"Hello?" - An Interview with Atlanta based musician Daniel Profeta

Atlanta based musician Daniel Profeta has been active in the Atlanta music scene for several years now and his ever growing discography showcases his abilities to tell amazing stories with his beautiful songs. I caught up with Daniel to talk about his early musical experiences, how he started writing songs and the making of his latest release “Needle”.

CMM-What was the first music that really made an impact on you as a kid and what artist or band did you all enjoy the most?

Daniel-I mean, it depends on what stage of my childhood we’re talking about. My parents mainly played Christian pop music when I was growing up, but then kinda ironically my dad introduced me to thrash metal and 90s rock stuff. It was awesome. Plus all types of incredible music from the 70s, 60s, and 50s.

A few specific artists that really made an impression on me? Grand Funk Railroad. Talk about a jam band, Brewer is such a powerhouse drummer and like… You’ll watch videos of them playing and just be blown away, the dynamics of the music was so appealing. I’m Your Captain is probably my favorite but it’d be hard to pick. There’s a lot of artists that made an impression on me, but I feel like GFR has sort of been left behind when compared to the continued popularity of their contemporaries in the uh zeitgeist. I don’t know.

My favorite bands for a long time were Tool and System of a Down, and I think they’re important to mention just because on one hand, awesome fucking bands though obviously different genres and whatever. But on the other hand, also artists with really strong control of dynamics. A song starts soft then builds into something loud and chaotic, but still anthemic. It’s really beautiful to try and figure out how they put some of these songs together. That inspired me then and still inspires me now.

It’s hard for me to move on from this question because I try to listen to new music everyday. I get obsessed with albums and listen over and over, then return to them years later and it’s like seeing an old friend again. I’d be hard pressed to not find multiple albums and artists I love in any given genre.

CMM-When did you start writing songs and developing your own sound?

Daniel-Well, I knew how to play guitar, and I had written over 100 songs on it over a few years of time. But it was all just for me I guess, more like practice. I’m not a very talented guitarist or singer, I’ve always been very enamored with lyrics and poetry, and my songs generally are built to support some ideas I want to communicate. I had a used guitar and no equipment.

Anyways, there’s a band called Car Seat Headrest I started listening to in 2019 or so. This band was started and fronted by one dude recording music on a laptop in his car. It’s very messy, very lofi. The first few albums sound like they were recorded on a toaster. It’s a complete mess of frequencies.

But it was compelling anyways! The limitations of the gear and capabilities bred innovation and creative risks, massive ambitions. The guy’s name is Will Toledo and he was making gut wrenching concept albums with compositions inspired by the Beach Boys out of a car. Then eventually they got signed and made some more polished music, but that’s kinda the impetus for the daniel profeta project.

It was so inspirational. Here was a guy who managed to compel despite all limitations. Maybe I didn’t need to worry about my inability to make something sound “normal”, if I managed to write something interesting that’s all that matters. Let the polish come later. I can sum up the sound by saying everything I write is just me. Every song I write is drawn from experience, I want to communicate something I found difficult on my own. I’ll lean on the crutch of music to convey it. That’s all there is to it, you feel something and it must escape. At the exact same time though, it’s like there’s a creative muscle. You have to flex it. Look for little things to be inspired by in everyday situations. Muscles atrophy without use, and too many people believe creativity is some latent ability when it’s something you cultivate. Anyone can do it, anyone can write songs or be in a rock band. You just lack any discipline at all, and you’ll find it very difficult to get anywhere without discipline.

CMM-You recently released a record called “Needle”. What was the recording process like and were there any particular pieces of gear you used to get the sound you were looking for?

Daniel-Needle was a weird piece. Technically speaking it’s a suite or an EP. I’m gonna be honest with you, I’m writing the most important record of my life right now and Needle was the result of having ideas that weren’t fitting on this record. My brain was getting blocked up and tossed around and taken for a ride so I have to chase that feeling down before it killed me. I was not in a good headspace, I was depressed and sad and angry. All of that ended up on Needle, which was entirely written and recorded in 2 nights. Bella (Daniel’s fiance) watched me write Needle Eyes from the riff to the lyrics and motifs and whatnot, in 25 minutes. That’s what happens when you flex that muscle often enough, you can do cool things like write a song in 20 odd minutes.

Almost all of my music after The Sighting has been recorded with a Shure SM7b, which is the highlight of my makeshift “studio” that is also my bedroom. My pride and joy. My current weapon of choice is an Applause guitar Bella had at her parents house and never played. Very much a beginner guitar. The process of recording was very manic, free flowing, and insane. I was throwing stuff together, watching old commercials from the 40s, writing some very angry and sad songs. Again it wasn’t a great headspace, I felt like I had a demon crouching on my chest or a snake constricting around me. I just moved, very stressful and weird and beautiful time for me.

Unfortunately I’m not a gearhead or what do you call it? Audiophile? Such a funny name, sounds like we should call it something else maybe. Uh, I don’t obsess over gear much. I want to get better though, it’s a sickness I have, a need when I feel something to capture it immediately. Lightning in a bottle. The songs all had different titles originally, then I changed them after making the cover. That was a picture I took while driving around Alabama with a friend of mine looking for abandoned lots to record music videos in. You should go watch our music videos, they are really good. I edit them and always get the few friends I have to help me out with them.

Needle is really good, despite the limitations I was working with by recording at home, the lofi elements serve it well. The track Needle Eyes was actually recorded entirely in one single take, the guitar was plugged into a focusrite and I sang into the Shure with no sound proofing whatsoever. You can hear it in the song too, I get the simple riff I had just written incorrect multiple times. This compulsion I have is not healthy, but I don’t know. Bright Eyes has a song where Connor says “I could be a famous singer if I had someone else’s voice, but failure’s always sounded better so fuck it up boys make some noise.” If I get too close to perfection I’m afraid I’ll offend God. I’m kidding.

I mean since you’re asking, a couple other fun facts. I think in the digital age of making music, limitations are paramount for someone like me. I use FL Studio, and I gotta limit myself. Otherwise I’d spend hours just messing around with thousands of presets for my midi keyboard. Generally speaking when starting a new project I create a list of between 8 and 12 different presets, then stick to those. I can modify those sounds infinitely anyways, but to give a record cohesion and character you need limitations. That musical interlude in the middle of the record is just me messing around with the keys and some drums.

CMM-If you could do a score for any film director, who would it be and what would the film be about?

Daniel-I mean I’d love to have a song in a Jane Schoenbrun movie. I think my stuff is best suited to independant movies or grounded slice of life stuff. Imagine though, if I managed to get into a horror film? Or even… A horror short film? Who knows really. Certainly not I.

There’s a lot of tension in my music, rising and falling. I’ve only ever scored my own film projects before but I’d definitely be interested in scoring something in the future.