Daniel Versus The World Q+A
Published in En Vague issue two
Released at the back end of 2016, Daniel Versus The World’s debut ‘Remember Who You Are’ felt like one of the most important records of the year. The album is a defiant, yet fragile, call to arms against the world’s hierarchy of ‘straight, white, men’.We spoke to Daniel about the record and his plans for the future.
Q) ‘Remember Who You Are’ was ten years in the making, why did the process take so long?
“It’s a combination of lots of reasons. Time, money, an all-consuming anxiety telling me that I’m terrible and nobody would ever listen to my music, its a multi-faceted thing. Even the recording process for this album took two years from the first demo session to the release date, because life just pops up when you really don’t want it to. Band members (and boyfriends) came and went, new songs were written, old songs were thrown out.
“I’m working full time in a job I find physically and emotionally draining (the service industry is the worst) and I had to deal with some heavy mental health shit and you have to put that all first. And at the end of the day, I wanted to wait until I was really confident that I had an album of songs I was really proud of, that I wanted people to hear.
“So it ended up being this kind of “greatest hits” from 10 years of writing, and some of these songs had been out on lo-fi home recordings, some had been played live, some were brand new, but when I had them all put down I was so happy with how they had turned out.” Q) You assembled a fantastic bunch of artists to perform on the record, how did this come about?
“I’m very lucky to be part of a community of incredibly talented musicians, who also happen to be my best friends. It’s sometimes a bit daunting really because I feel like a fraud and one day they’re going to find me out, but as long as I get these really amazing people playing over the top of me I don’t sound shit and that’s great for me. We took songs I’d been playing solo for years and made them sound like they do in my head.”
Q) Was it scary releasing such an intensely personal record?
“I don’t know how to write anything else! I don’t think there’s any shame in writing personal lyrics if people can find a way into the music. I’ve always been drawn to confessional songwriters like Tori Amos, who can tell really personal stories that people can still identify with. I don’t want to write anything that sounds so self-involved and self-pitying that people can’t listen and find their own stories in there.
“I try to fall somewhere between a cryptic, passive-aggressive tweet, and an angry diary entry. I can sing about struggles with mental health, or homophobia, or a broken heart from my own experience, and hopefully, people relate to those experiences. But you have to be careful not to go too far and start like calling your shitty ex by his name or mentioning that time you had a breakdown at work because you cuddled a pug (that’s what interviews are for).”
Q) The last couple of years have seen an influx of insanely talented queer DIY punk bands (The Spook School, PWR BTTM, Kinky etc) how important do you think these scenes are?
“The Spook School do this thing at all of their gigs where, if the venue isn’t already, they take their own signs and make the toilets gender neutral. It’s about creating safer spaces wherever we can and bringing people in the community together. And that’s an understanding between the bands and the fans, which is kind of a loose concept anyway because in these communities a lot of us are bands AND fans. The Spook School know the people they are playing to, and work to make spaces they have some control over as safe as possible for their fans, and that’s really Important.
“Seeing them tour with PWR BTTM at the end of the last year was the best, the two bands made so much sense together. PWR BTTM live was like a religious experience. It felt poignant to be standing at the end of what had been a really difficult year for queer people, and especially queer Americans, in this room full of beautiful glittery queers, and still feeling strong, and beautiful, and unstoppable.”
Q) Your lyrics tie together the political with the personal, was there a conscious choice to explore the ramifications of bigoted political narratives?
“There’s no separation, for me, between the political and the personal. Just existing as a queer person is a political action. I definitely set out to write about what affects me as a queer person and as a person with mental health problems, so in that sense, it was a conscious choice, but I can’t imagine I would ever have seen it any other way. When we consider how much crossover there is in terms of queer people experiencing mental health problems, and there’s a multitude of factors in that, it really shows how personal the political is.”
Q) What plans do you have for the rest of the year?
“Cat tattoo. World domination. More vegan pizza. I’m starting a new acoustic night at my favourite queer cabaret bar Her Upstairs in Camden. I’ll be hosting the best queer live music from around the UK, with rare acoustic sets, solo acts, and even some open ‘rile. That’s going to be the first Wednesday of every month starting in February. I’m hopefully going to tour the album around a bit, we’ve got a few gigs lined up in March, and I’ve been putting myself forward for some festivals this year too. I’m also hoping to record an acoustic EP, with some of the songs from “Remember Who You Are” reworked with banjo and cajon. Maybe I’ll wear some sort of sequined rodeo shirt. The world’s my oyster.”
