Coming to us from the shores of the East Coast (But thankfully a much classier act than The Jersey Shore) New Jersey singer/songwriter Dan Wythoff has been hard at work the past few years, putting out his debut album Now Departing in 2008, and more recently releasing The Sunscreen EP, the latter of which is up for a free download. Both albums have been met with much praise, including from us here at Reviewsic. Apart from making music on his own Dan is a full time student, and is in the midst of recording three new songs through Drexel Universities label, Mad Dragon. Dan was kind of enough to take some time out of his dual life of musicianship and faithful studying to answer a few questions about his favorite music, dream tours, and tribute albums, as well as to talk about his own tunes.
T.S: If you could book a tour with any 3 musicians, past or present, who would they be and why?
D.W: Death Cab For Cutie: not only are they my favorite band, but they truly understand what it’s like to be an independent artist. Wilco: talk about an incredible live performance and unforgettable crowd. When I saw Wilco in Delaware this past summer, I had a feeling of never wanting to leave. It’d be great to have that feeling for an entire tour. Jeff Buckley: my brother had this live in Chicago DVD I would watch over and over again when I had first started playing guitar. That performance became so inspiring to me, I’ve always imagined playing a show with the late Jeff Buckley ever since.
T.S: What are your top three musical influences?
D.W: My influences change depending on what I am listening to the most over a certain period of time in which I happen to be writing. Right now my top three would be Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, and Death Cab For Cutie.
T.S: Is there any instrument you don’t play, but wish you did?
D.W: I’ve always wanted to play the cello. There’s something about the cello that immediately draws you in emotionally. If yearning could be represented by a single sound, the cello would make it.
T.S: What are the last three albums or bands you listened to?
D.W: The last three albums and bands I listened to were It’s a King Thing - Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo. Dntel - Life Is Full Of Possibilities and The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely.
T.S: If you could collaborate with one person in the music industry (musician, label, producer etc), who would it be and why?
D.W: I would like to collaborate with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver. I am a great admirer of his raw, humanistic music. He bares all with his acoustic guitar and extremely honest voice.
T.S: Who was the first band/musician you saw live?
D.W: The first band I saw live was The Black Crows when I was probably 5 or 6 years old. I guess I wasn’t too into it because I couldn’t tell you the title of one of their songs for the life of me and probably haven’t listened to them in 15 years.
T.S: Who are three of your favorite bands from your neck of the woods?
D.W: Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start, It’s a King Thing, and Algernon Cadwallader.
T.S: What is the backstory behind The Sunscreen EP?
D.W: The Sunscreen EP is an extremely personal view of my experiences with love. I have no idea what love is, but I do know I’m constantly looking for it. One of my favorite authors, Charles Bukowski, has a poem in which he says something to the effect of “the ladies of summer will love, so long as the price is not forever.” As summer started to come out of hiding, I started to think about the concept of “summer love”. Everyone seems to be looking for some little fling; summer makes us crazy for human contact. But it never seems to last long, just like the season. My experiences with love have been that of impermanence, hopeless longing, and paralyzing excitement. This EP gave me closure on some of those experiences and left me with a sense of hope for future encounters with love. It’s a subject we can all relate to and something everyone is touched by.
T.S: What has changed about you as a musician with this release compared to your first release?
D.W: In comparison to my first release, I now feel much more natural as a musician. For Now, Departing I found myself with writer’s block more times than I’d care to mention. I feel like I wrote songs because I had to when I was working on that release. I now find myself being able to connect better with my own thoughts and feelings. However, now that I have a deeper personal connection to what I’m writing I get terribly nervous about how it will be received. Music is a window into someone’s very self; that’s what I love about it and what scares me about it.
T.S: What goes into your writing process? Is there a specific concept or muse behind the music you make?
D.W: My writing process is one of inspiration in the moment. I can’t sit down and tell myself, “Ok, you’re going to write a song right now.” The music usually comes first for all my songs. I’ll be going through some sort of feeling that comes out in my guitar playing. I always play guitar when I’m stressed or upset; it’s the best medicine and a great way to translate thoughts into sound. Once I have music, I’ll sit on the song for a while until the proper inspiration for lyrics sets in. I tend to write my lyrics so that they can be read as poems; I really like to use internal rhymes and metaphors. I don’t really have a specific muse, but the concept for my music (especially of late) has been to be honest.
T.S: What are your top three favorite venues? Does that change at all in terms of playing a show versus seeing one?
D.W: I don’t have specific favorites when it comes to venues. No matter where I play, I always love it because music is what I’m most passionate about; I’m truly happy when I perform. In regards to seeing a show, it’s never the venue that sticks out in my mind. It’s how I felt watching the band, the atmosphere of the crowd, some story that happened on the way there or back.
T.S: What are the best and worst music moments so far in your career?
D.W: The best music moment so far in my career was probably completing The Sunscreen EP. I’ve never been so invested in something I’ve made. It’s left me extremely excited for what I might do in the future. The worst music moment in my career happened this month at a battle of the bands. It was in some dive bar in nowhere, NJ on a Sunday night with a bunch of semi-hardcore bands and a rap group. My live band and I were there for close to 7 hours only to discover we did not advance. It was pretty rough and I had no idea why we were booked to play with artists completely opposite of my sound. And on top of that I came home only to have to write a paper for one of my classes the next morning!
T.S: How did you get your start in music? Where do you see music taking you in the future?
D.W: I got my start in music because my older brother began playing guitar when I was in 5th grade. I’ve always looked up to him and I thought it was the coolest thing to play guitar. From there I played in a band throughout high school, sang in the school choir, and even did some musicals. I see music taking me to exciting places. I always want to try and move forward, constantly improving what I do and discovering new things about myself. My only hope is that other people will listen and be able to connect with that.
T.S: If you were to put together a tribute album, who would it be to and why?
D.W: I would put together a tribute album for the author, Charles Bukowski. He is always regarded as such an asshole (even by Modest Mouse in their song “Bukowski”). I wouldn’t try and argue that his drinking habits or womanizing were not typical behaviors of an asshole, but I can’t help but to love his brutal honesty. He’s so coarse in his writing and he tells of the grim aspects of being human. I think everyone could use a little Bukowski in their lives.
