Everything that Daniel Allan has achieved in his career so far has been defined by an obsession with music production and one of the most ferociously dedicated work ethics you will ever come across: something Daniel contributes to being the son of immigrant parents who came from nothing and had to strive for everything.
Last year, Daniel became a celebrated Web3 pioneer when he took an innovative route to fund his latest release, taking his career into his own hands by establishing himself as one of the leaders in the music NFT landscape. Daniel created waves with his 2021 EP ‘Overstimulated’, which caught the attention of publications such as TIME Magazine, where he was dubbed as creative working on a new lifeline for independent musicians.
Now, Daniel is back with a fresh single, ‘Chasing Paradise’ via Too Future, a collaboration with celebrated indie-electronic pop duo slenderbodies.
On this occasion, Daniel Allan invited EG to share 5 tips to be successful in the studio.
1. Be consistent
The single most important part of working on music, in my opinion, is being consistent with your output. I think that writer’s block comes from a place of being scared to make bad music; if you show up every day, you start to realize that making bad music is part of the process of making good music. Be patient and be kind to yourself – all good things take time
2. Break rules
I think the best music in the world right now is being made by a 16-year-old kid in their bedroom. So much of music comes from a place of intuition and feeling; when you don’t know the rules, you are in a way oblivious to how technical making music can be and kinda liberate yourself in doing so. There is definitely something to be said about having technical knowledge – I consider myself a technical producer, but in the past few years I’ve had to take a step back and focus more on how the music makes me feel and the actual ideas rather than how good the mix is.
3. Be open-minded
Genres are really weird. The reality is people’s tastes in music change all the time, so don’t try to box yourself in (entirely) into one niche or one style. Your ‘sound’ is dictated by the small production decisions you make, not the BPM of a record
4. Perfectionism is whack
Obviously, take your time on your music – it does take a lot of time to make high-quality work. At the same time, don’t overstress on trying to make the perfect record. I’ve seen this often lead to burnout and even worse, people who never get the chance to share their talent with the world.
5. Collaborate
I grew up watching so so many YouTube videos in hopes of finding a 10-15 second snippet of information that would help me level up as a producer. And while resources are more abundant now than they have ever been, there is no quicker way to learn than to collaborate with other people. Everyone’s process is so unique to them and you can learn from literally anyone you get into a room with.
Daniel Allan’s new single ‘Chasing Paradise’ is out now via Too Future. Stream and buy here.
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