Danielle "Danz" Johnson, better known as Computer Magic onstage, may seem laid back when you see her. But don't let her relaxed persona fool you — she's a woman of many talents. Starting off as a music blogger, Danz later became a DJ in New York City and then eventually started releasing her music as Computer Magic. With numerous EPs released as well as her full-length 2015 record, Davos, she's definitely a busy and successful one. Myspace had the chance to chat with Computer Magic. Below are 10 things you should know about the musical force of nature.
She Remembers a Lot of Her Firsts
When we asked Danz about her first moments with music, she recalled them pretty quickly and introduced us to her initial musical tastes.
"I remember the first cassette I ever got, my parents got me the Grease soundtrack," she admitted. "The first band that I was really proud that I discovered first in middle school was Franz Ferdinand. I thought, ‘Oh they’re so cool. Nobody listens to this type of stuff.’ It was really cool when I discovered them. I was 14 or something. My first concert that I went to by myself was the Arctic Monkeys when I was 16 at Webster Hall. My mom dropped my friend and me off. Those were my first cool things.”
She's a '90s Kid
Danz also admitted to Blink-182 being the first concert she ever went to (with her mom). And while she revealed this piece of info, she's also amazed that the '90s have become the throwback decade everyone looks toward.
"It’s so weird that late '90s stuff and early 2000s stuff is becoming ironic," she said. "So I’ll walk into a coffee shop in Williamsburg, and I’ll hear songs that I listened to or remember listening to in elementary school. But I’m happy. I loved that decade.”
She Was a Music Blogger
“I started blogging when I was 15," she said. "I’d come home from school. My dad wasn’t strict, but my mom was. My parents were divorced, and I lived with my mom and stepdad. They never really let me do anything. So I’d always be on the internet all the time. I would pirate music, and now there’s Spotify so no one pirates music really. But then a release would come out before the street day, and it’d go up on blogs and everything. I would find music before it was released and put it up."
And This Opened Her Up to DJing
"DJs I met through blogging," she revealed. "When I turned 18 and moved to the city, and went to college, I reached out to them through my blog and said, ‘Hey, I want to DJ.’ And I’d guest DJ at bars and stuff till I was 22. I was DJing all the time. I think DJing influenced how I make music because I realized what songs everybody would dance to. Sometimes, I would play, and people would go to the bar and get a drink. And other times I’d play, people would forget their drinks and dance. All of that influenced my music.”
Her Music Initially Sounded Like It Should Be in a Sci-Fi Movie
“When I first started writing music," she said, "I happened to get into a lot of sci-fi movies —- Barbarela, Zardoz and Blade Runner. I wanted to make music that sounded like it could be the soundtrack to one of those movies. But as time progressed, I don’t go for that specific aesthetic. And I think people still associate it with that. I don’t know. I just like music that feels nostalgic in a way.”
She Can Write Anywhere But Likes to Take Her Time If She Can
"I take my laptop and write songs wherever , on a plane," she admitted. "But when I'm in the city, I felt kind of rushed. The first three EPs I put out I wrote in Florida actually. And listening to that, it sounds a lot like my earlier stuff, maybe, because I had more time and didn't feel rushed."
She Covered World Party's "Is It Like Today?" For Charity
"The lyrics are kind of about how no matter what time period there have always been wars and bloodshed — if it’s because of people’s different religions," she said. "But in the end, we all kind of want the same thing, peace, but I thought the lyrics were really great. And I was covering it, and I didn’t know if I was going to release it or anything. Originally I was going to put it up and have the proceeds go to the Sierra Club, which is an organization that protects wildlife and nature. All this news about Aleppo and just seeing pictures of what’s going on there. I thought that would be more prominent. And also the environment is important, but I called the Sierra Club. And they said they’ve been getting lots of donations since the election and because we have a president who doesn’t believe in climate change, we have to do something. So I reached out to the band World Party, and they said, “As long as it’s for a good cause,” they were okay with it. So I got the rights to license the song to put up for download. And it’s $5 to download the song, and all the proceeds go to Doctors Without Borders. So there’s just a donation button up on IsItLikeToday.com, and it goes directly to their PayPal.”
You can order it here.
She Owns Her Own Label
Danz isn't just a musician, DJ, producer and overall music maker, but she's also runs her own label.
"I have a licensing company that licenses all my songs for commercials," she began. "And one of my songs, 'Running' was in a Lexus commercial a few years ago. With the money from that commercial and the royalties, no labels were approaching me to sign me or anything. So I thought, 'Well, I have this money. But I'll put music out myself. I hired a PR company, distributor, a place to press vinyls. The whole thing. I have a lawyer/manager, who's helped me. There's so many elements I had to get. I put posters and billboards around the city. There's a lot that goes into this."
Despite the Obstacles, She's Doesn't Mind Running the Show
"But I don't mind it," she said. "It's my job making music through this company. I don't have another day job. Thankfully I can live off it. I don't mind. But if I ever got big in the U.S., I'd need to hire more people or an intern to work with me."
She Believes You Can Do Anything Regardless of Gender
"When I first started doing it, I didn't even think about the fact I'm a female doing this," she said. "I just thought, 'I could do all this. Why not?' So it never crossed my mind. Any female producer is just as good as any male producer. There just so happens to be more male producers, or we know more of them. I would just say that if you love what you do, it'll show. Any woman is as good as man, and they can do the same thing."
Learn more fun facts about your favorite up-and-coming artists by visiting our 10 Things page.
from Myspace - Editorial http://ift.tt/2lVwnDJ
No comments:
Post a Comment