A innovative transatlantic fused concoction of the blues, swaggering, street-life soul and a general rock and roll nonchalance coupled to deep electro tinges, in their relatively short time together Black Daniel are already flirting with fame and mainstream acclaim, having toured with Kasabian throughout Europe last year and off the back of a string of dates at sharply hip London venues.
With a passionately deep and richly developed sound, both on record and in their live shows, Black Daniel bring a considerable humour, fun, and a sense of abandon to their distinguished, Primal Scream-esque rock shenanigans and their reputation is beginning to develop accordingly. Culled from recent work in the dance world as Medicine 8 and as a booker / road manager for premier New York House label Strictly Rhythm, as a band they’ve taken that spirit and brought it crashing and banging into Black Daniel’s esoteric, quirky and obtuse, bass heavy rock world.
…we realised we had interests in common if you like
Characterised by a personality, style and chutzpah all of their own, there’s something defiant about the way they defy easy definition, the myriad of touches from New York era Lou Reed, Talking Heads, The Pixies, The Fall, T-Rex, and a whole mixed selection from dance culture, play themselves out for very different analogies and interpretations. Yet, with latest single “Say Hello” being named Colin Murray’s single of the week just gone, it would seem that their very singular smarts are marking them out for the attention they deserve.
So let’s meet the lads and an affable bunch they are too. Comprising brothers Liam and Luke May, formerly of Medicine 8, on their rockier side with the streetwise New York vocals of Craig Higgins Jr, banging along on the keys and the live line up’s rounded off by band mates Patrick and Quinn. Coming together when Craig worked at Strictly Rhythm and tour managed the brothers May on live tours of the states, a mutual affinity and shared musical sensibilities led onto, as Liam puts it. “Craig was getting involved in New York and putting on clubs, booking us. That kicked off a couple of years where we were back and forth to New York every couple of months, playing a lot over there and got on really well, we realised we had interests in common if you like.”
Whilst looking to put together the second Medicine 8 album, with that bands’ penchant for atypical vocalists, Liam and Luke hit on the idea of inviting Craig and his inimitable New York street slang to record some vocals which with a sense of whatever happens, happens naturally, came to lead onto becoming Black Daniel. Liam here again – “We like to use off the wall and unconventional vocals and the first person I thought of was Craig, he’s got a great voice and a way with words. So we flew him over and got in the studio to see what happened and it really worked out, so much that it turned into another band really quickly and Black Daniel just took over from Medicine 8 without any plan. It just kind of developed. It was just where the music was coming from. We just follow whatever music comes along and so Black Daniel was born.”
Combining the insouciance of a sidewalk alley cat and an irradiant charm to a punchy rapid fire delivery, Craig’s songs and New York stories take Black Daniel away from any superficial rock comparison, although there might be the odd shade of a Ryder-esque Black Grape in the vintage, based as they are on his unique views of the Big Apple. “I was doing a load of stuff when I was living there and pretty much all the stuff that comes out in my lyrics is about my experiences really. All that time in New York and the wildness of the nightclubs, so definitely a big part of it, if not all of it for me comes down to New York City.”
Hugely different in style and a band that have confounded some of the critics on first listen, most of whom notably come to revise their opinions pretty soon after, drummer Luke is really enjoying “the fact that every-time we go and play somewhere so far we seem to be flanked either side by something that sounds pretty much the same as each other and we normally come in the middle and confuse everyone a little bit.”
Easiest to leave the lads to develop this bit, in their own words, first up Craig. ““I listened to pretty much everything growing up from James Brown to hip hop to punk. I draw a lot from people like Big Black and The Butthole Surfers, there’s loads of stuff really. Pretty much anything that’s got passion to it. Anything with a lot of action.”
I listened to pretty much everything growing up from James Brown to hip hop to punk
And then onto Liam “I think that with some of it, there’s a quite straight forward, rock and roll, sort of Stones-y vibe going on but there’s also a lot of alt rock, weird sort of shit thrown in from bands like Suicide, Pavement and that whole US alternative scene and it comes in as an undercurrent which isn’t totally obvious but it’s definitely in there. That’s one of the reasons we come across as pretty unconventional, that mix of straighter and more offbeat underground elements”
So with a live show that combines all this and comes across with all their pleasures and passions, something also encapsulated by their recently released album, the prophetically titled, as these things often are, “Hard Times Are On The Way” idiosyncratic and individualistic bents are marking them out as one of Autumn 08’s hot tips. There’s plenty more to be told on the Black Daniel story as yet, and far too much to go into here (like an upcoming EP and follow up album pencilled for next Spring), but for a band that might develop to be around for quite a long time, as we say in the trade, that can all wait for now.
Black Daniel play two dates at the Barfly, Camden on Thursday 16th October and Saturday 22nd November as part of Breakconvention Live. Supports include Vagabond, Ten Bears, Crane Brothers and more.
Black Daniel’s single “Say Hello” and album “Hard Times Are On The Way” are released now on Pieces Of Eight Records.
