A Quick Chat with Danger Den

Can you tell us what this track means to you and what you want people to take away from it?
‘New Ways’ is a song about being excited about something new. Whether it’s a new relationship, new job, new experiences or even buying a new guitar! The lyrics are mostly about a girl but it’s also open to interpretation, similar to our last single ‘Given’. This song is also the first time I’ve ever recorded myself playing the harmonica so it’s pretty special! I guess what I want people to take away from this song is that it’s good to find something or at least one thing exciting in their lives every now and then and feel good about it.

Who are some of your influences, and why?
Green Day and Blink-182 are my biggest influences of all time in the pop punk genre but I love bands like the Gaslight Anthem, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Fleetwood Mac. So it’s all over the place! Usually when I get sick of the same bands I’ve been listening to on repeat its either I find a really good new band in the scene or I go back to the classics and re-inspire myself again.

What's the creative process for you, from writing through to recording?
I guess I just think of something random like a hook or a riff or a line and I kind of just build on it from there. I usually stop once I have the main chords of the whole song with a chorus and a verse, and once I have that I show it to the band and we play around with it till we’re ready to record a demo.

What do you think makes a great song?
It’s very subjective because everyone has different tastes. But a good Danger Den song? It needs a great melody, a lot of harmonies and face melting guitar solos!

If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?
That’s a hard question to ask because there are so many. If I had to pick one, probably Green Day, they’re my favourite band of all time so obviously they’d be on the top of my list.

When not working on music, what other creative outlet/s do you have?
I like to walk a lot, so I guess if I’m not writing songs I like to count my steps! Other than that I like to travel and visit vintage stores and collect vintage clothes. I love the simple things in life.

Who are some local bands we should check out?
Sanny Veloo, Captives, 74 Kings, The Kittyhawks and Westall 66 just to name a few!

Winter or summer and why?
Honestly, the winter. Living in Darwin and being brought up in the Philippines has made hot weather really not all that special for me. I remember living in Darwin and visiting places like Europe or even Brisbane and just thinking that having cold weather is such a privilege because it’s so rare that I get to visit a place that’s not hot all the time. And now I live in Melbourne, so yeah it’s winter for me.

What else do you have planned for the year?
So we’re playing 2 EP launch shows in April. We are playing at the Tote in Collingwood and the Bergy Bandroom in Brunswick and we’re also touring Japan in May and we’ve got a whole lot more planned for this year so keep an eye out on our socials for that!

Daner Den - ‘It’ll Be Alright’ EP out now