Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dan Kelly. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Dan, appreciate you joining us today. 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.
For the most part, I am self-taught. There’s a lot to be said for taking the initiative to learn all you can on your own about something you have a passion for. Apart from seeking out tutorials on YouTube or via Google searches, just exploring the software, hardware, tools, and instruments on my own has been a huge help. It’s important to remember that even if you’re not producing or composing new music and just messing around with some new plugins or instruments, you’re still being productive as you’re learning the ins and outs of how they work and — more importantly — how you work with them.
In order to speed up my personal learning process, it involves remembering I can’t grind away at it for 8 hours at a time. Take the time to process and review what you are learning. Take in some new information and apply it as you go, rather than taking in a full day or week’s worth of new information and then try to assimilate it all at once and use it. You will retain more information if you utilize it while you’re processing.
Everyone learns differently, and maybe learning new skills in huge chunks works for some people, but it certainly doesn’t for me, I’m too impatient and I get excited and need to use this new knowledge right away.
The essential skills for producing music, composing for someone else’s project (film, video game, etc.), or writing and recording your own music are, in my opinion, adaptability and lateral thinking. Utilizing effects or instruments in unusual ways can really take a project over the edge into something amazing and unique!
You also need to make sure you give yourself time to breathe, take breaks, and just step away from a project for a bit. Coming back at something with fresh eyes and ears makes the whole process much more exciting and enjoyable.
Sometimes you come up against obstacles, but the largest one is oftentimes your mindset. I’ve worked with many other musicians who get it into their head that this one idea they have MUST work out and sound perfect or all is lost. I try to remind them of something I found out a long time ago: There is no limit to the amount of music you can make. If this one idea doesn’t work out, or if you forget to write something down or record it and it’s lost, you WILL come up with more good ideas and quickly. Don’t be afraid to let something go if it isn’t working out. Don’t be afraid to try something different or someone else’s idea and really think critically about how it all works together.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I’ve been writing music since I was a kid messing around with a MIDI sequencer on my parents’ computer. Putting together simple melodies and adding supportive harmonies and rhythms was just endlessly fun for me, and still is!
When I was a kid, I was very much inspired by the music in video games (this is way back in the Nintendo and Super Nintendo days). The emotion and movement it could inspire with such severe limitations was fascinating to me, not to mention how the complex harmonies and different combinations of notes could evoke completely different feelings.
I got into composing first when a video game developer saw a YouTube video I had put up of a cover of Vivaldi’s “Winter, 1st movement” arranged for the Nintendo Game Boy. He asked if he could use the song for a teaser trailer for a game he was working on (Carpathian Night). Eventually he reached back out and asked if I would compose the soundtrack for the entire game! I was excited, as video game music is what initially got me interested in writing, so I jumped at the chance. That jump-started my work as a composer and since then I have continued to work with his company to produce video game soundtracks and sound design. I have also worked with film-makers who have licensed my music for their film projects. Once I realized I could make money doing what I love most of all, I started making as much music as I possibly could. I have worked with other musicians and collaborated on music projects in many different genres from pop to country to jazz to classical to hip-hop and R&B.
I don’t like to limit myself to one type of music, but the music I write professionally as an artist is the kind of music I want to listen to. I am pretty well stuck in the 80’s aesthetic and love synthwave and synthpop, so that is primarily the music I put out into the world as an artist.
I love collaboration and I think the biggest plus I bring to the table is my ability to add new ideas that elevate a project to new heights. Versatility is another huge part of what I do; being able to work in any genre of music and play tons of instruments, sing, and write lyrics. Working with other creatives can take a lot of patience sometimes, and I like to think I’m very easy-going and easy to work with. There are little conflicts now and then, but I always approach them from a place of communication and cooperation.
What I’m most proud of are the relationships I’ve made through music. I met my wife at a live show I was helping out with. I met some of my very best friends auditioning to be the bassist in a band. I’ve made connections with a lot of very talented people through this line of work and have gotten to peek behind the curtain of a lot of different industries and crafts. Producing my first full album was a big moment in my life. I get so excited making new music and crafting entire bodies of work in ways that tie all the individual pieces together.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The best part of being a creative is the feeling of accomplishment that comes at the end of a big project. That and the excitement of trying an idea that comes to you in the shower or something and having it sound WAY better than you thought it would.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I’m a dad and when my son was born I had to majorly shift how I did anything and everything. Learning how to fit my work into my new life as a stay-at-home dad was a challenge, and it took time to find a balance. I eventually realized that you don’t have to wait for inspiration; if you work at it, you can usually force your mind into a creative space. Any chunk of time I had to work on new music or chip away at a soundtrack, I found I could shift my mind into that mode with a little simple meditation or just messing around on the keyboard looking for new melodies.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @danaaronsynthwave
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danaaronsynthwave
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUE_6fM4TW3CW2zmOtLTpeQ
- Other: You can find my music on Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, YouTube, basically any music service you can find has my music on it.
Image Credits
Jay Ray Photography