Photo Credits: Joanna Glezakos, Erica Chan, Justin Trueman
-Life as an Awarded Musician and Songwriter–
Artistry, there is so much meaning tucked away behind that word. Drilling it down to musical and lyrical virtuosity does little to lessen the difficulty in truly defining all that it encapsulates.
Take the challenge and social risks it takes to lyrically create and express oneself to others through the creation of something audibly new and previously unheard.
Consider the hustle and time it takes to actually make and produce music. Add in the efforts of getting it in front of people; a lot of people in order to fuel an existence or career.
Ponder the challenge of attempting to continue to grow and expand as an artist, but also being pegged and constantly recognized for past sounds and work.
Contemplate the mixing of art and business and what that could mean.
This concept of musical artistry means ever so much. Quite frankly, its utterly compelling to consider it as a construct.
On today’s show, I could not think of a better guest to help us unpack some of what this artistry imagery represents by way of exploring his own illustrious career.
Introducing
Dan Mangan is a two-time JUNO award winning & two-time Polaris Music Prize listed musician and songwriter from British Columbia, Canada.
He has toured extensively throughout North America, Europe and Australia, having released 5 studio LPs and numerous EPs and singles. His repertoire also includes scoring for feature film, as well as television for Netflix and AMC.
Dan is also a co-founder of Side Door, a marketplace platform connecting artists with alternative venue spaces for in-person & online shows.
In the Beginning
All of this was set in motion way back in 2003, when at twenty years old, Dan debuted his first set of recordings: an EP of acoustic songs called All At Once.
Through Dan’s grit and determination of exposing others to his musical prowess, this album was eventually picked up in 2007 and re-released by a label paving the way for bigger things to come.
A Talent Recognized
In 2009 Dan’s second album, Nice Nice, Very Nice was recorded and released. It garnered further support and fandom by way of air time on radio and satellite radio stations. Later in that year, with momentum built and talent recognized by both fans and those within the industry, things began to really take off.
Mangan was awarded “Artist of the Year” at the Verge Music Awards. In 2010, Nice, Nice, Very Nice was licensed and released by Toronto-based independent record label Arts and Crafts in the United States and Europe.
The album was shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize while being also awarded “iTunes Album Of The Year” for the Singer/Songwriter category and not only that it won three Western Canadian Music Awards for “Independent Album Of The Year”, “Roots/Solo Album Of The Year” and “Songwriter Of The Year”. The song, “Robots” was named “Best Song” by the CBC Radio 3 BUCKY Awards
Oh Fortune
This was followed up by a third album in 2011, Oh Fortune which received extensive critical acclaim internationally and demonstrated the beginning of a new, more experimental era in Mangan’s musical career.
In 2012 off the back of this album, Dan won Canada’s highest musical honour with Juno awards for New Artist of the Year and Alternative Album of the Year. Several other awards and nominations followed.
Club Meds
In 2015, four years after Oh Fortune, Dan released “Club Meds” which was met with a wildly positive critical reception but a less overall popular one than his previous album.
Still, it was widely respected with one blogger writing, Club Meds is a unified whole, tackling some of the most important problems in our collective lives. It is not simply the best album of 2015, but one of the most emotionally compelling albums of the last decade.”
Home Recordings
In 2016 Unmake his fourth album a collection of four home recorded songs was digitally released.
A Fifth Album
In the fall of 2018, Mangan now a fully accomplished singer and songwriter, released his fifth full length, More or Less.
About that album as a whole, Mangan notes that it was about, “witnessing birth, and in some ways rebirth. It’s about feeling disconnected from a popular identity and becoming acclimated to a new one. It’s about raising kids in a turbulent world. It’s about unanswerable questions and kindness and friendship and fear.”
Reasons to Listen
This intimate peek into artistry of the highest level meanders into the philosophical and existential realms of what being a musician means and has meant to Dan personally across his career from his early years, right on through to present day.
His musings on achieving early success and what that has come to mean to him now, provide glimpses into the psyche of an artist firmly in tune with not only himself, but also his craft.
The chat amongst so many other things explores topics relating to the evolution of his own artistry. We chat about his traversing through the various life stages and how those experiences have influenced and manifested themselves in both the personal and musical spheres of life and living for him.
Dan so eloquently shares takes, stories and insights in such ways that provide both levity and pathways for listeners to explore their own thoughts relating to the various subject matter covered in this thought provoking talk.
The conversation will be a delight for both fans of Mangan’s work and for those just discovering it.
A Memorable Quote from the Episode:
“I’ve always wanted to push the boundaries of what could feel larger than life and also authentic. If you can do that.. If you can thread that needle in that what you are doing feels huge and grandiose, and yet totally honest, that is lightening in a bottle.”
-Dan Mangan
Check out the Video Conversation:
For those who desire to view the full video conversation of this discussion, you can do so via Youtube.
Discover More
For those interested in learning more about Dan and his work, you can find and connect with him through his website and the following platforms:
Keep Listening!
I hope you enjoyed the episode. For more, check out additional episodes here!
