Q: You’ve had quite an extensive touring career, traveling all over Europe. What do you miss most about touring and how has COVD-19 affected that?
DANNY GUINAN: At first, Covid actually provided a very welcome break from touring and performing. Although I have cut back significantly on the number of gigs I do each year, having the number reduced to zero turned out to be a great opportunity to focus on other stuff, particularly on finishing the new album.
Recently, however, the itch to perform returned with a bang again and it didn’t take long to realise how much I missed getting out there in front of the public armed with nothing but my music and a healthy dose of humility.
Q: Tell us a little bit more about your upcoming release “Now is the Time”.
DANNY: ‘Now is the time’ is my first full album release in quite a few years. I spent a long time writing the songs and then deciding which ones to use, how to record them and even how they would be released. Even though the concept of ‘an album’ has become almost obsolete today, this recording feels like a coherent whole and that remains very important to me as an artist. Of course, I am fully aware of the need to go with the flow in terms of the changing shape of the music industry, but I want to do so on my own terms, without the burden of expectation and in a manner that reflects the open and honest nature of my music. That said, I am very excited about the release, as every artist is when they are about to fling their offspring out into the big bad world. I am also delighted to have joined the MARS Worldwide label. Their help will be invaluable in getting the album out there.
Q: What have been some of your favorite moments from your shows?
DANNY: Where do I start?! Playing to 15,000 crazy Italians at a festival in Bologna; surviving a one-hour set in fifty-degree temperatures at the famous Dranouter Festival in Belgium; touring with Luka Bloom; a whirlwind tour of China; missing a flight from New York to Portland for a festival gig and taking four different flights in twelve hours via Cincinatti, Dallas and Seattle to arrive at the venue five minutes before we were due to go on stage. The gig was great. I’ll stop there.
Q: Your inspiration comes from your Irish Roots but is there any bands/artists specially you draw your inspiration from?
DANNY: I find it hard to identify sources of inspiration because sometimes that has nothing to do with music or musicians at all but with either the very mundane or the incredibly wonderous things in life. However, I have been inspired by a few artists who operate mostly on the fringes of the music scene, including Beck, Sufjan Stevens, Stina Nordenstam and The Blue Nile, and by some who are no longer with us, like Nick Drake.
Q: Would you like to collaborate with anyone? If so who and why?
DANNY: Stina Nordenstam. A voice made in heaven; a superb songwriter; brilliantly idiosyncratic and entirely herself.
Q: What can we expect from you within the next 6 months besides your upcoming album? Future gigs?
DANNY: We are emerging from our Covid bomb shelter with new plans and renewed energy. It really is time to get back on stage again, so that will be where my focus will lie in the coming months. That said, I have also promised myself to give preference to quality over quantity in terms of live performances and that’s a philosophy I want to apply in my social media offerings as well. The album release party is in the Patronaat in Haarlem, The Netherlands on November 21 if anyone feels like coming along. I promise you it will be worth the trip!
Interviewed by Stephanie Pankewich
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