Danon Hill is a singer and songwriter from Bamberg, Germany. He has been living in Berlin since 2017. Danon discovered a love for music early in his life. He was inspired in his youth by the likes of Linkin Park, Metallica and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. At the age of 12, he started playing guitar and shortly thereafter he joined his first band. At the age of 19, he went to Jena, Germany to study Industrial Engineering. During the course of his studies, he continued to write music on his own, developing his songwriting and musicianship. After completing his studies in Jena at the age of 24, Hill concluded that engineering was not the future he wanted for himself. It was at this point that he moved to Berlin where he continued to write music, attend open mics and take singing lessons. Two years later, he is ready to release his debut EP, “The Island”. With 6 songs, clocking around 30 minutes, this EP showcases a great deal of diversity in its songs. From rock, to grunge, to acoustic, to soft and melodic ballads, this EP is guaranteed to take you on an emotional roller coaster of highs and lows. Hill’s style is a mix of dark, melancholic guitar tunes juxtaposed with powerful electric guitar solos. He is inspired by artists such as Kurt Cobain, John Frusciante and the Arctic Monkeys.
Released today, BuzzMusic is proud to present Danon Hill’s new single, “Morning Bale”. The song begins with a simple and humble acoustic guitar, with a melodic electric guitar riff rounding out the introduction. The vocals that come in for the first verse are low, airy and tension-building. The vocals are broken up with a slide-guitar solo that is reminiscent of music from another era. A modern and unexpected twist occurs towards the end of the song, with a much more contemporary sounding beat coming in as the first form of percussion heard so far. From the low rasping vocals to the humbleness of the acoustic guitar riff, punctuated with tasteful and mournful slide guitar, this single from Danon Hill is delivered with an elegant simplicity.
We at BuzzMusic definitely recommend you check this brand new release out today on Spotify, as well as Danon's exclusive interview with us below!
Thanks so much for chatting with us, Danon! Growing up in Bamberg, what was the music scene like there?
The music scene was dominated by Rock-, Punk- and Metal-bands. I played in a Punk-Rock Band and we had some shows along with other local bands at small festivals around town. The bands consisted mostly of young people between the ages 14-20 and many knew each other from school. For me it was much fun to hang around fellow musicians and I liked the intimate atmosphere at those events.
How did you first get involved with music? Did you take lessons as a kid or were you self-taught?
I started taking guitar lessons when 8 years old. But until the age of 12 my mom had to drag me to the lessons because I couldn’t motivate myself. At the age of 12 I realized that my lack of motivation was due to only having been taught the songs my teacher liked, and not the songs I was listening to. So as soon as a friend of mine gave me a program with which I could download the notes for every song I liked, I went from practicing once a week for 10 Minutes (mostly right
before the guitar lesson) to locking myself in my room for 5-6 hours a day, learning to play all my favorite songs. The function of my teacher from then on was only to react to the immense amount of new songs I could play each week by making little adjustments on my technique.
You have a new single called “Morning Bale”. Did you have a particular meaning behind the music in this case?
I got inspired to write the song when I witnessed the behavior of a co-worker at a car rental where I used to work during my studies. I was there to drive the cars to customers and I liked that. He was staying at the branch serving and acquiring customers. As salesman do, he used every trick to charm the customer and show the most friendly facade possible. But behind the scenes he was quite the opposite. One day I witnessed him laughing at really bad jokes from a customer I knew he despised. It was very uncomfortable to watch and I knew that I never wanted to get myself in a
position where I have to do that for a living. That’s basically what the song is about. In a wider sense of the topic, getting rid of the mask you wear in society and be free and comfortable with who you really are. The main theme and vibe should represent the relief which comes from that process.
You talked a bit about deciding engineering wasn’t for you. Was it an easy decision to move to Berlin to pursue your music career or did it take some time for you to realize that this was your calling?
Half-way through my study I did an internship for 6 months in construction management. There I realized that I could never work in an office full time. It wasn’t my world and though I worked in offices before I couldn’t deny it from myself any longer. I knew my career path had to change and right at that time my songwriting started to improve and I found myself creating better songs to the point I wanted to share them. I knew music was the only career which I could imagine myself doing my whole life without any doubt about not being happy doing it. But I wasn’t ready yet to pursue the music career full time because I still had a lot to learn about recording, arranging, experimenting with different sounds, writing more songs and of course I needed to practice my singing and playing technique a lot more. So the next 2 years I finished my study while simultaneously getting ready to start my music career afterwards. I don’t like engineering and I
love music. Even though it should be obvious to oneself, it took me a long time to find that out and to act on that realization. Moving to Berlin was an easy decision. It’s got the biggest music scene in Germany and because I needed to get used to playing live I knew that’s the place I have to go. In Berlin I can play every night I want at some other open mic and that’s exactly what I needed and still do. I’ve lived here for 2 years now and I fell in love with the city.
What can we hope to see from Danon Hill in the future?
A long music career, of course! After the release of my first EP on the 19th of April 2019 I will continue playing small shows in Berlin and other cities around Germany. At some point in this year I will be starting to work on the next release which will be most likely another EP with a few singles beforehand.
Catch up with Danon and keep up to date with recent releases and shows through the artists Instagram!
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