Q: Hey Dan Zimmerman! We are such fans of your music on Rising Artists, introduce yourself to our readers and a little bit more about you.
DAN ZIMMERMAN: I’m Dan! I’m a singer-songwriter based in New York City and I’ve just released my first two singles, “Soldiers” and “Body.” The two songs focus on my experience as a young gay man exploring my queer identity, the city’s dating scene, and hookup culture.
Q: We have been really loving your new single “Body” and think it represents an important message about hookup culture and dating apps. It showcases a raw and pure version of yourself that we believe is beautiful. Please tell us a little bit more of the backstory of this song.
DAN: I wrote “Body” after a few years on and off Grindr. I was trying to capture the specificity of how it feels to connect with so many people – in whatever capacity – and yet have most of those encounters feel so transactional. I found a coldness in being a nameless body – and I needed to work through what that felt like. I think I have had a lot of strong, scattered, erratic thoughts about existing in the Grindrsphere. “Body” helped channel a lot of what I was feeling at the time, in its own stressed-out run-on structure. The bridge of the song is actually a self-contained vignette of a hookup itself.
Q: Do you write your own songs or is there a collaborator that you enjoy working with consistency?
DAN: Yes, I do write my own songs. I’ve collaborated with a few different songwriters in the past, but these songs are my own.
Q: You have noted that you your music sounds like Troye Sivan, Sam Smith, Lauv and Lany. Do you have any other musical influences or anyone who really inspired to you start writing and performing music?
DAN: In terms of performing music, I probably pull inspiration from pop queens like Adele, Celine Dion, Beyonce. On the songwriting front however, I’m a bit more inspired by indie pop/folk and baroque pop artists like Sufjan Stevens, Phoebe Bridgers, Anohni.
Q: What can we expect from your next single/upcoming music?
DAN: My next single will be a step away from the electropop feel of the first two, while still centering on my experiences in my mid 20s. It’s a very personal track, so I think it will be difficult for me to release.
Interviewed by Stephanie Pankewich
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