Kevin Bronson on February 23rd, 2010

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[Buzz Bands LA today welcomes a new contributor, freelance writer Richard Thomas, whose work you can find at Mining the Landfill. Rich’s occasional column here, Buzzbeats, will focus mainly on electro and dance music. Here, he catches up with pop sensation Dan Black – enjoy:]

By Richard Thomas

When Kanye West posts a link to your video on his blog and the estate for the Notorious B.I.G. is sending you cease-and-desist letters for the mash-up style ballad you’ve just penned, visibility isn’t a problem. Getting people to clearly understand what you’re on about is another thing entirely. From Dylan to Portishead to dusty samples from ’70s LPs, Dan Black is a consummate aggregator of inspiration, and he flips his unique electronic script in Technicolor. En route to Los Angeles [where he performs tonight at Cinespace and Wednesday night at Spaceland], the man behind the radio hit “Symphonies” talks about his milkshake, and why it seems to be bringing everyone to the yard.

So you were just in Canada?

Dan Black: Yeah. Just flew out of there yesterday.

You left at the right time. All those Canadians are really upset about their loss to USA men’s hockey.

DB: You’re right, I did well. I saw that in a restaurant we were in last night. They were pretty sure they were going to win it.

I’m not gonna lie, man. The first time I saw your “HYPNTZ” video I thought of Dynamite Hack’s “Boyz-n-the-Hood” cover. Obviously there are differences …

DB: But sure, I see what you’re saying.

There’s a fine line between quality synth pop and retro parody, where the songs are just pure kitsch. I’m sure that’s something you’re cognizant of.

DB: Absolutely.

Do you have a personal filter that helps you stay on the right side of that line?

DB: I don’t know. It’s a good question, really. You’re getting into something really odd, which is to be objective about your own work, which is actually pretty impossible. You just have to have faith and try to be as self-critical as you can be. It’s a balancing act, you know? I’ve been in a few things before going solo where lots of things were “off limits.” So in a way, when I began, all those things that were “uncool” I didn’t let trouble me. I just wanted to see what, on a quite simple, uncomplicated level, I was really like. But at the same time, being a solo artist, you’ve got to make something work. One song in one artist’s hands could be a wonderful thing, and in another artist’s hands could be a totally unpleasant, offensive affair. There are certain things that, if I attempted, would come across as horrible, but at the same time, I don’t want to be safe. I want to take risks.

As much as it’s easier to get away with crazy outlandish music, you’ve got exponentially more critics through the web and social media.

DB: I do, relatively speaking, try and cut myself off from that stuff. I’d just go mad if I Googled myself and read everything about me. There’s just too many voices now, and you’re never going to please everybody.

What’s the worst thing you’ve read?

DB: As much as I’d like to think I don’t care, I always get really hurt by criticism. The things I’ve come across are mostly accidental. I’m a fan of music, so I’ll often go on music sites and stumble across threads of people talking about something else and someone chips in with a reference to me: “I fucking hate this guy!”

You think you’d pissed on his lawn.

DB: Exactly. Well, I could have. There’s not that many lawns I’ve pissed on. (Laughs)

I’ve always thought to myself, if it weren’t for these horrible things called bands, we’d have so few wonderful solo artists.

DB: It’s funny. You’ve caught me when I’m in the middle of some pretty horrible wranglings with people I was in a band with. It was quite a frightening decision to go, “Right, I’m just gonna do this on my own.” But every day the choice seems more and more confirmed as the wisest move I’ve made in a long time.

How has it freed you up, musically?

DB: I can remember being on tour buses and throwing on, I don’t know, “Drop It Like It’s Hot” by Snoop Dogg and going, “Wow, this is amazing,” and people walking in going, “Oh, God. What’s this awful thing? Get it off!” And I’m thinking, “Why am I in a band with you people?” At the same time I love a band like the Smiths. So it’s trying to somehow liquidize these disparate things and make a new milkshake. It’s just easier when there’s no one questioning it or being negative. Life’s too short.

These days, more than ever, it’s no longer about what comes out of the speakers. It’s what’s in the video and what’s on the artwork and how it all communicates the same message. All these things feed into the “Dan Black Experience.”

DB: There’s an unavoidable, visual aspect of an artist that goes around if they start to have a bit of success, and what that looks like can totally effect how you feel about the music. Many times I’ve heard a song and I think one thing, then I’ve read an interview or looked at artwork or seen a video and it’s radically changed by opinion. It’s all gonna affect things, so you might as well get involved. If people hate something I’ve done because of something they’ve seen around my little world, I’d rather go, “OK, you hate it and I control it,” than have some guy make a video or a T-shirt that’s fucked up someone’s perception of me because I couldn’t be bothered to be involved. But also, it’s fun. I’m a creation addict and I love tinkering and expressing.

How has someone’s visual representation changed your perception of them, for better or worse?

DB: Recently, seeing the videos for Major Lazer. I like the music and I love Diplo and Switch independent of that, but then I saw the videos and it’s like, “OK, where do I sign?”

You’re 34, right? Time to play some free association.

DB: OK.

Tron 2.0.

DB: Was the original, as a film, as good as we all thought? It’s got a Daft Punk soundtrack, so if it means there’s gonna be another Daft Punk album, I’m prepared to let anything happen.

Big Trouble In Little China.

DB: There’s a film! Is it the greatest film Kurt Russell ever made? Probably.

Men Without Hats.

DB: I don’t think I ever saw Men Without Hats.

They did “The Safety Dance.”

DB: Of course, now I remember! I liked that song when I was a kid. No one has huge hits with songs that off the beaten track anymore.

Molly Ringwald.

DB: What happened? The world in her hand and she let it go.

Talk to me about “Cigarette Pack.” I think that’s my favorite track on the album.

DB: You’re a man of impeccable taste! It comes from watching a documentary on, of all people, van Gogh. Not that I’m a massive fan, but it was talking about how, at one point, he was living in a small village down in the south of France and the villagers tried to have him expelled. They found him this frightening lunatic. When you’re making a record, you kind of have to go out on a wing and be a bit eccentric and impassioned. All the people who’ve done something really exceptional and amazing and have changed the world, if you’d met them at the time they were coming up with their idea, they’d seem like some insane loon. “I’ve written this out on the back of a cigarette pack! I’m going to do this and this and that!” and you’re like, “OK, keep away from me.” But the very guy they tried to throw out the village, has changed the way people view art. He changed the way people view the world.

Find Richard Thomas here:
www.MiningTheLandfill.com
Twitter: @TheLandfill
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mining-The-Landfill/47084732111