We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Daniel Giffin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Daniel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I learned how to play drums at 13 years old when my dad bought my a drum kit only months before he passed away. I poured all my energy and emotions into playing drums and music, which honestly saved my life.
I realized I could only get so far being self taught, so I joined the high school band and was a band nerd for 1 year. After not getting along with the band teacher, I quit after my Freshman year. She told me I would never get anywhere in life with music, which was awesome because I won our high school talent show both my Junior and Senior years lol.
I attended several jazz camps in the Midwest in high school and tried to learn as much as I possibly could studying my favorite songs, and drummers like Jojo Mayer and Carter Beauford. I think the key to success isn’t just hard work, but realizing your strengths and weaknesses and finding other people to help you grow where you need it most.
My greatest learning endeavors happened after college when I moved to New York City and studied at Dubspot, a world-class electronic music production trade school. This was the who’s who of music education at that time in 2013. My instructors Kiva and Danny Wyatt took me under their wings and taught me a lot about the music software Ableton Live, and mixing/ mastering. Learning from these Platinum/ Grammy engineers really gave me the mentorship and confidence in my career. I never want to lose my passion for learning. I really believe it’s the spark for anyone to tap into their greatest potential in life.
After teaching Ableton Live and music production, I’ve been blessed to teaching hundreds of artists / producers how to create and perform music, including being in the studio with artists like Mac Miller, Machine Gun Kelly, and some tour work with The Band Perry. I’ve learned that the music industry is really all about relationships, and being able to perform/ deliver high quality work when needed. My music under the project Philia has been an incredible outlet for me and expressing myself through the ups and downs in life. I feel like I love so many different styles of music, and don’t feel the need to only create one “genre”. Philia is ancient Greek for “intimate friendship love” which is what I want my music to represent. Some of the best moments I’ve experienced is seeing people come together and form new relationships because of me. The more I create music, play shows, and do podcast episodes, the more I’ve realized none of it is about me. I’m much happier when my perspective shifts outside my own selfish head to focus on other people. I think this has been the fuel leading to my most successful moments in life.
I once had a well known local artist tell me “Those that can’t do it, they teach.” That probably the biggest load of bullshit I’ve ever heard. Teaching has opened more doors for me to meet a wide network of people, and I feel like I learn the most when sharing my knowledge with others. I started the Ableton Music Producer Podcast focused around teaching Ableton Live for my students in 2017 and had no idea it would become what it is today. I’ve been blessed to have world class music technologists and Grammy winning producers on the show, with sponsorships from my favorite music brands. It’s been a fun way to continue to learn from leaders in the music world while sharing the insights of others to my audience.
I believe everyone is creative in some capacity. It doesn’t have to be music or art-related. Tapping into your creative potential as a human is often blocked by our daily fears, anxiety, or negative outside influences, and oftentimes we place that on ourselves, I’m super guilty of limiting my creative potential when comparing my music or art to someone else on Instagram, or wherever. Comparison kills our greatest potential. I’m making extra efforts these days to love myself and others better, and celebrating the successes of other artists, while drawing inspiration from them (not comparing myself to them). I think this is something too many artists struggle with.
One of my favorite quotes is by the great Quincy Jones, “Have humility when you create, and grace when you succeed, because you are a terminal for a higher power. As soon as you can accept that, you’ll do it forever.”
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
There’s a ton of ways to support artists these days, outside of buying tickets to their shows (which is a big one) and buying merch. Go out of your way to share their content on social media, and check back regularly on their most active profiles to comment on their stuff. Social media algorithms do a great job of making artists feel hella depressed because they put tons of effort into their new releases, and it might not get noticed because their post isn’t “optimized” or posted at the right time. Don’t be afraid to DM your favorite artists with a word of encouragement, or tell them a story about how their art affected you in some way. The existential struggles of artists are a big reason why they don’t continue to consistently create or put their best work into the world.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I used to have a mission of playing “the biggest stages” or touring the world, etc. Although I’ve played some big stages (opening for Tiesto and playing Electric Forest) it honestly left me wanting more. It’s easy not to be satisfied with what you have here and now, always chasing the next shiny toy that’s hanging in front of your face. My best work usually comes out when I’m content with myself and where I am, while aiming for excellence in all that I do. I moved to Denver a year ago and I’m stoked to start playing live shows again. I’ve been spending lots of time in the studio working on new material, and can’t wait to play it out live in the near future!
I also just started hosting in person episodes at KMG Studios, which is one of the nicest studios in Denver, maybe even in Colorado. I’m super lucky that they’ve open the space for me to use for the Ableton Music Producer Podcast, and my manager Katie Halligan has been a rockstar with curating some big name guests in 2023-2024
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/philiamusic
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/philiamusic
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PhiliaMusic
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6WS2tulZgvxGCX2OnxPbMg?si=97j6ACGXS8GUHxhosvvkgg https://soundcloud.com/philia-music-official https://linktr.ee/abletonpodcast https://www.instagram.com/abletonpodcast https://www.tiktok.com/@abletonpodcast EXTRA PHOTOS: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/fwkuxm8gscxwl7r8mhn4m/Dan-Studio-MIDI-Controllers.jpg?rlkey=ww1lo9dt8afw683p7dv4f6vo7&dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/exmjd31ggkxc2cuwe05mc/Dan-Playing-Controllers.JPG?rlkey=z6soa6kiyjup4eyvlgf8d87yp&dl=0