Of Daniel Morales, the young man who graffiti in Caracas as OCT until Danny Ocean, the Miami-based artist who is listened to by billions of people on streaming platforms, went a long way and a few stories. One of them is his stage name, inspired by a phrase that sounded revealing to him. “The ocean can be calm or very rough on the outside, but it is always calm and peaceful on the inside”, heard Daniel, who was already Danny O. and was looking for a word that would finish representing him.
Other stories are those of love. Towards his country, Venezuela, to which he sings with pain and sadness, but also with hope. Towards women, who loves both those he meets and those he imagines. Towards music, that profession that he embraced as a boy and that excites him every day. The artist has just released “Apartamento”, a song called to repeat the viral hit that meant “I refuse”, with a catchy rhythm and a clip shot in Barcelona. “It was very cool, we recorded it before a show. I really like that European aesthetic “says Danny in dialogue with Teleshow, and is about to talk about everything.
—How was the creative process for your new song, “Apartamento”?
—It was a song written for the girl who lives right across from my house, from my apartment.
“So it’s based on real events.”
-It’s based on real events. I never met the girl and my intention was not to meet her either, but I loved the concept and that illusion, because I think that everyone goes through her life, it’s like a crush…
—I think we all dream of having a nice neighbor but it doesn’t always happen.
“I think it does.” Did you never like a neighbor, maybe as a child?
“No, I never had a nice neighbor, but it’s a nice story to tell.” Does that person know?
–No, and it is better not to know. I don’t even know her, I don’t know what she looks like, honestly. I see her from afar but I don’t know her physically. It is a song based on the illusion of the movie that you put together in your mind.
—Unlike the song “I refuse” which is a very personal song, dedicated to an ex-girlfriend. Are you a person in love?
“Yes, it may be that he is infatuated.” But there are many songs that people can believe are for girls and are for other things. Two years ago I made a song called “Dime tú”, which is a song written for Venezuela, but you can understand that it is for a girl.
—What are your expectations for this song? In 2016, when “Me Rehúso” was released, it had millions of views. Do you put expectations on this new song or do you let it flow?
—One lets it flow, yes, but one also contributes, it is there pushing and pushing. But in the end it is the public that decides things, and each song has its own timeline and you have to understand that.
—At that moment, when “I refuse” came out, you didn’t expect it to be so popular, you took it from your home, it was something very personal. Now that you have a record company behind you, I imagine there is going to be some pressure.
—Yes, I don’t want to say work so that it doesn’t sound bad, but like in all work there is a certain pressure.
“It’s a privileged job.”
“It’s a privileged job, and you have to know how to handle that pressure.”
“Speaking of privileged jobs, when did you realize that this was going to be your job and you weren’t going to work on anything other than music?”
“I don’t know if at the end of it all it’s going to be about the music I’m going to … how do I tell you?” I always wanted to make a living from music, without a doubt, but it is not a barrier that I want to leave until there, I want to continue doing many more things. Yes, I had thought from a very young age that I wanted to make a living from music. I have had office work like many people, right now the position I am in is blessed and I have been learning the value of that.
-You have collaborated with great artists, such as David Guetta, Karol G. Who is the person you would like to work with and you have not done so yet?
–Alejandro Sanz. I don’t know if he’s watching me, but I’d love to do something with him and I don’t think he knows. Everything has its moment and I respect that very much and I know how valuable that is. I know that at some point it will happen. With Daft punk I would have loved to do something. Coldplay, is another band that I would love. We did something but it didn’t come out under their name, but I would have loved to do a song under your name.
—What is it like to be a Venezuelan artist and how do you see your country?
“Oh, complicated!” Venezuela is going through a very difficult time, it is very social, more than ever you have to work very hard. I am very proud of many emerging Venezuelan artists like me, all working hard because we want to put Venezuela on the radar.. I love my country, and I feel that we are in a moment where we have to learn many things, it is more than anything to internalize. It is nothing external, it is more than everything internalizing our things and how we have been doing our things and this process touched us. It is a difficult time, you have to work hard and that’s it.
– Is the social question present in your songs?
-Always. “I refuse” is a love story that happened to me personally, but we are five million Venezuelans who are outside, I am not the only one who has lived that, I am the person who put that story. It is a story of love in times of crisis. Two years ago I did “Tell me you”, it is narrated in that illusion of the moment in which Venezuela receives news that all this black cloud is gone, let’s put it that way. Venezuela is always present in everything.
—This pandemic had artists so stuck inside their studios or their homes. Do you have upcoming shows? How is your career going?
—Now I’ve just come from giving two shows in Barcelona and Madrid, incredible, in two cities that I love. We are putting together a tour of the United States, obviously things are well above the clock, everything is very uncertain, but we are working on it.
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