you know, It meant there
was no pressure for it to be, you know, this,
this finished polished tune, but you did, you
did get that kind of bar, you know, you play
in front of 60, 70 people who never heard of
you. And you got the opportunity to share what
you were doing and, and, you know, work on your,
on your craft, if you like. And yeah, like I
really, really miss it. I think that that's something
that I It's one of the many things I think is
so special about Manchester. Yeah, yeah, I loved
it. I miss it. That's good. What about the move
down south? I mean, that was to follow your career
or, you know, what made you come down south nearer
to London? Yeah, it was to follow my career.
But I think really, it was just to be closer
to family because my immediate family all live
in London or around London. And I've been in
Manchester for eight years. And that's the other
reason is, is I'd been there such a long time.
And I think I just got to a point where I wanted
to be able to choose when I was in a city, you
know, and living in Hitching, very different.
I also had never lived in Hitching as an adult.
So I grew up here, but when I was 18, and so
I wanted to, you know, try and, you know, see
what it was like here, really, it was kind of,
you know, I guess. I didn't know whether I'd
like it, but I had a fairly good idea. And yeah,
I've loved being here for the last two and a
half years. Very easy to get into London as well.
that's where most of my um work is now and shows
are now so yeah no it's great okay so what sort
of size shows what sort of shows and are putting
on when you when you're doing something live
around london what what size venue we talk in
and what sort of crowd are you getting Well,
I mean, so we did a show at Paper Dress Vintage,
which we sold out. It's pretty small. I don't
actually know what the cap is. Maybe like 100
people. That's in Hackney. And then more recently,
we did the album launch show in St. Pancras Old
Church, which was such an amazing night of music.
I mean, it was such a fun gig to play. didn't
even know there was a church in St Pancras. It's
an amazing venue. I also didn't know it was sort
of an active church when I found out that we
were going to play there. I'd assumed it was
just a venue, but no, it's still very much an
active church and they put on events there. Yeah,
other venues, the Bedford. That's more sort of
South London. I love that venue. There is, what's
the place called? Spice of Life. So it's a great,
great venue. Yeah, there's, I mean, there's just
so many in London. So it's kind of like, you
know, in Manchester, I could probably pick a
handful word. I'd really want to play. You've
got Deaf Institute, you've got 33 Oldham Street,
you've got Manchester Academy, obviously. But
yeah, like London, I'm still learning about where
all these places are. Wonderful, that's great.
Okay, tell us about the album you brought out
and the tracks that you're pushing as singles,
we'll say. So tell us about that and its name
and tell us about some of the tracks and how
it come about. So it's called Porcelain. The
album is an 11 -track album. And I think I like
to think of it as an album about reinvention
and wearing the cracks that life can bring and
not being afraid of that. I think it was really
almost like self -therapy for me. I find that
with music anyway. But yeah, the songs are about
all sorts of different things, but I think that's
the overall... concept. In terms of making it,
we recorded it in Brighton and in Belfast. So
we did a Salvation Studios in Brighton, this
beautiful studio with an amazing engineer there,
Jake Stainer. Shout out to Jake, he was great.
So with me, my brother and two other producers,
Matt Weir and Simon Francis. and they also played
on the record as well. So we all played on the
record and we all produced the record. And so
it was, you know, this really, it was the highlight
of my life, really, like musical career, I guess.
Just getting to make that album with those guys.
And there was no... you know, sense of ego. I've
said this a bunch of times, but there was no,
there was no sense of ego getting in the way
of the music or the process. It was just everyone
went in there to, you know, serve the music.
And so I would, I would say Matt and Cy especially
was so good at coming in and not, you know, very,
very conscious and not treading on toes. You
know, me and my brother, Tom had, my brother,
Tom produces all the music or had done up until
that point. So they were very sensitive to that
that we we had been sitting on this music and
they didn't want to you know uh tread on our
toes or anything um um but i mean we having those
fresh ears coming in and and giving their you
know advice and and opinions on things was was
was massive it's huge thing and yeah having them
play on the record as well which is great okay
Beckham Call, that's something of yours we've
been playing. Tell us about the inspiration behind
that and how that came about. Well, I mean, that's
probably one of the darker tunes on the album.
I think it's that kind of feeling when you wake
up in the middle of the night and everything
feels a bit hopeless. I think we've all experienced
that. Somehow things feel much worse at night
than they do in the morning, or at least they
do for me. And you can sort of feel like... Yeah,
things sort of feel a bit impossible. So yeah,
definitely not an uplifting track. But overall,
I think the album is an uplifting album. Just
that one song is, yeah. But then the kind of
the music video, we went out to the Netherlands
to make the music video to work with some friends
of mine who are circus performers and aerial
actors. area artists sorry and they also do a
lot of fire tricks and stuff and that was um
I would really you know recommend people go check
out the music video because I think that that
really um sort of sets the scene for the music
in the best way um I'm hugely proud of that video
actually it just my first time directing and
and writing a script and then getting to go out
there and make it um with these insanely talented
guys I mean Kroningen in the Netherlands where
we did it is I found out quite well known for
its circus performance. There's a circus there
and I didn't know when I went there, I just had
friends that did it. But then they invited a
bunch of their friends down to join in with the
video and they can all juggle, they can all do
fire tricks. It's a crazy place and pretty ideal
for someone like me who's wanting to, you know.
match music with visuals. Another one we give
him some spins to is Tribe actually, tell us
how that one come about. Tribe was sort of more
of a COVID era tune. I was feeling quite frustrated
with the social media, what would you call, echo
chambers that we can sort of find ourselves in
where the same opinions are just going round
and round and round and you feel like you can't
break out of that. So just how, when there is
an argument going on, and so there are two sides
to that argument, if you feel on the fence about
this issue, you can be seen as the enemy, you
know? I feel like being on the fence about things
is a valid place to be. It kind of annoys me
that, you know, we almost... don't look at so
many things like that as society, you know, you
need sometimes a bit of time to make your mind
up about things. And really hard, there's so
much information, and so much information that
might not even be, you know, reliable. You know,
I think I think we need to all be a bit more
respectful of that and appreciative of that.
and tribe is almost written from the perspective
of the uh self -righteous you know like people
get up on their high horse about things and that
can feel really good because you're part of this
tribe you're part of the you know the right side
quite unquote but i think it can also be you
know a dangerous place to be because you can
end up quite a dark a dark place um by being
by being so confident that you are correct. Okay,
that's the point. What's next? I mean, what are
you going to push as a single next from the album?
What's coming next with the album? Yeah, what
have you got next for us? Well, we've released
all the singles, but Stains was the last one,
but there's a track on there which is... which
is called And If and it's not one I've released
on any other EPs. And I'd say with that track,
that's probably the most proud I am of a song
lyrically. I think it kind of stands alone as
its own poem, which is nice. And then it just
kind of came very naturally. Yeah, I mean, I'd
really encourage people to listen to the whole
thing, but I'm excited for people to hear that
one because it's one that no one's heard before.
It's a shame that we sort of discovered you towards
the end of the releases, but anyway, we're here
to chat. If we were to have a chat this time
next year, six months or even a year, what would
you like to be telling me that you've achieved
in that time? What would I like to have achieved?
I think maybe not one thing specifically, but
I would just generally like to work more with
others, collaborate more with other artists.
A lot of this album was sort of recorded in one
room, at least the demos were, and I spent time
on my own. And then when it came to getting into
the studio to record it, I was like, wow, getting
to work with three other producers and an engineer
is... There's nothing like it when you're in
that group and you're all in that room together
working on that thing. So it's really made me
think about the inception of songs and going
through that with another artist, rather than
just on my own and then bringing it to a group,
coming into more rooms. I mean, I've done a bit
of that already, but... None of this album's
just got my name on it, you know? I'd love to
release more music alongside another artist.
I think that'd be something I'd really want to
do. Something to look out for and something to
chat about in the future then, so that'd be an
interesting one. Okay, so social media time.
Tell all our listeners about your social media,
how they can discover more about you, and yeah,
floor's all yours. Well, I've got a website,
dannyadison .co .uk, and that's where you can
find all my social media and music. And then
there's a mailing list as well you can sign up
for, where you'll get the latest of what I'm
up to. Social media wise, I'm on Instagram, TikTok,
Facebook, and yeah, I've got an ex, but I don't
really use it. And then yeah, I would say I'm
probably most... mostly on Instagram and TikTok
these days. Yeah, I think that's good enough.
That's good enough. Okay, well, Danny Anderson,
thank you so much for coming on Chatterbox. It's
been great to meet you. We'll make sure you get
a copy of this and now we know you, we'll be
keeping an eye on your future stuff. So there
we go. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me
on. No, it's an absolute pleasure. Take care
and thank you for your time. Take care. Bye.
Bye. This edition of the Chatterbox Redux podcast
was presented by me, Nick. Thank our special
guest today, who was Danny Addison. All inquiries
please to nickelbum at myyahoo .com. Alternatively,
you could write to us and send press releases
or whatever you like to PO Box 26, the old Observer
Building, Telford Road, St. Leonard's -on -Sea,
East Sussex, I thank you very much for your company
for this edition of the Chatterbox Redux Podcast
and look forward to welcoming you again next
time when our special guest is Johnny Taylor
of The Horn. They've just got themselves a nice
little gig supporting the Boomtown Rats on tour.
Catch you then. Bye bye.