Laura Klonowski
17 year old Danny Simm, is the Wigan born, music producer, songwriter, radio presenter and musician.
I was lucky enough to catch up with the man himself, for a quick chat via email, where Danny talks about his career, music influences and the music industry.
You do a lot of stuff in the music industry, what is your favourite thing you do?
Considering the amount of stuff I do, the one that tops everything is writing kick ass songs and recording them!
How old were you when you first produced a song?
14 years
How old were you when you first performed live?
When I was 11, me and some of my friends entered my high school talent show and we sang Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen, I was just a nervous kid but by the time the guitar solo kicked in I was playing Air Guitar like crazy!
Growing up did you always know you wanted to work in the music industry?
I only knew I wanted to work in the music industry when I was 13/14, I first heard an Owl City album and it just inspired me to write and produce my own music, my first cover I put on was Shine A Light by McFly and I took that down 2 weeks later when I realised how awful it was!!
Who are your musical influences?
It’s a huge mix, Busted were my favourite band growing up but my two favourite songwriters of all time are Owl City and James Taylor
What is your favourite track at the moment?
Owl City ft Hanson – Unbelievable – You’ve probably gathered by now I’m slightly obsessed with Owl City
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would you choose?
Owl City. Nah, I’d love to work with Paul McCartney, James Taylor one day!
Is there a song out there that you wished you had produced?
Cheerleader – Omi
Would you ever consider entering a talent show like The X Factor?
Never
If you weren’t working in the industry what would you be doing?
Probably still stuck in a dead end job having my soul sucked away
What is your opinion on free music streaming, do you think it is damaging the music industry?
As a consumer, Spotify is by far the BEST! £9.99 for unlimited music?! Yes please! But as a songwriter I think the business model needs a lot of work. And not just to pay songwriters, but for Spotify as a streaming service, I think they need someone to go in there and teach them how to make some serious money!
What would you like to have achieved in ten years time?
I want a guitar shaped swimming pool in Dubai that’s big enough to float my Yacht. Either that or happily married with a family… either or :)
You can Follow Danny on Twitter @DannySimm, and you can also find out more about him here: www.dannysimm.com
