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Hello everybody, this is
Keith "MuzikMan" Hannnaleck with The Final on Vinyl Podcast
with Danny John.
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And he is down under in Australia.
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And most recently I covered a uh track that he put out and he had Derek Sherinian uh playing keyboards.
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Um the band is called Fusion the Mafioso, and the song was Fall from Grace, and I really enjoyed that, so I thought it was time we had a talk with Danny and learned a little about his uh his background and some of the music he's made over the years.
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Hi, Danny.
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How are you doing, everyone?
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Hi Kate, thanks so much for uh having me on and having a chat.
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My pleasure, sir.
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So um I'm sure there's a lot to talk about here.
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Uh we've try to keep it around 30 minutes at the most, because I think you lose your listenership after that.
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So uh we'll get as much as we can in here.
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Um how did this whole uh fusion mafioso thing start and how did you get Derek Sharenian in on uh yeah, so fusion mafiosi is just it was a little concept.
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Uh I've been uh recording my music as like a I guess a guitar player, solo artist, if that's the term, since 2006.
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Uh put out my first album in 2006 under my own name, Danny John.
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And then uh I did uh two more albums uh as Danny John Trio.
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Uh anyone can check them out.
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You can actually actually just type my name in Google, uh Danny John Guitar, Danny John Music, and you can check those out.
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They're available on uh iTunes, etc.
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You know, all the Spotify, all the platforms.
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Uh how Fusion Mafiosi came about is uh we we did a tour of the States in 2015, which was just awesome.
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It was fantastic.
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And after that, we kind of I think we got a bit of burnout, so we started doing um a jazz uh band just to get you know more live gigs because the music itself is pretty out there, and we thought, well, you know, there's not it's not a huge audience for fusion rock jazz shred guitar.
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You don't you don't get five gigs a week playing that, so we put together this really uh cool, yeah.
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We put together a what we thought was a really cool jazz uh band, and we'd play some insane stuff like Coltrain, Herbie Hancock, you know, 70s Headhunters, all that kind of stuff, Tribal Tech, um, you know, really insane fusion uh uh music.
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And um we called the band Fusion Mafiosi and we'd invite people to come in and play and so on and so forth.
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And then uh, you know, in about 2018 I started writing this new material, and I thought to I said to the guys, look, this is more than just rock, guitar, shred.
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I've got all these visions, musical visions of you know, uh cello and keyboard and what have you.
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Um, and then you know, when it started taking shape, uh I remembered seeing uh well I'll I'll get to Derek in a bit, but uh in how I how I know him, but um I saw him on Instagram post uh guitar uh post a version of uh Spanish Flyer, an Eddie Van Halen guitar solo, and I'm a like massive, probably the most massive diehard Eddie Van Halen fan you'll ever meet.
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I know everybody likes to say that, but believe me, I am.
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Um and uh I just I just started chatting with him on that and I sent him a video of me playing the Live Without a Net guitar solo, and I sent him that video and we started chatting, and I said to him, Man, I don't know if you remember me, but I went to MI in Hollywood Musicians Institute, and I met you there 20 years ago, 23 years ago.
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And he was like, Yeah.
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And he said, Wow, really?
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And I said, Yeah, man, you signed my guitar, and I sent him the picture of that guitar, and I said, This is you, this is me standing next to each other, this is that guitar.
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So we just started chatting, and uh this is on Instagram of all places, right?
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So not even like a platform that I I I guess many people really chat on.
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Um and then he just said, Yeah, he just said to me, Man, are you doing anything right now?
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And I said, funny you should say that, I am.
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And uh that was so then we you know, six months later, we said because of COVID and all this stuff, right?
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Everything got, you know, travel restrictions, this, that, and whatever.
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Um, we couldn't even rehearse.
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So it took us about six months to get anything recorded for Fall from Grace, you know, the song.
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And then we just sent the rough tracks over to him and he said, mate, I love this.
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And he just started posting it on his Instagram, all his little uh sort of uh take one, take two, take three of his solos that he was doing.
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Um that he was uh playing around with with the ideas, and that's how it came about.
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So, you know, he just ended up playing um on the track, and then I said, Look, this is just one track, we've got more tracks coming out.
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We're just doing a release one by one because it just makes sense with the way the music industry, I think, is structured or going is these days.
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Nobody's really putting out albums, they're just putting out tracks, they're just dropping beats, you know.
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So he's like, Yeah, I'm totally down, I'll do it.
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And then I thought, you know what, it's fusion mafiosi.
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That's it.
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We've got we've got someone else involved.
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We're gonna get other people involved.
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I got my buddy Justin DeVries from Portland, who I went to Musician Institute with, amazing guitar player.
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He actually plays the first guitar solo.
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Uh, if you listen to the song, it it's the first guitar solo that comes in uh after the music, the melody stop.
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He comes in, he takes it goes for about two minutes and 40 seconds.
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He did the whole thing in one take.
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So when it came time for me to record my guitar solo, I had Justin DeVries' blazing guitar solo, then Derek Sheridan's blazing keyboard solo, and I said to the guys, You're gonna have to give me a week.
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I have to write something now because these guys are killing me.
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So I just I was like, I am not recording one take because all our albums that we did in the past we recorded one take in the studio live, and that's the essence of Danny John Trio.
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It's live shred, you know, one take, maybe one or two overdubs.
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But this just ended up being this beautifully orchestrated uh you know piece of music.
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And yeah, I did, man.
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I took a week and a half because these guys are just blazing on this song, as you can imagine, uh Derek Shrenin and Justin DeVries just shredding.
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And uh so finally did my did my solo.
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And I'll tell you something, man, which is a little aside.
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I have a number of speaking of Eddie Van Halen, I have a number of coincidences uh with the Van Halen family, uh, if you will believe it or not.
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Uh my family moved to Australia on Eddie Van Halen's birthday, 26th of January, and uh OU812 was released on my birthday, May 24th.
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And the song Fall from Grace was released on the 4th of October, very sadly, two days before Eddie passed.
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But also I found out uh last week that's the day Eruption was recorded, so I just thought I'd throw that in there.
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So that's pretty much the history of that, man.
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Got a connection there to Eddie, that's for sure.
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And you know, man, you know, you know how to play the guitar if you're keeping up with guys like Sharinia, and you know, I mean, and that that song is long, but it's great, it's got a lot of changes, it's you know, I love jazz rock fusion, absolutely love it.
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And actually, um I turned on to it back in my Navy days in the 80s.
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Somebody handed me uh an Al Di Miola, I think it was Electric Rendezvous, and I listened to that and I went, holy shit, this stuff's unbelievable.
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I couldn't get enough fantastic.
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So, how long have you been playing guitar?
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Yeah, man.
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So, you know, like uh I picked my I I got a uh a guitar, like an old cheap classical guitar when I was eight for my birthday, right?
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So my dad gave me this guitar.
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Music's been in my family forever, man.
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My uh if you go back a hundred years, you know, one of my distant uh granduncles was uh was a composer and he composed music for the King George or something when he when they went to India, you know, and my uncle is uh recording artist, and so I'd just been surrounded by music my whole life.
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And then when I was eight, my dad got me this guitar, and I'd he basically bought the guitar and threw a book and he said, That's music, go learn it, play it if you want, don't play it if you don't want.
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And it pretty much, you know, sat in my in my closet for two years, and then one day in school, uh, we had music class, and they put on this video of Gary Moore, and I was like, Oh my god, this is what I want to do.
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And yeah, man, and then two months later, um, I saw the video for Panama, and I was like, that's it.
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That's definitely it.
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That's what I'm gonna do.
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I took it, I bought uh I took my dad's black electrical tape and white electrical tape and strapped my little classical guitar up with black and white stripes.
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And that was the big that was the beginning, man.
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I removed the bridge from the guitar and put a little paintbrush under it, so it was my pretend whammy bar.
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And that's that's it, dude.
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And then uh my parents saw me just you know trying to jam along to this uh Iron Maiden, Van Halen, ACDC, obviously ACDC Australian band, amazing band.
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And uh, you know, that's that's what I grew up listening to.
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And of course, Van Halen, I just ran out and bought every C D.
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Sorry, back then it was vinyl.
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Uh bought every vinyl and cassette I could.
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And I think the third album I bought was uh Van Halen 1, and of course, you know, just like everybody else in the world, the second song came on and it just changed my life.
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I was like, okay, uh it's gonna be a little bit more than learning A chord, D chord, G chord.
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So that's where it all started, and I just learned pretty much with a cassette player, I would just fast forward, rewind, you know, five notes at a time, six notes at a time, and just learn every single guitar solo, every single guitar part.
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What are we now?
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Nearly 40 years later, or 36 years later, and I can still play all those songs.
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I don't play rock and roll anymore.
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As you can, if you listen to my music, you'll you'll see it's taken a different, uh different direction.
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But I still remember all those songs, you know, the Sin Lizzie, Gary Moore, ACDC, all that stuff.
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So I've been playing for a long time, and then I think I started playing on stage when I was like 15 or 16.
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You know, a bunch of guys in high school get together.
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You know, we used to do White Snake, we used to do uh Gary Moore, Van Halen, we should try and do Van Halen, and uh that was it.
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Um and then I just said to my parents, okay, I just want to play music.
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So I just got on a plane, I literally got on a plane because it were all my family's in the States, right?
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All my family's in America.
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Uh just my parents and me here.
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And yeah, so I just I just said to my mom, I just want to play music, I'm just gonna go to Hollywood.
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And I just got on a plane and uh went to LA and applied to Musicians Institute and got in.
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That was it, man.
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And um, so I met a bunch of amazing musicians.
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A lot of them are pretty, pretty famous, you know, cats now, and uh, you know, whether they're you know Japanese or Swedish or American, so it it was just the best time of my life.
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So I think you know, even playing 10 years prior to that didn't didn't really prepare me for just being in Hollywood at that time amongst those sorts of guys, you know, meeting guys like Steve Lucas there, Derek Shreenyan, Billy Sheen, Mike Stern.
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I studied with Mike Stern, Scott Henderson, Brett Garsett.
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So yeah, dude, it was like I don't know, if you if you're an actor, it'd be like, you know, coming to Hollywood, being a waitress for two years, and then uh just landing on the right set at the right time.
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Well, the Musician Institute is would you this say that's the equal to the Berkeley School of Music here on the West Coast where I'm at?
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I mean the East Coast.
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Right.
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Yeah, man.
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I know where yeah, I look uh Berkeley was actually the first school I applied for, and they sort of wrote back to me and said, you know, oh we're yeah, we we we don't know if we want you.
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Oh really?
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Yeah, at the time Berkeley to me was like the pinnacle, but MI has a different Musician Institute has a different vibe, okay?
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So Berkeley's pretty traditional.
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They they but you know, they got the Juilliards and stuff to compete with, so they're pretty, you know, or at least back then they were pretty uh, I guess, you know, uh uh traditionalists, right?
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Whereas the Musicians Institute has always been a school about getting people into the industry.
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Plus, it's in Hollywood, so you know, all the record companies are there.
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Um so the the the the outlook for Musicians Institute was always different.
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It was always, you know, sticking auditions up on the notice boards, you know, getting the really talented students in front of record companies as soon as possible because the more people they churned out that are famous, the big the the big the higher the the the the credibility of the school is, right?
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So if you know musicians institute, yeah, you'll know a lot of famous people went there.
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Paul Gilbert went there, Frank Abali went there, Scott Henderson still teaches there, Brett Garsard, um Mike Stern has a long history with Musicians Institute.
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All these guys, man, they just come in there all the time.
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Dennis Chambers, I'm talking about the jazz guys now, right?
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Dennis Chambers, Will Lee.
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Yeah, all the monsters.
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Uh Eddie Van Halen actually did a concert there and a clinic there with Alan Holdsworth in '83.
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Steve Vai's been through there about a million times.
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So it's a different vibe.
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But you know, if you're a kid, 18 and you're just walking down the corridors of this school and you walk past Steve Vai and guys like that, John Petrucci, that's where you want to be, right?
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That's where you want to be.
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You don't want to be sitting in a classroom uh talking about uh uh non-resolving dominance and and scale choices.
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You want to be hanging out with the with the people.
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So uh that's that's the kind of school it is.
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Have you heard Petrucci's new album, his solo album?
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I have not.
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And uh what did you say to me before?
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If you don't want to say something, don't say Dream Theatre's, I've got to be honest with you, man.
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You listen to my music, it's there's a lot of odd music.
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There's no four, there's hardly any four-four in my music, and Dream Theater is a massive inspiration to me, but uh, you know, some aspects of that band are more inspirational than other aspects, let's put it that way.
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I hear you.
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I've seen them like I think like n nine times, and I ended up uh befriending Jordan Rudis, and he would get me backstage, and it was a great time of my life to go through all that.
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Yeah, it was really cool.
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And uh he's he's one busy guy.
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They all are.
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They're really good people, down to earth, you know.
00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:23.679
So thinking about your music, so you know this is the final on vinyl, and I want to get vinyl and review your whole album.
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When do you expect that to come out?
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Yeah, so good question, man.
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So we are now in the process, you know, there's a lot of limitations.
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One of them is recording with guys overseas.
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So that we're we're gonna be recording with uh friends of mine in Sweden.
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Uh obviously Derek, again, gonna do some stuff, uh, you know, all got all things going well.
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We might I I never haven't said this, but my drummer doesn't live in the same city as my bass player and me.
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So we've always got these kinds of challenges.
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So that being said, uh we are going to record the drums for the next two songs in December.
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So hopefully by the end of January 2021, uh if it isn't uh if it isn't, you know, uh uh 2021 turning out to be a kind of year that says to 2020, hold my beer, let's see how we can really fuck it up.
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Uh we'll hopefully have this thing recorded by the end of January.
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Two more songs, and then we've got you know, down the track, we're gonna give it a bit of space and record a few more songs later.
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But uh my hope is to um you know do uh do these next two songs, get them out, put this one out on vinyl as well.
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So, man, by March, April next year we should have at least four or five songs out.
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So you want to uh release an ET, but actually it would be like an album as far as length for if they're really long songs like uh the last one, right?
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So yeah, exactly.
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Oh, great.
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Well, I hope you're able to get me the LP if it doesn't cost you a bloody fortune to send it to me.
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Oh no, I'll get it to you, mate.
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It's it's definitely definitely um not a problem there.
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It's just a matter of getting these next two songs.
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Uh incidentally, these next two songs are I are a little bit different to that.
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And you know, given the recent tragic news, um I actually had this really rocky, progressive, very dream theater-ish kind of vibe song written, and uh, but then I realized it's just got all these Van Halen elements to it.
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So we're actually going to call that song Boy from Pasadena, and it's a complete dedication to the king himself.
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So I'm very keen on getting that recorded as soon as possible and released.
00:17:32.639 --> 00:17:35.440
Yeah, that first album, you can't touch it.
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I mean, it's kind of like the first Boston album.
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How do you top it, really?
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You Yeah, yeah.
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It changed the world, man.
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It changed the world, so yeah.
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That very first album.
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Yeah, there's so much energy, so much young exuberance.
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Yeah.
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Sorry, after you.
00:17:55.839 --> 00:18:02.399
Well, I was just wondering, you know, the your relax relaxation time, if you actually have that.
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Um, do you listen to music and if so, what kind?
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Is it something totally different than what you're inspired by just to experiment, or do you have some favorites?
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That's a great question.
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So, you know, being the guitar player, us us guitar players when we grow up, we just want to listen to guitar music.
00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:22.000
We just want to hear our our guitar heroes and whatever.
00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:24.720
Even if you're a jazz guy or a you know, whatever.
00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:30.799
Uh, I think about ten years ago I started thinking to myself I I I basically stopped listening to music about ten years ago.
00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:33.279
Um, other people's music, I should say.
00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:38.319
Um, and I just uh because I just thought to myself, man, you're just listening to guitar players.
00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:39.759
All you do is listen to guitar players.
00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:44.960
You need to get some, you know, different perspectives on life and musical life.
00:18:44.960 --> 00:19:11.359
So I think about ten years ago, I I just started listening to horn players a lot more, um, you know, Michael Brecker, John Coltrane, of course, I've always listened to Coltrane, but more intently, and uh keyboard players because uh, you know, when I uh went to MI, I had good fortune of studying with some great guys, jazz guys, and Frank and Bali really became uh as far as playing and and harmony is concerned, uh uh my major influence for the last 20 years.
00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:24.000
So I I learned that Frank really liked listening to keyboard players because that's how he, you know, that's how he got derived his harmony uh when he was writing stuff, and he used to often write his melodies on piano.
00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:47.039
So I really got into keyboard players like Herbie Hancock, especially Herbie Hancock, and uh a number of other guys like you know, uh Dave Grusser and I got back into uh guys that that were lesser known whose whose melodic styles I really liked, um Bill Evans, these sorts of guys, and then from the sax from the saxophone fold, you know, the breck the Michael Brecker and his brother Randy.
00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:57.279
And um, so for the last ten years I've just been really listening to guys like that, but always definitely, you know, jazz or jazz fusion or jazz rock guys.
00:19:57.279 --> 00:20:00.399
So yeah, man, I don't I don't listen to guitar players.
00:20:00.399 --> 00:20:13.119
Um I think in the last five weeks is the most I've listened to guitar players in the last ten years since Eddie Eddie Van Halen died, um, is when I've just picked up all the old guitar rock out.
00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:17.039
I guess I've been reminiscing, but yeah, for the last ten years just listening to other stuff.
00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:25.680
Not stuff like world music and and and you know folk music, just jazz, heavy shredding stuff, but just other instruments.
00:20:26.399 --> 00:20:29.599
Now Frank Gabali played with Chickaria, right?
00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:31.279
That's correct, yeah.
00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:34.319
All right, so I saw He's also Australian.
00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:35.839
Yeah, I didn't know that.
00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:38.480
See, I remember he's from my hometown.
00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:39.839
Okay.
00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:44.160
Well, you're uh you're striking uh the memory cords in my brain here.
00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:52.639
I went to the 1985 Concord Jazz Festival out in California before I moved back to the East Coast, and Chip Korea was one of the acts.
00:20:52.639 --> 00:20:59.200
And I remember Frank coming out in this like silver jumpsuit and wailing away in the guitar.
00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:02.000
Yeah, yeah, really, really great stuff.
00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:06.399
Well, Frank Frank Mbali is a graduate of Musicians Institute.
00:21:06.399 --> 00:21:19.839
He graduated there in 1982 or 83 when he was 21, and they gave him a teaching job straight away, and I think within a year Chick saw him playing somewhere and he said, Come and audition, and he just got the gig straight away.
00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:35.039
Um, because obviously, like for me, there's three there's there's there's two guitar players above anyone else, and of course I'm gonna cop Blackford, but for me there's Eddie Van Halen and there's Frank Gambali, and then there's uh distant, not so distant third is Ingvai Malmstein.
00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:40.079
So those three guys for me just changed music forever, you know.
00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:44.160
One guitar music, two jazz and rock.
00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:52.960
So, um yeah, so for me Frank and uh Ed were my two big influences, but from a musical perspective, definitely Frank.
00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:58.319
I mean you don't you don't push the boundaries anywhere near what that guy does on guitar.
00:21:58.319 --> 00:21:59.440
Nobody can.
00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:03.519
And you got your shredding influence from Ingve, probably, right?
00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:06.879
He does a lot of uh Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:10.079
Those three guys were like it for me, man.
00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:11.119
Uh love it.
00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:12.480
Yeah, for me it's about the energy.
00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:13.599
You know, it's about the energy.
00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:15.039
I love Eric Clapton.
00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:22.559
He doesn't play fast, but if you get my the hairs on my arms standing up, then you got my attention forever, you know.
00:22:24.639 --> 00:22:26.720
So has music been good to you?
00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:28.240
Do you actually make a living from it?
00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:34.319
Or is it just something that you're passionate about and do on the side and have a day job like a lot of the indie folks?
00:22:35.440 --> 00:22:42.720
Yeah, well, look, man, it it's it's I make I can't say a living because um, you know, it's very difficult nowadays.
00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:52.240
But uh, so yeah, I ha I have other things I do, plus, you know, it the kind of music I play, it's never, you know, Madonna's not gonna ring me up.
00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:56.319
Lady Gaga's not gonna ring me up to play guitar on her album, let's put it that way.
00:22:56.319 --> 00:23:00.960
So, you know, I just do it, I just do it for for the art, you know.
00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:04.879
Um I I have a day job, it allows me to play the music, you know.
00:23:04.879 --> 00:23:07.680
I have a day job that I'm very happy about.
00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:11.759
And the other thing with the music for me is, you know, I when I was in my 20s, that's what I was doing.
00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:17.920
I was playing with other people, making them, you know, making money on making money for them, you know what I mean?
00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:37.359
And uh I just always yeah, I just always had it in my head that you know what I'm I'm not a I'm not a pop guy, I'm not a side man, you know, there's already an Ingve, there's already a Eddie Van Halen, there's already a um, you know, Steve Vai, my music's different.
00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:38.799
It's I'm just gonna do it.
00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:45.119
I'm just gonna do what I do, and if that means I'm gonna put out an album and ten people are gonna hear it, so be it.
00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:56.879
If I put it out and somebody, you know that being said, man, in our last uh uh album we did in 2011, which you guys actually reviewed way back in the day, um Mr.
00:23:56.879 --> 00:24:05.680
Twister, that actually charted um on the UK jazz charts for like six months in the top 50.
00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:13.920
But you know, for me it doesn't even I found that out y yeah, I found that out years later, but you know, uh it that's not what that's not what it's about for me.
00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:21.839
And uh the last album I did um Tres Bandidos, we uh we got up to number seven on the US charts.
00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:25.680
So, you know, uh yeah, it's not about that for me.
00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:35.359
It's you know, that's nice, but you know, if uh once I'm gone, my kids are in their fifties and they go, Yeah, my dad made that, I'll be happy.
00:24:36.399 --> 00:24:38.879
Well, bottom line is you do it for you.
00:24:38.879 --> 00:24:47.519
And it's your it's your it's your place that you go where you feel creative and whole and it it continues to inspire you.
00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:52.480
And that's how I feel about writing and listening to music and trying to get it out there to people, you know.
00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:53.359
I feel the same way.
00:24:53.359 --> 00:24:59.839
It's just a different way of expressing myself instead of picking up a guitar or playing a keyboard or whatever, you know.
00:24:59.839 --> 00:25:02.639
So hundred percent, hundred percent.
00:25:02.639 --> 00:25:04.480
Yeah, hundred percent.
00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:13.839
Well, it's been a lot of fun talking to you, Danny, and uh I appreciate you get up in the wee hours of the morning down there in Australia.
00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:16.879
And thanks so much, mate.
00:25:16.879 --> 00:25:17.599
Thanks, yeah.
00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:21.039
Thank you for uh reaching out and asking me to have a chat with you.
00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:29.519
Uh hopefully we'll have many more chats, and hopefully you'll get to listen to much well not hopefully, you'll definitely get to listen to much more of my stuff.
00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:32.399
And um, yeah, again, thanks heaps, mate.
00:25:32.399 --> 00:25:33.599
It was my pleasure.
00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:35.039
Oh, my pleasure too.
00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:39.279
So everybody, if you're listening, check out Fusion Mafiosi.
00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:40.960
I said mafioso before.
00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:42.319
It's Fusion Mafiosi.
00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:43.839
Welcome Grace.
00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:47.680
It's actually on one of my sites called rapetracks.com.
00:25:47.680 --> 00:26:00.399
Um, but this is the final on vinyl, and I look forward to listening to the vinyl when it comes out for Danny John and his band uh probably spring next year, around that time, March uh that time slot, right, Danny?
00:26:00.399 --> 00:26:02.559
That's correct, yes.
00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:03.599
All right.
00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:10.000
Well, I'll sign off and uh we'll get this posted today so everybody can listen to the interview, okay?
00:26:10.799 --> 00:26:11.359
Beautiful.
00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:12.079
Thanks, guys.
00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:12.720
Thanks, Kate.
00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:13.680
Have a good one.
00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:14.480
You too.
00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:15.519
Bye bye.
00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:16.399
Bye.
00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:18.559
Hello everybody, this is
Keith "MuzikMan" Hannnaleck with The Final on Vinyl Podcast
with Danny John.
00:00:18.559 --> 00:00:22.160
And he is down under in Australia.
00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:30.159
And most recently I covered a uh track that he put out and he had Derek Sherinian uh playing keyboards.
00:00:30.159 --> 00:00:43.840
Um the band is called Fusion the Mafioso, and the song was Fall from Grace, and I really enjoyed that, so I thought it was time we had a talk with Danny and learned a little about his uh his background and some of the music he's made over the years.
00:00:43.840 --> 00:00:45.120
Hi, Danny.
00:00:45.920 --> 00:00:46.960
How are you doing, everyone?
00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:51.120
Hi Kate, thanks so much for uh having me on and having a chat.
00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:53.039
My pleasure, sir.
00:00:53.039 --> 00:00:57.840
So um I'm sure there's a lot to talk about here.
00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:05.439
Uh we've try to keep it around 30 minutes at the most, because I think you lose your listenership after that.
00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:09.280
So uh we'll get as much as we can in here.
00:01:09.280 --> 00:01:23.200
Um how did this whole uh fusion mafioso thing start and how did you get Derek Sharenian in on uh yeah, so fusion mafiosi is just it was a little concept.
00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:32.480
Uh I've been uh recording my music as like a I guess a guitar player, solo artist, if that's the term, since 2006.
00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:37.120
Uh put out my first album in 2006 under my own name, Danny John.
00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:43.040
And then uh I did uh two more albums uh as Danny John Trio.
00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:45.200
Uh anyone can check them out.
00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:51.680
You can actually actually just type my name in Google, uh Danny John Guitar, Danny John Music, and you can check those out.
00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:54.320
They're available on uh iTunes, etc.
00:01:54.320 --> 00:01:56.799
You know, all the Spotify, all the platforms.
00:01:56.799 --> 00:02:04.879
Uh how Fusion Mafiosi came about is uh we we did a tour of the States in 2015, which was just awesome.
00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:06.159
It was fantastic.
00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:24.240
And after that, we kind of I think we got a bit of burnout, so we started doing um a jazz uh band just to get you know more live gigs because the music itself is pretty out there, and we thought, well, you know, there's not it's not a huge audience for fusion rock jazz shred guitar.
00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:30.319
You don't you don't get five gigs a week playing that, so we put together this really uh cool, yeah.
00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:47.360
We put together a what we thought was a really cool jazz uh band, and we'd play some insane stuff like Coltrain, Herbie Hancock, you know, 70s Headhunters, all that kind of stuff, Tribal Tech, um, you know, really insane fusion uh uh music.
00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:54.400
And um we called the band Fusion Mafiosi and we'd invite people to come in and play and so on and so forth.
00:02:54.400 --> 00:03:04.479
And then uh, you know, in about 2018 I started writing this new material, and I thought to I said to the guys, look, this is more than just rock, guitar, shred.
00:03:04.479 --> 00:03:11.280
I've got all these visions, musical visions of you know, uh cello and keyboard and what have you.
00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:36.000
Um, and then you know, when it started taking shape, uh I remembered seeing uh well I'll I'll get to Derek in a bit, but uh in how I how I know him, but um I saw him on Instagram post uh guitar uh post a version of uh Spanish Flyer, an Eddie Van Halen guitar solo, and I'm a like massive, probably the most massive diehard Eddie Van Halen fan you'll ever meet.
00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:38.640
I know everybody likes to say that, but believe me, I am.
00:03:38.640 --> 00:04:01.759
Um and uh I just I just started chatting with him on that and I sent him a video of me playing the Live Without a Net guitar solo, and I sent him that video and we started chatting, and I said to him, Man, I don't know if you remember me, but I went to MI in Hollywood Musicians Institute, and I met you there 20 years ago, 23 years ago.
00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:03.520
And he was like, Yeah.
00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:05.840
And he said, Wow, really?
00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:13.599
And I said, Yeah, man, you signed my guitar, and I sent him the picture of that guitar, and I said, This is you, this is me standing next to each other, this is that guitar.
00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:18.639
So we just started chatting, and uh this is on Instagram of all places, right?
00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:23.519
So not even like a platform that I I I guess many people really chat on.
00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:28.399
Um and then he just said, Yeah, he just said to me, Man, are you doing anything right now?
00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:31.439
And I said, funny you should say that, I am.
00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:40.719
And uh that was so then we you know, six months later, we said because of COVID and all this stuff, right?
00:04:40.719 --> 00:04:44.239
Everything got, you know, travel restrictions, this, that, and whatever.
00:04:44.239 --> 00:04:45.839
Um, we couldn't even rehearse.
00:04:45.839 --> 00:04:51.119
So it took us about six months to get anything recorded for Fall from Grace, you know, the song.
00:04:51.119 --> 00:04:54.879
And then we just sent the rough tracks over to him and he said, mate, I love this.
00:04:54.879 --> 00:05:03.679
And he just started posting it on his Instagram, all his little uh sort of uh take one, take two, take three of his solos that he was doing.
00:05:03.679 --> 00:05:09.359
Um that he was uh playing around with with the ideas, and that's how it came about.
00:05:09.359 --> 00:05:17.279
So, you know, he just ended up playing um on the track, and then I said, Look, this is just one track, we've got more tracks coming out.
00:05:17.279 --> 00:05:24.000
We're just doing a release one by one because it just makes sense with the way the music industry, I think, is structured or going is these days.
00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:28.079
Nobody's really putting out albums, they're just putting out tracks, they're just dropping beats, you know.
00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:30.319
So he's like, Yeah, I'm totally down, I'll do it.
00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:33.039
And then I thought, you know what, it's fusion mafiosi.
00:05:33.039 --> 00:05:33.439
That's it.
00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:35.119
We've got we've got someone else involved.
00:05:35.119 --> 00:05:36.559
We're gonna get other people involved.
00:05:36.559 --> 00:05:42.399
I got my buddy Justin DeVries from Portland, who I went to Musician Institute with, amazing guitar player.
00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:44.319
He actually plays the first guitar solo.
00:05:44.319 --> 00:05:51.039
Uh, if you listen to the song, it it's the first guitar solo that comes in uh after the music, the melody stop.
00:05:51.039 --> 00:05:54.159
He comes in, he takes it goes for about two minutes and 40 seconds.
00:05:54.159 --> 00:05:56.239
He did the whole thing in one take.
00:05:56.239 --> 00:06:08.879
So when it came time for me to record my guitar solo, I had Justin DeVries' blazing guitar solo, then Derek Sheridan's blazing keyboard solo, and I said to the guys, You're gonna have to give me a week.
00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:11.759
I have to write something now because these guys are killing me.
00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:25.279
So I just I was like, I am not recording one take because all our albums that we did in the past we recorded one take in the studio live, and that's the essence of Danny John Trio.
00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:29.119
It's live shred, you know, one take, maybe one or two overdubs.
00:06:29.119 --> 00:06:34.159
But this just ended up being this beautifully orchestrated uh you know piece of music.
00:06:34.159 --> 00:06:35.199
And yeah, I did, man.
00:06:35.199 --> 00:06:45.359
I took a week and a half because these guys are just blazing on this song, as you can imagine, uh Derek Shrenin and Justin DeVries just shredding.
00:06:45.359 --> 00:06:48.719
And uh so finally did my did my solo.
00:06:48.719 --> 00:06:51.599
And I'll tell you something, man, which is a little aside.
00:06:51.599 --> 00:06:59.279
I have a number of speaking of Eddie Van Halen, I have a number of coincidences uh with the Van Halen family, uh, if you will believe it or not.
00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:08.319
Uh my family moved to Australia on Eddie Van Halen's birthday, 26th of January, and uh OU812 was released on my birthday, May 24th.
00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:16.239
And the song Fall from Grace was released on the 4th of October, very sadly, two days before Eddie passed.
00:07:16.239 --> 00:07:23.759
But also I found out uh last week that's the day Eruption was recorded, so I just thought I'd throw that in there.
00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:26.239
So that's pretty much the history of that, man.
00:07:27.039 --> 00:07:29.199
Got a connection there to Eddie, that's for sure.
00:07:29.199 --> 00:07:45.359
And you know, man, you know, you know how to play the guitar if you're keeping up with guys like Sharinia, and you know, I mean, and that that song is long, but it's great, it's got a lot of changes, it's you know, I love jazz rock fusion, absolutely love it.
00:07:45.359 --> 00:07:50.239
And actually, um I turned on to it back in my Navy days in the 80s.
00:07:50.239 --> 00:07:59.359
Somebody handed me uh an Al Di Miola, I think it was Electric Rendezvous, and I listened to that and I went, holy shit, this stuff's unbelievable.
00:07:59.359 --> 00:08:02.079
I couldn't get enough fantastic.
00:08:02.079 --> 00:08:06.159
So, how long have you been playing guitar?
00:08:07.359 --> 00:08:08.159
Yeah, man.
00:08:08.159 --> 00:08:17.199
So, you know, like uh I picked my I I got a uh a guitar, like an old cheap classical guitar when I was eight for my birthday, right?
00:08:17.199 --> 00:08:18.959
So my dad gave me this guitar.
00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:21.039
Music's been in my family forever, man.
00:08:21.039 --> 00:08:38.960
My uh if you go back a hundred years, you know, one of my distant uh granduncles was uh was a composer and he composed music for the King George or something when he when they went to India, you know, and my uncle is uh recording artist, and so I'd just been surrounded by music my whole life.
00:08:38.960 --> 00:08:49.039
And then when I was eight, my dad got me this guitar, and I'd he basically bought the guitar and threw a book and he said, That's music, go learn it, play it if you want, don't play it if you don't want.
00:08:49.039 --> 00:09:03.120
And it pretty much, you know, sat in my in my closet for two years, and then one day in school, uh, we had music class, and they put on this video of Gary Moore, and I was like, Oh my god, this is what I want to do.
00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:10.959
And yeah, man, and then two months later, um, I saw the video for Panama, and I was like, that's it.
00:09:10.959 --> 00:09:12.000
That's definitely it.
00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:12.879
That's what I'm gonna do.
00:09:12.879 --> 00:09:22.480
I took it, I bought uh I took my dad's black electrical tape and white electrical tape and strapped my little classical guitar up with black and white stripes.
00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:27.039
And that was the big that was the beginning, man.
00:09:27.039 --> 00:09:33.360
I removed the bridge from the guitar and put a little paintbrush under it, so it was my pretend whammy bar.
00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:37.679
And that's that's it, dude.
00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:47.839
And then uh my parents saw me just you know trying to jam along to this uh Iron Maiden, Van Halen, ACDC, obviously ACDC Australian band, amazing band.
00:09:47.839 --> 00:09:51.199
And uh, you know, that's that's what I grew up listening to.
00:09:51.199 --> 00:09:54.319
And of course, Van Halen, I just ran out and bought every C D.
00:09:54.319 --> 00:09:56.240
Sorry, back then it was vinyl.
00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:59.679
Uh bought every vinyl and cassette I could.
00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:09.519
And I think the third album I bought was uh Van Halen 1, and of course, you know, just like everybody else in the world, the second song came on and it just changed my life.
00:10:09.519 --> 00:10:14.799
I was like, okay, uh it's gonna be a little bit more than learning A chord, D chord, G chord.
00:10:14.799 --> 00:10:29.679
So that's where it all started, and I just learned pretty much with a cassette player, I would just fast forward, rewind, you know, five notes at a time, six notes at a time, and just learn every single guitar solo, every single guitar part.
00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:30.639
What are we now?
00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:36.240
Nearly 40 years later, or 36 years later, and I can still play all those songs.
00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:38.000
I don't play rock and roll anymore.
00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:42.639
As you can, if you listen to my music, you'll you'll see it's taken a different, uh different direction.
00:10:42.639 --> 00:10:47.839
But I still remember all those songs, you know, the Sin Lizzie, Gary Moore, ACDC, all that stuff.
00:10:47.839 --> 00:10:54.399
So I've been playing for a long time, and then I think I started playing on stage when I was like 15 or 16.
00:10:54.399 --> 00:10:56.959
You know, a bunch of guys in high school get together.
00:10:56.959 --> 00:11:04.399
You know, we used to do White Snake, we used to do uh Gary Moore, Van Halen, we should try and do Van Halen, and uh that was it.
00:11:04.399 --> 00:11:09.360
Um and then I just said to my parents, okay, I just want to play music.
00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:14.159
So I just got on a plane, I literally got on a plane because it were all my family's in the States, right?
00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:15.600
All my family's in America.
00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:17.360
Uh just my parents and me here.
00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:23.600
And yeah, so I just I just said to my mom, I just want to play music, I'm just gonna go to Hollywood.
00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:30.000
And I just got on a plane and uh went to LA and applied to Musicians Institute and got in.
00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:31.039
That was it, man.
00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:35.199
And um, so I met a bunch of amazing musicians.
00:11:35.199 --> 00:11:47.360
A lot of them are pretty, pretty famous, you know, cats now, and uh, you know, whether they're you know Japanese or Swedish or American, so it it was just the best time of my life.
00:11:47.360 --> 00:12:01.120
So I think you know, even playing 10 years prior to that didn't didn't really prepare me for just being in Hollywood at that time amongst those sorts of guys, you know, meeting guys like Steve Lucas there, Derek Shreenyan, Billy Sheen, Mike Stern.
00:12:01.120 --> 00:12:04.159
I studied with Mike Stern, Scott Henderson, Brett Garsett.
00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:14.559
So yeah, dude, it was like I don't know, if you if you're an actor, it'd be like, you know, coming to Hollywood, being a waitress for two years, and then uh just landing on the right set at the right time.
00:12:16.240 --> 00:12:22.879
Well, the Musician Institute is would you this say that's the equal to the Berkeley School of Music here on the West Coast where I'm at?
00:12:22.879 --> 00:12:23.839
I mean the East Coast.
00:12:23.839 --> 00:12:24.159
Right.
00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:25.679
Yeah, man.
00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:37.439
I know where yeah, I look uh Berkeley was actually the first school I applied for, and they sort of wrote back to me and said, you know, oh we're yeah, we we we don't know if we want you.
00:12:37.439 --> 00:12:39.360
Oh really?
00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:47.039
Yeah, at the time Berkeley to me was like the pinnacle, but MI has a different Musician Institute has a different vibe, okay?
00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:48.959
So Berkeley's pretty traditional.
00:12:48.959 --> 00:12:59.439
They they but you know, they got the Juilliards and stuff to compete with, so they're pretty, you know, or at least back then they were pretty uh, I guess, you know, uh uh traditionalists, right?
00:12:59.439 --> 00:13:04.240
Whereas the Musicians Institute has always been a school about getting people into the industry.
00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:07.839
Plus, it's in Hollywood, so you know, all the record companies are there.
00:13:07.839 --> 00:13:11.679
Um so the the the the outlook for Musicians Institute was always different.
00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:28.319
It was always, you know, sticking auditions up on the notice boards, you know, getting the really talented students in front of record companies as soon as possible because the more people they churned out that are famous, the big the the big the higher the the the the credibility of the school is, right?
00:13:28.319 --> 00:13:32.799
So if you know musicians institute, yeah, you'll know a lot of famous people went there.
00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:42.879
Paul Gilbert went there, Frank Abali went there, Scott Henderson still teaches there, Brett Garsard, um Mike Stern has a long history with Musicians Institute.
00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:45.199
All these guys, man, they just come in there all the time.
00:13:45.199 --> 00:13:47.839
Dennis Chambers, I'm talking about the jazz guys now, right?
00:13:47.839 --> 00:13:49.759
Dennis Chambers, Will Lee.
00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:51.439
Yeah, all the monsters.
00:13:51.439 --> 00:13:56.879
Uh Eddie Van Halen actually did a concert there and a clinic there with Alan Holdsworth in '83.
00:13:56.879 --> 00:14:00.399
Steve Vai's been through there about a million times.
00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:02.000
So it's a different vibe.
00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:12.159
But you know, if you're a kid, 18 and you're just walking down the corridors of this school and you walk past Steve Vai and guys like that, John Petrucci, that's where you want to be, right?
00:14:12.159 --> 00:14:12.879
That's where you want to be.
00:14:12.879 --> 00:14:19.919
You don't want to be sitting in a classroom uh talking about uh uh non-resolving dominance and and scale choices.
00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:22.079
You want to be hanging out with the with the people.
00:14:22.079 --> 00:14:25.039
So uh that's that's the kind of school it is.
00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:28.959
Have you heard Petrucci's new album, his solo album?
00:14:30.240 --> 00:14:31.519
I have not.
00:14:31.519 --> 00:14:33.759
And uh what did you say to me before?
00:14:33.759 --> 00:14:40.480
If you don't want to say something, don't say Dream Theatre's, I've got to be honest with you, man.
00:14:40.480 --> 00:14:43.279
You listen to my music, it's there's a lot of odd music.
00:14:43.279 --> 00:14:55.360
There's no four, there's hardly any four-four in my music, and Dream Theater is a massive inspiration to me, but uh, you know, some aspects of that band are more inspirational than other aspects, let's put it that way.
00:14:55.679 --> 00:14:56.559
I hear you.
00:14:56.559 --> 00:15:07.759
I've seen them like I think like n nine times, and I ended up uh befriending Jordan Rudis, and he would get me backstage, and it was a great time of my life to go through all that.
00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:09.039
Yeah, it was really cool.
00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:11.679
And uh he's he's one busy guy.
00:15:11.679 --> 00:15:12.639
They all are.
00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:15.279
They're really good people, down to earth, you know.
00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:23.679
So thinking about your music, so you know this is the final on vinyl, and I want to get vinyl and review your whole album.
00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:25.919
When do you expect that to come out?
00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:28.240
Yeah, so good question, man.
00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:31.839
So we are now in the process, you know, there's a lot of limitations.
00:15:31.839 --> 00:15:34.480
One of them is recording with guys overseas.
00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:38.799
So that we're we're gonna be recording with uh friends of mine in Sweden.
00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:45.679
Uh obviously Derek, again, gonna do some stuff, uh, you know, all got all things going well.
00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:52.000
We might I I never haven't said this, but my drummer doesn't live in the same city as my bass player and me.
00:15:52.000 --> 00:15:54.480
So we've always got these kinds of challenges.
00:15:54.480 --> 00:16:02.159
So that being said, uh we are going to record the drums for the next two songs in December.
00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:16.159
So hopefully by the end of January 2021, uh if it isn't uh if it isn't, you know, uh uh 2021 turning out to be a kind of year that says to 2020, hold my beer, let's see how we can really fuck it up.
00:16:16.159 --> 00:16:19.839
Uh we'll hopefully have this thing recorded by the end of January.
00:16:19.839 --> 00:16:25.279
Two more songs, and then we've got you know, down the track, we're gonna give it a bit of space and record a few more songs later.
00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:33.439
But uh my hope is to um you know do uh do these next two songs, get them out, put this one out on vinyl as well.
00:16:33.439 --> 00:16:38.559
So, man, by March, April next year we should have at least four or five songs out.
00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:47.919
So you want to uh release an ET, but actually it would be like an album as far as length for if they're really long songs like uh the last one, right?
00:16:48.079 --> 00:16:50.159
So yeah, exactly.
00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:51.519
Oh, great.
00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:57.120
Well, I hope you're able to get me the LP if it doesn't cost you a bloody fortune to send it to me.
00:16:57.600 --> 00:16:59.199
Oh no, I'll get it to you, mate.
00:16:59.199 --> 00:17:02.159
It's it's definitely definitely um not a problem there.
00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:04.160
It's just a matter of getting these next two songs.
00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:08.160
Uh incidentally, these next two songs are I are a little bit different to that.
00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:21.599
And you know, given the recent tragic news, um I actually had this really rocky, progressive, very dream theater-ish kind of vibe song written, and uh, but then I realized it's just got all these Van Halen elements to it.
00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:26.960
So we're actually going to call that song Boy from Pasadena, and it's a complete dedication to the king himself.
00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:32.319
So I'm very keen on getting that recorded as soon as possible and released.
00:17:32.639 --> 00:17:35.440
Yeah, that first album, you can't touch it.
00:17:35.440 --> 00:17:37.599
I mean, it's kind of like the first Boston album.
00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:39.119
How do you top it, really?
00:17:39.119 --> 00:17:40.960
You Yeah, yeah.
00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:42.319
It changed the world, man.
00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:44.319
It changed the world, so yeah.
00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:49.599
That very first album.
00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:54.079
Yeah, there's so much energy, so much young exuberance.
00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:54.319
Yeah.
00:17:54.319 --> 00:17:55.519
Sorry, after you.
00:17:55.839 --> 00:18:02.399
Well, I was just wondering, you know, the your relax relaxation time, if you actually have that.
00:18:02.399 --> 00:18:05.519
Um, do you listen to music and if so, what kind?
00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:12.160
Is it something totally different than what you're inspired by just to experiment, or do you have some favorites?
00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:14.480
That's a great question.
00:18:14.480 --> 00:18:19.440
So, you know, being the guitar player, us us guitar players when we grow up, we just want to listen to guitar music.
00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:22.000
We just want to hear our our guitar heroes and whatever.
00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:24.720
Even if you're a jazz guy or a you know, whatever.
00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:30.799
Uh, I think about ten years ago I started thinking to myself I I I basically stopped listening to music about ten years ago.
00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:33.279
Um, other people's music, I should say.
00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:38.319
Um, and I just uh because I just thought to myself, man, you're just listening to guitar players.
00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:39.759
All you do is listen to guitar players.
00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:44.960
You need to get some, you know, different perspectives on life and musical life.
00:18:44.960 --> 00:19:11.359
So I think about ten years ago, I I just started listening to horn players a lot more, um, you know, Michael Brecker, John Coltrane, of course, I've always listened to Coltrane, but more intently, and uh keyboard players because uh, you know, when I uh went to MI, I had good fortune of studying with some great guys, jazz guys, and Frank and Bali really became uh as far as playing and and harmony is concerned, uh uh my major influence for the last 20 years.
00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:24.000
So I I learned that Frank really liked listening to keyboard players because that's how he, you know, that's how he got derived his harmony uh when he was writing stuff, and he used to often write his melodies on piano.
00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:47.039
So I really got into keyboard players like Herbie Hancock, especially Herbie Hancock, and uh a number of other guys like you know, uh Dave Grusser and I got back into uh guys that that were lesser known whose whose melodic styles I really liked, um Bill Evans, these sorts of guys, and then from the sax from the saxophone fold, you know, the breck the Michael Brecker and his brother Randy.
00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:57.279
And um, so for the last ten years I've just been really listening to guys like that, but always definitely, you know, jazz or jazz fusion or jazz rock guys.
00:19:57.279 --> 00:20:00.399
So yeah, man, I don't I don't listen to guitar players.
00:20:00.399 --> 00:20:13.119
Um I think in the last five weeks is the most I've listened to guitar players in the last ten years since Eddie Eddie Van Halen died, um, is when I've just picked up all the old guitar rock out.
00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:17.039
I guess I've been reminiscing, but yeah, for the last ten years just listening to other stuff.
00:20:17.039 --> 00:20:25.680
Not stuff like world music and and and you know folk music, just jazz, heavy shredding stuff, but just other instruments.
00:20:26.399 --> 00:20:29.599
Now Frank Gabali played with Chickaria, right?
00:20:30.160 --> 00:20:31.279
That's correct, yeah.
00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:34.319
All right, so I saw He's also Australian.
00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:35.839
Yeah, I didn't know that.
00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:38.480
See, I remember he's from my hometown.
00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:39.839
Okay.
00:20:39.839 --> 00:20:44.160
Well, you're uh you're striking uh the memory cords in my brain here.
00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:52.639
I went to the 1985 Concord Jazz Festival out in California before I moved back to the East Coast, and Chip Korea was one of the acts.
00:20:52.639 --> 00:20:59.200
And I remember Frank coming out in this like silver jumpsuit and wailing away in the guitar.
00:20:59.200 --> 00:21:02.000
Yeah, yeah, really, really great stuff.
00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:06.399
Well, Frank Frank Mbali is a graduate of Musicians Institute.
00:21:06.399 --> 00:21:19.839
He graduated there in 1982 or 83 when he was 21, and they gave him a teaching job straight away, and I think within a year Chick saw him playing somewhere and he said, Come and audition, and he just got the gig straight away.
00:21:19.839 --> 00:21:35.039
Um, because obviously, like for me, there's three there's there's there's two guitar players above anyone else, and of course I'm gonna cop Blackford, but for me there's Eddie Van Halen and there's Frank Gambali, and then there's uh distant, not so distant third is Ingvai Malmstein.
00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:40.079
So those three guys for me just changed music forever, you know.
00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:44.160
One guitar music, two jazz and rock.
00:21:44.160 --> 00:21:52.960
So, um yeah, so for me Frank and uh Ed were my two big influences, but from a musical perspective, definitely Frank.
00:21:52.960 --> 00:21:58.319
I mean you don't you don't push the boundaries anywhere near what that guy does on guitar.
00:21:58.319 --> 00:21:59.440
Nobody can.
00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:03.519
And you got your shredding influence from Ingve, probably, right?
00:22:03.519 --> 00:22:06.879
He does a lot of uh Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:10.079
Those three guys were like it for me, man.
00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:11.119
Uh love it.
00:22:11.119 --> 00:22:12.480
Yeah, for me it's about the energy.
00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:13.599
You know, it's about the energy.
00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:15.039
I love Eric Clapton.
00:22:15.039 --> 00:22:22.559
He doesn't play fast, but if you get my the hairs on my arms standing up, then you got my attention forever, you know.
00:22:24.639 --> 00:22:26.720
So has music been good to you?
00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:28.240
Do you actually make a living from it?
00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:34.319
Or is it just something that you're passionate about and do on the side and have a day job like a lot of the indie folks?
00:22:35.440 --> 00:22:42.720
Yeah, well, look, man, it it's it's I make I can't say a living because um, you know, it's very difficult nowadays.
00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:52.240
But uh, so yeah, I ha I have other things I do, plus, you know, it the kind of music I play, it's never, you know, Madonna's not gonna ring me up.
00:22:52.240 --> 00:22:56.319
Lady Gaga's not gonna ring me up to play guitar on her album, let's put it that way.
00:22:56.319 --> 00:23:00.960
So, you know, I just do it, I just do it for for the art, you know.
00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:04.879
Um I I have a day job, it allows me to play the music, you know.
00:23:04.879 --> 00:23:07.680
I have a day job that I'm very happy about.
00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:11.759
And the other thing with the music for me is, you know, I when I was in my 20s, that's what I was doing.
00:23:11.759 --> 00:23:17.920
I was playing with other people, making them, you know, making money on making money for them, you know what I mean?
00:23:17.920 --> 00:23:37.359
And uh I just always yeah, I just always had it in my head that you know what I'm I'm not a I'm not a pop guy, I'm not a side man, you know, there's already an Ingve, there's already a Eddie Van Halen, there's already a um, you know, Steve Vai, my music's different.
00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:38.799
It's I'm just gonna do it.
00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:45.119
I'm just gonna do what I do, and if that means I'm gonna put out an album and ten people are gonna hear it, so be it.
00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:56.879
If I put it out and somebody, you know that being said, man, in our last uh uh album we did in 2011, which you guys actually reviewed way back in the day, um Mr.
00:23:56.879 --> 00:24:05.680
Twister, that actually charted um on the UK jazz charts for like six months in the top 50.
00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:13.920
But you know, for me it doesn't even I found that out y yeah, I found that out years later, but you know, uh it that's not what that's not what it's about for me.
00:24:13.920 --> 00:24:21.839
And uh the last album I did um Tres Bandidos, we uh we got up to number seven on the US charts.
00:24:21.839 --> 00:24:25.680
So, you know, uh yeah, it's not about that for me.
00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:35.359
It's you know, that's nice, but you know, if uh once I'm gone, my kids are in their fifties and they go, Yeah, my dad made that, I'll be happy.
00:24:36.399 --> 00:24:38.879
Well, bottom line is you do it for you.
00:24:38.879 --> 00:24:47.519
And it's your it's your it's your place that you go where you feel creative and whole and it it continues to inspire you.
00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:52.480
And that's how I feel about writing and listening to music and trying to get it out there to people, you know.
00:24:52.480 --> 00:24:53.359
I feel the same way.
00:24:53.359 --> 00:24:59.839
It's just a different way of expressing myself instead of picking up a guitar or playing a keyboard or whatever, you know.
00:24:59.839 --> 00:25:02.639
So hundred percent, hundred percent.
00:25:02.639 --> 00:25:04.480
Yeah, hundred percent.
00:25:04.480 --> 00:25:13.839
Well, it's been a lot of fun talking to you, Danny, and uh I appreciate you get up in the wee hours of the morning down there in Australia.
00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:16.879
And thanks so much, mate.
00:25:16.879 --> 00:25:17.599
Thanks, yeah.
00:25:17.599 --> 00:25:21.039
Thank you for uh reaching out and asking me to have a chat with you.
00:25:21.039 --> 00:25:29.519
Uh hopefully we'll have many more chats, and hopefully you'll get to listen to much well not hopefully, you'll definitely get to listen to much more of my stuff.
00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:32.399
And um, yeah, again, thanks heaps, mate.
00:25:32.399 --> 00:25:33.599
It was my pleasure.
00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:35.039
Oh, my pleasure too.
00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:39.279
So everybody, if you're listening, check out Fusion Mafiosi.
00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:40.960
I said mafioso before.
00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:42.319
It's Fusion Mafiosi.
00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:43.839
Welcome Grace.
00:25:43.839 --> 00:25:47.680
It's actually on one of my sites called rapetracks.com.
00:25:47.680 --> 00:26:00.399
Um, but this is the final on vinyl, and I look forward to listening to the vinyl when it comes out for Danny John and his band uh probably spring next year, around that time, March uh that time slot, right, Danny?
00:26:00.399 --> 00:26:02.559
That's correct, yes.
00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:03.599
All right.
00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:10.000
Well, I'll sign off and uh we'll get this posted today so everybody can listen to the interview, okay?
00:26:10.799 --> 00:26:11.359
Beautiful.
00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:12.079
Thanks, guys.
00:26:12.079 --> 00:26:12.720
Thanks, Kate.
00:26:12.720 --> 00:26:13.680
Have a good one.
00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:14.480
You too.
00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:15.519
Bye bye.
00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:16.399
Bye.
