After playing in Pigeon for a few years and growing up in a family of seven, Danny Harley is now stepping out and making waves in his side-project, Kite String Tangle. His newest release, ‘Given the Chance,’ has gained significant airplay on triple j as well as over 750k listens on Spotify. But Danny didn’t expect it would surpass his previous song, ‘Commotion’.
“I felt a lot of pressure releasing the next one, and then I kind of gave up. But it ended up doing a hundred times better,” Danny says. “I think you can never really expect that kind of reaction, and you set yourself up to disappointment if you do.”
Since his hit release, Danny has gone on to tour Australia and play for the first time at Falls Festival to thousands of adoring fans. “I hadn’t slept at all and then I got onto the massive natural amphitheatre stage, and I got to play to all these people who had gotten up really early to see me. So it was pretty bizarre,” he says.
Next up for Danny is playing Groovin’ the Moo in April/May this year. Not only is he working through his bucket list – with the next goal to play in a touring festival – he’s also looking forward to getting to know his fellow touring bands.
“I think it’s got a different mentality because all the bands get to get chummy with each other and it’s a bit of fun,” Danny says.
And it’s certainly a different experience for Danny, who is used to travelling with a comrade of band mates. But the main difference for him is when it comes to playing live. “You can tell if a gig’s going well with Pigeon because people are jumping around and having fun. But then with my music, people could be standing there with their arms crossed and could be enjoying it or not – but you don’t really know,” he says. Though he admits that the intimacy gained from a one-man band is much greater than what you can achieve while jumping around playing guitar.
While Danny has played in a band using traditional music, his love for production and audio engineering came after studying a Bachelor of Popular Music. “So I studied for a bit and then became kind of obsessed with what you can do to sounds in a computer after recording them. That’s kind of the real bit that was the game changer for me,” he says.
With artists like Flume and Disclosure played frequently on triple j, it’s clear that listeners are beginning to appreciate what electronic artists are creating.
“I think it’s the logical progression because traditional instrumentation has had a pretty long run in the scheme of things. People were eventually going to crave innovation in texture and in sound,” Danny says. “That’s the sort of stuff that you can get from laptops and technology. It’s a cool movement, and I think we’re going to see some really interesting sounds over the next few years.”
Danny plans to release a five-track EP in late April, with a debut album following closely behind. He’ll be playing many of his new tracks at Groovin’ the Moo in a few months’ time.
When&Where: GTM @ Bendigo Showgrounds – May 3
Written by Amanda Sherring