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Danny K
Joined: 08/15/01
Posts: 226
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A note on being a legend
Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 5:32 PM
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Since my artist name change in 2003 I can't help feeling that one or two people round here think that I am bigging myself up a little too much so I thought a thread to explain its slightly random etymology might be in order. I'll take the slightly longer way round.
I come from a musical family - my grandad, before WW2, was a jazz musician of some repute until his career was cut short by the war which was also to end his life. My father also has always been a musician/song-writer and was the founding member of a band called Sailor who are well worth a listen if you have time with hits such as Girls, Girls Girls and one called A Glass of Champagne (recently covered in a Scooter track - the original is better!!), and then went on to play keyboards and write songs for a band called Culture Club, which some of you 80's kids should remember; the highlight of his career probably being that he wrote Karma Chameleon, which managed to get to number 1 in the UK and in the US simultaneously (something only a very select amount of bands have done).
Music is obviously in my blood, and i have wanted to follow in his footsteps ever since really. I attempted to do a music degree after I left school but was kicked out after a year mainly because I struggled to play scales on a piano. After uni I had a tricky couple of years writing demos and sending them off without any luck. My fathers name proceeded me a lot and was both a help and a hinderance. Its amazing how quickly the record industry can label you - and I yearned to be judged on my own merit rather than as an extension of my fathers career.
"well its good kid but its no karma chameleon" was something I heard a lot. It was frustrating as I am a very different musician to my dad but dems da breaks I suppose. Anyway when I was about 21 I decided to try a completely new approach to how i wrote music. I moved to the countryside (i'd grown up in London) and started to use sounds and textures over and above all the music theory I had learnt at university and college. This seemed to be the switch I had needed to flick as the music then flowed and the early material for my first album, Melatonin, came together.
The night before I moved to the countryside I always remember this dream I had which was in big bright pink neon lights "THE LEGENDARY DANNY K". It was one of those dreams where not much happened but it stuck in my memory.
After I had moved I made friends with some great musicians who all helped me work on the Melatonin album: Andy Hoskings, Danny Ash, Sarah Millyard, Carl Hovland and Geoff Hill all regularly hung out at the makeshift studio over the summer and slowly the album came together. We came up with the idea Melatonin as a band name (the drug that your brain secretes to send you to sleep) which seemed like a pretty cool name for a trip-hop band. We also decided to use a new site called mp3.com to promote the material. I remember uploading all the stuff and feeling like Mathew Broderick in War Games because I worked out how to encode an mp3!  Sadly though the band name Melatonin was already taken by a Christian rock band in Utah so, thinking of a John Lennon interview where he mentioned the name The Beatles had come to him in a dream - I remembered the name that I had had in the dream, but decided to shorten it to Danny K for fear of coming across as an egotistical maniac. (!!)
The rest some of you probably know as thats how I met most of you - but its important to stress Danny K was a band name at the time being the combined talents of about 5 or 6 people in addition to me. Me, Andy and Sarah then worked on the 2nd album Freetrader the next year (2000) and that seemed to be very popular and Danny K became a sort of entity beyond my control.
Then came along some pop singer from South Africa called Danny K ( http://dannyk.com ) and they got in touch to say my name was breaching his copyright. I felt a bit miffed seeing as we were using it first but had a feeling they probably had better lawyers than me so for the release of The Drop LP reverted to the initial name I had had in the dream, ie The Legendary Danny K - the in-joke being he's a legend because he doesn't exist. My names not Danny and my second name doesn't even begin with K.
So there you go. As the years have rolled on the original crew has gone there seperate ways although we are all still very much in touch and always have plans to do more stuff. I guess it would be fair to say - I have always been the driving force, especially regarding promotion etc
Anyway my names Jack, and although in the earlier days you could have been talking to a mixture of me, Andy Hoskings, Carl Hovland, Sarah Millyard and one or 2 others, since the whole EScene vaporising debacle - its just been me. I'm probably the least diplomatic of the above names so apologies if my opinions have come over too forcefully at any point or you have thought something along the lines of "who the hell does this guy think he is calling himself a legend?!?!" - I hope you can understand it is meant to be infused with a heavy dose of irony that doesn't seem to translate quite as well in the US particularly.
Anyway - theres my little tale. I'm pleased to say I am now a full time musician and have just secured my first film-score which, to be honest, has been my own personal aim all the time, and although TLDK never quite took off in the commercial sense - through a mixture of licensing and library music contracts in now played on the tv and radio all over the world. I feel a huge debt of gratitude to this community as it was really through comments, suggestions and support that helped make this possible - a friendly face that doesn't look at someone who says "I want to be a musician" and think they are mad (eg - girlfriend's dad etc) as opposed to you horrible lot that said - yes I understand your passion, its a good tune - but theres not enough bass level....et al
Its been a pillar of support in a difficult but interesting path. The story above also includes about 25 jobs I have done to support my music (8 of which I was fired from) and more recently quite a lot of freelance web-design!!
In short - I know I'm not a legend - though in my opinion anyone that can want to make music in their spare time for no other reason than they just seem to have to - is in my book....
L E G E N D A R Y
D
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Sonic Wallpaper
Joined: 05/22/01
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 1266
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RE: A note on being a legend
Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 7:31 PM
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honestly Jack - "Danny K" is a legend to those of us who have rode the mp3 wave since 1998 or 99.
I knew you worked with other artists, but I always felt "Danny K" was you all along.
And now we finally know who your father is! Well tell your dad, I enjoyed his music in the 80's I do understand why you didn't wish to share the info, but I'm sure you'll see that the people around here won't be judging your music on your father's past efforts.
I'm sorry my jest at your name has upset you, and possibly pushed you to the point that you felt the it was time to tell the whole story, but, then again, I'm very happy to know more about an artist with whom I've grown with over the years. While we've had times of disagreement, but I've always respected your work as an artist and the music you've released. I'm happy to say I have quite a collection of Danny K music, and even have the Melatonin mp3.com cd you released.
Glad to meet you Jack, I'm Gideon.
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Sonic Wallpaper
Joined: 05/22/01
Location: San Diego, CA
Posts: 1266
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RE: A note on being a legend
Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 7:33 PM
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BTW - I think it's quite unfortunate that your music is STILL missing from this site. Come on man - upload some classics!
 
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Subtronik
Joined: 01/14/03
Posts: 1193
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RE: A note on being a legend
Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 10:27 PM
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I always thought you were a snob for some reason. Maybe it was the in-joke of 'legendary'? 
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S.A. Fred
Joined: 10/03/01
Posts: 90
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RE: A note on being a legend
Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 1:52 AM
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Respect 
You do indeed have some legendary family lineage! It sounds like a bit of a ball and chain, but your dad writing Karma Chameleon is pretty cool
There is something to communicating using text on bboards and/or email which disconnects the intended emotion or meaning from what was intended; and it is compounded by slight cultural differences. Its easy to say something thats intended as a compliment and potentially upset someone I think...or say something in an ironic or sarcastic sense...and come across like an arrogant self aggrandizing arse. But hey, thats life At the end of the day (apart from it getting dark) the music transcends these things and thats where we truly communicate, connect and to a certain extent reveal who we are.
I'm on the same page as you as well on the sonic textures thing...I'm a bit cack when it comes to playing instruments, but my route into the music is through the textures and feel.
Cheers,
Pete
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~ Absurdist Lover ~
Joined: 09/04/01
Posts: 223
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RE: A note on being a legend
Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 5:41 AM
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We're just jealous of your success. Please replace the "legendary" in your name so we can resume shaking our fists at you. 
I will teach you the significance of insignificance
http://www.artistserver.com/Sendy
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A Bit Crusher
Joined: 01/26/02
Location: Tilburg
Posts: 1794
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RE: A note on being a legend
Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 7:29 AM
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Sailor? I still have some 7 inches of them....
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Tecknixia
Joined: 08/15/01
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 108
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RE: A note on being a legend
Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 10:39 AM
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hahaha, I still remember when you used to hand out reviews like candy and you gave me a "forceful" bad review
I was new with music at the time and I was pissed, but I'm over it, hehe 
So whatever happened to the other danny k... I thought you said he had better lawyers, yet you're still using the name? 
Most recent track: Tecknixia - Technology 2009 Version  Strm  Dnldnonzerosumgain.freeforums.org |
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Brillman
Joined: 10/08/02
Location: Norway
Posts: 136
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RE: A note on being a legend
Monday, July 14, 2008 at 10:36 AM
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Yeah, very interesting story DK, i had no idea! 
Good to hear you found your own path, so to speak.
Btw, as far as i know you cannot copyright an artistname? So what's going on there?
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A Bit Crusher
Joined: 01/26/02
Location: Tilburg
Posts: 1794
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RE: A note on being a legend
Monday, July 14, 2008 at 11:22 AM
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Oh yes, you can....
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Brillman
Joined: 10/08/02
Location: Norway
Posts: 136
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RE: A note on being a legend
Monday, July 14, 2008 at 1:54 PM
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Myth Nr.5
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-protect.html#title
A name can be tradmarked and be protected as a logo but apparently not copyrighted.
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Kylo
Joined: 02/16/05
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 787
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RE: A note on being a legend
Monday, July 14, 2008 at 3:31 PM
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Maddening how they felt obligated to tell you to change your alias. Makes me want to contribute to wikipedia by writing a description for Danny K; the stolen alias.
Good bio Jack.
"Energizer bunny arrested- charged with battery."
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Danny K
Joined: 08/15/01
Posts: 226
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RE: A note on being a legend
Monday, July 14, 2008 at 4:59 PM
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Quote:I think it's quite unfortunate that your music is STILL missing from this site. Come on man - upload some classics!
Sorry Gideon - You'll need to set up a EScene partition for me to upload too.
To be honest my uploading days are done - since setting up k-radio I try and let people find me - I have also had quite a lot of luck using visual google ads - though not nearly as many people click through to ITunes as I was initially hoping!
Quote:Well tell your dad, I enjoyed his music in the 80's. I do understand why you didn't wish to share the info, but I'm sure you'll see that the people around here won't be judging your music on your father's past efforts.
Well looking back on it - I think it was as much for my own personal development as a musician. My university experience was a very confidence-draining one and I think using a pseudonym gave me a greater freedom to explore somehow - not quite sure how exactly. I'll pass that on anyhow.
Quote:I always thought you were a snob for some reason. Maybe it was the in-joke of 'legendary'?
Subtronik - dude, to be honest, its getting to the point where I would rather you just didn't reply to my threads.
Quote:You do indeed have some legendary family lineage! It sounds like a bit of a ball and chain, but your dad writing Karma Chameleon is pretty cool Smile
There is something to communicating using text on bboards and/or email which disconnects the intended emotion or meaning from what was intended; and it is compounded by slight cultural differences. Its easy to say something thats intended as a compliment and potentially upset someone I think...or say something in an ironic or sarcastic sense...and come across like an arrogant self aggrandizing arse. But hey, thats life Smile At the end of the day (apart from it getting dark) the music transcends these things and thats where we truly communicate, connect and to a certain extent reveal who we are.
I'm on the same page as you as well on the sonic textures thing...I'm a bit cack when it comes to playing instruments, but my route into the music is through the textures and feel.
Beautifully put Pete - it hasn't been a ball and chain though - I always felt I have had an amazing insight into the inner workings of the record industry. My childhood seems like a strange fantasy of pop-stars and tour buses that can be very difficult to convey without coming across as a bit of a name-dropper. I love what you said - especially the part about revealing who we truly are, which ironically is what i am doing in this thread! lol
The last thing I want to do is come across all like "poor me - my dad is a successful writer...." - but it is a double-edged sword. He is easily my harshest critic! Its funny - I'll play him a trip-hop tune and he'll listen to it blankly and then say something like: where's the middle 8?
Quote:We're just jealous of your success. Please replace the "legendary" in your name so we can resume shaking our fists at you.
lol - success eh? 5k overdrawn, no car, rented accom - ask my girlfriend's dad how successful I am - that should cheer everyone up a bit.
Quote:Sailor? I still have some 7 inches of them....
ABC - in my opinion Sailor are a much better band than Culture Club. Sadly not as "known" as they could be though the Hoosiers were recently quoted as them being a direct influence on their music.
Quote:hahaha, I still remember when you used to hand out reviews like candy and you gave me a "forceful" bad review. I was new with music at the time and I was pissed, but I'm over it, hehe
Sorry dude - I guess as I am a shade too honest. I don't think I was ever born to be a diplomat. I think that receiving criticism is what made me better as a producer however and I do stand by the fact that if you can't get this type of staight talking producers like ourselves can never progress. Apologies none the less.
As to the other Danny K, well in retrospect I think that I just wanted to draw a distinction. I quite like his stuff here and there. maybe we should have a day in court: K vs K
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Subtronik
Joined: 01/14/03
Posts: 1193
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RE: A note on being a legend
Monday, July 14, 2008 at 6:12 PM
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Danny K wrote:Subtronik - dude, to be honest, its getting to the point where I would rather you just didn't reply to my threads.
Dude, no need to get so emotional about it. I was simply being honest, you've always come across as snobbish to me, that's all. If it really bothers you that much then yeah sure, I'll leave you alone 
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Tecknixia
Joined: 08/15/01
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 108
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RE: A note on being a legend
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 12:32 AM
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Danny K wrote:I think that receiving criticism is what made me better as a producer however and I do stand by the fact that if you can't get this type of staight talking producers like ourselves can never progress.
No, I totally agree with you! I just wanted to hear people say what I wanted them to say at the time. I think it's funny because it kinda reminds me of my maturity level back then. Your opinion did give me a "I'll show him...!!!" additude which is a good thing because it's motivating. Eh... still working on the "showing" part, but more importantly I've grown up a bit and realized I don't have to show anyone anything to feel good about myself.
Danny K wrote:As to the other Danny K, well in retrospect I think that I just wanted to draw a distinction. I quite like his stuff here and there. maybe we should have a day in court: K vs K
Oh, I think I understand now... you don't professionally release and sell anything as just simply Danny K anymore, is that right? I was confused because the mp3s I have of yours only say simply Danny K. Sorry for being confused... either way I got the point of what you were saying.
And btw, I totally understand what you're saying about the girlfriend's dad's opinion about success. My girlfriend stopped talking to me because of it 
Most recent track: Tecknixia - Technology 2009 Version Strm Dnldnonzerosumgain.freeforums.org |
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(((stereofect)))
Joined: 09/02/01
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1333
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RE: A note on being a legend
Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 8:46 AM
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Well, well, well..... VERY interesting story, Jack. It's always fun to find out who people really are.
I understand the importance of your family music history. Too bad it has to include Culture Club.
Naw... I'm just kidding. It's all good....
Steve
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.” Albert Einstein
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Mercurial
Joined: 05/27/01
Posts: 41
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RE: A note on being a legend
Wednesday, July 23, 2008 at 3:16 PM
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At this point, I'm willing to grant you "legendary" for having been so active for so many years starting as one of the early bands I was into way back on mp3c. Weird how much time has passed since those days.
And very good to hear the whole history.
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Danny K
Joined: 08/15/01
Posts: 226
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RE: A note on being a legend
Monday, July 28, 2008 at 6:50 PM
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Quote:No, I totally agree with you! I just wanted to hear people say what I wanted them to say at the time. I think it's funny because it kinda reminds me of my maturity level back then. Your opinion did give me a "I'll show him...!!!" additude which is a good thing because it's motivating. Eh... still working on the "showing" part, but more importantly I've grown up a bit and realized I don't have to show anyone anything to feel good about myself.
I've just always felt its best to be honest in anything you do and I appreciate the same in return. Its not always the best way to make yourself popular though!! lol. Your right about not having to show anything to anyone other than yourself though.
The relationship pressures on musicians can be hard to handle sometimes; i've had one or 2 girlfriends in the past who were actually jealous of my passion for music. I'm afraid Logic is my mistress however and if your girlfriend wants to take her dad's side then there is really little you can do. When she has married that insurance salesman however don't doubt that she will always wonder about that crazy musician she passed up on. I think that is the other reason the musical output has to be up at a high bar to really validate all this shit we creative types seem to be destined to have to go through! I went through this exact situation with Lizzie the Christmas just gone. They put her in the difficult position of me or them. It took 6 weeks for her to choose me and my crazy idealistic life - but I'm glad she did. They have barely spoken to her since and I am racked with a sense of unease at the whole thing. It brings back that "I'll show them" attitude you mentioned - until the dust settles and you realise that this is an unhealthy inspiration.
Quote:Oh, I think I understand now... you don't professionally release and sell anything as just simply Danny K anymore, is that right? I was confused because the mp3s I have of yours only say simply Danny K. Sorry for being confused... either way I got the point of what you were saying.
Actually you would be doing me a favour if you could replace those tags with The Legendary Danny K for unforeseen last.fm reasons!! Although on the other hand I'm kind of past caring: as long as the music sounds good right?! To set this straight though - as I do purely non-exclusive licensing deals the music I have released is under no particular artist name other than my PRS number and the track itself is renamed by the licensing company anyway. "The Legendary Danny K" is on ITunes here but this was a release I did through cdbaby.
Quote:Well, well, well..... VERY interesting story, Jack. It's always fun to find out who people really are.
I understand the importance of your family music history. Too bad it has to include Culture Club.
Fair enough - as I mentioned above, I prefer Sailor. That bassline at the end of "Do you really want to hurt me" is pretty good though. As with most writers I suspect, my dad's best stuff is the stuff that no-one has heard.
Quote:At this point, I'm willing to grant you "legendary" for having been so active for so many years starting as one of the early bands I was into way back on mp3c. Weird how much time has passed since those days.
And very good to hear the whole history.
Thanks Nate - thats a kind thing to say.
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