David Daniell - Biography
David Daniell’s music synthesizes several distinct influences to arrive at something truly unique. With roots in American post-hardcore, free improvisation, electroacoustic composition and the Takoma school of instrumental solo guitar music, Daniell’s work stands at a unique intersection of several progressive styles. By melding these forms he has produced a body of highly personal work unlike much else around. As a composer, guitarist and vigorous collaborator he has made a name for himself over the last decade as a crucial figure in the global art-music community. On evidence of his restless work schedule and recent releases, Daniell is quickly emerging as one of this era’s most exciting voices in experimental music.
Born on October 30, 1972 in the small town of Vidalia, GA, Daniell left to attend college in Atlanta. A guitarist since his teens and an avid music fan, he soon found himself immersed in Atlanta’s music scene. An early snapshot exists in the form of Barrel, a band Daniell formed with guitarist and bassist Andrew Burnes, guitarist Rick Moore and drummer Scott Robbins. The group latched onto the early ‘90s post-hardcore sound prominent in Louisville, KY and DC. Few recordings exist, but a rare full-length Pine and Cotton, Sand is well worth checking out if you can find it. Tight, metal inspired rhythms, droning noise and agro vocals dominate the songs. It’s easy to hear bits of this cyclical riffing and guitar based minimalism in aspects of Daniell’s current music.
Daniell and Burnes left Barrel in order to explore more esoteric music outside the confines of rock. Anxious to incorporate elements of the various strains of experimental and improvised music they had become excited about, the duo formed San Agustin. Recruiting jazz drummer Bryan Fielden solidified the lineup and the band began performing around Atlanta’s small art-music scene. San Agustin’s unique sound incorporates lyrical blues, noise-rock, free-jazz and minimalism for some absorbing and hypnotic music. Essentially the band vamps on a motif, improvising around a root note or central figure much like the Dirty Three minus a lead instrument. At times the group’s music sounds like a giant tidal wave gaining moment only to disperse and trickle out into winding tributaries. Daniell and Burnes shift around patterns and drones while Fielden churns out an impressive polyrhythmic pulse full of rolling cymbal washes and Sonny Murray style toms. Over the course of several albums, including 2002’s Amokhali and the massive 3CD set The Expanding Sea, the band perfected its throbbing free-blues. San Agustin is still active today, and the group’s early work remains one of the central building blocks for Daniell’s current solo music.
During the late ‘90s Daniell experimented with minimal electroacoustic composition. Reportedly to be released in Japan on the Meme label, his first solo album was finished in ’98 but didn’t see the light of day until 2002. That year Daniell and James Elliott co-founded the Antiopic label. Antiopic’s second release was Daniell’s solo debut, sem. The record features two long tracks of sublime, understated electroacoustic music. Recalling the classic musique concrete of Luc Ferrari, sem is also indebted to the lowercase sound movement of artists like Bernhard Günter and Steve Roden. Over the course of the album the listener’s attention is demanded in full as minute sonic details spiral and slowly unfold out of a large void of silence to climax in an extended string drone.
Over the next four years Daniell focused on running Antiopic and collaborating with artists like Loren Connors, Thurston Moore, David Grubbs, Sean Meehan and Tim Barnes in New York City’s fertile creative music scene. He also performed crucial roles in the bands of minimalist legend Rhys Chatham and original Swans drummer Jonathan Kane and toured with Can’s Damo Suzuki. During this time he was also reconsidering the approach to his solo recording and performance style. This was fueled by a desire to further join the electroacoustic ambience of sem with the guitar-based improvisation of San Agustin.
2006 brought two big events. Daniell relocated from Brooklyn to Chicago and released his second record, Coastal, on the Table of the Elements label. Coastal is a massive departure from the almost scientific restraint of sem. The record is also an enormous artistic success. Featuring a seamless integration of techniques Daniell moves back and forth between swirling electronic drones and hyper-detailed musique concrete to guitar based improv and even some traditional acoustic fingerpicking on “Sunfish.” That track, along with the mesmerizing guitar and electronics of “Glasswort,” achieve the perfect synthesis of ideas Daniell seems to be striving for. The two tracks also point the way to his current sound.
Daniell continues to refine his approach, especially working on his live set and collaborating with fellow Chicago musicians including Doug McCombs, John Herndon and Steven Hess. The results have been stunning. 2008 brought three releases and marks the highest point in Daniell’s career to date. Even given its short duration, the I-IV-V-I EP recorded for Table of the Elements’ exceptional Guitar Series is arguably his best, most fully realized work. Over four tracks of deeply textured drone, hypnotic fingerpicking and swirling ghostly melodic ambience Daniell clearly sets forth his aesthetic. The music shares traits with the work of bands like Growing and Mountains, but infuses this with Daniell’s guitar style to create something utterly personal. Daniell self-released two live recordings on Antiopic the same year. Both Los Jacintos and The Hideout take the ideas set forth on I-IV-V-I and run with them. The music is raw and spontaneous but very carefully measured as it cycles through warm ambient drift and John Fahey-inspired guitar work.
In recent years Daniell has continued his collaborative efforts. 2009’s Sycamore, the debut album of his project with Tortoise bassist and guitarist Douglas McCombs, is a stunningly layered album of free-improv and ambient soundscaping. 2010 is set to bring a live recording of Daniell, Christian Fennesz and the Necks’ drummer Tony Buck. Daniell has also started a new improv group called Apiary featuring Steven Hess, Joseph Clayton Mills and Jason Stein.
Through constant creative activity David Daniell has evolved a style of electroacoustic improvisation that incorporates elements of electronic minimalism and traditional American instrumental guitar. Creating a highly unique sound for his solo work, Daniell also maintains status as a passionate collaborator in a wide variety of settings. His obvious thirst for experimentation and restless creativity is sure to result in more and more fascinating music.