Singer-songwriter Dani Slovak was born in Slovakia. He moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, for high school at age 16. After that, he moved to Prague, Czech Republic, to attend university and pursue his dream of becoming a doctor. Since the age of 12, he has desired to become a psychiatrist. He had the good fortune to live in many incredible places, conduct research, and complete clinical placements, especially during his studies (UK, USA, Italy, Norway, Nepal, Switzerland, etc.) He chose music very haphazardly. He does not come from a creative or particularly nurturing environment, and until the summer of 2018, he was unaware that he could sing. He came across a Finnish producer by chance that summer who needed some songwriting done. He sent him a voice memo without knowing if it was any good because he thought it was a cool beat. He picked up the first affordable audio interface studio bundle and called Dani right away to ask him to record the vocals. He then pulled out his old poetry collection, and it suddenly dawned on him that he had been writing songs all along. He met this producer when he moved to New York that year, and he encouraged him to record his own song. They did so in his closet, and the rest is history. In order to give his music the intimacy, privacy, and authenticity he experiences when he is alone in the moment, he creates it from his bedroom. He feels privileged to invite others into this private world of his. He doesnโt anticipate ever recording in a studio because he dislikes large crowds and feels extremely insecure when forced to perform in front of others.
He was talking to his grandmother after her best friend passed away around Christmas 2020 when he came up with the song โHold Out.โ Although she had never been particularly religious, she began to pray to God just before it all ended. It got him to thinking about how we often take things and other people for granted and donโt truly value them until we run into difficulty or begin to lose them. Check out the song and the exclusive interview below:
1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?
DANI SLOVAK: I was born in a small village in South-western Slovakia, when I was 16 I moved to the US for my senior year, after that I moved to Prague for medical school. I moved around and travelled quite a bit thanks to school. I started working on music in 2018. Quite frankly, I didnโt really think I could sing, cause my whole life everybody told me I couldnโt, so I kept the poems and lyrics I had been writing since 4, which turned out to be songs, to myself. I thought that if all of this is just in my head, itโs going to stay there because itโs the only place where no one can take it away from me and music to me has always been the most precious thing in my life. I donโt think I ever loved anyone as much as I love music. And in November 2018 I released my first song about suicide and people seemed to resonate with it. A few people I knew, killed themselves that year and I was thinking of doing the same, so I thought I might as well publicly release a song about it.
2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?
DANI SLOVAK: Self-taught, babes. I didnโt know I had any potential nor did anyone else, so I just followed my instincts writing songs and eventually producing, which I learnt from youtube.
3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name โDANI SLOVAKโ?
DANI SLOVAK: Because thatโs my actual name. Daniel Slovak and my nationality is Slovak. I used to hate it as a kid because other kids made fun of it a lot but looking at it now as an adult, it is pretty cool. And Dani, because most Daniels go by Dan or Danny, but when I moved to the US people just wrote it as Dani, so it just stuck. However, the older I get, I mostly go by Dan in personal life and Dani with people whoโve known me for a long time.
I would keep my musical influences to myself because as I said before, in my head, no one can ever take anything away from me and I have these people idolized and I donโt want anyone to spoil them for me.
4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
DANI SLOVAK: My powerful voice and powerful messages. I like to play with genres but the thing that always glues it together is my voice. Thanks to being a doctor and wanting to do psychiatry, I feel like I know how to talk about topics and how to verbalize thoughts so many others want to talk about but donโt necessarily possess the skillset to. And I just love translating it into art. I only write and record songs when Iโm actually deep in a certain emotion and I hope that my voice and songwriting carries it across.
DANI SLOVAK:
As I said, I was 22/23 when I started sharing and recording my music and by that time I was already somewhat formed as a human being and an adult, so I did not have that phase. I am too oblivious towards others in that sense to be honest. I knew what I wanted to talk about, and I knew what I wanted to sing about and I let my subconscious mind do the rest. Songwriting came very natural to me and always does, but production is something I really had to hone and where I am still putting in those 10,000 hours.
6. Whatโs your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles โ and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative and entertainment?
DANI SLOVAK:
The latter. Most of the big artists are groomed, their parents were in the industry or were rich and powerful and gave them their platforms. As Ricky Gervais once said โYou know nothing about the real life, so shut the F upโ. I canโt stand self-entitlement, so I would not feel comfortable making emphatic statements about complex topics and issues I actually knew nothing about. I feel comfortable talking about science, medicine, mental health, education, social justice and stuff like that, but I have an actual degree and am a member of a minority to back that up โ which is basically just a societal justification but thatโs just the sad truth of how our world spins around, isnโt. So, everyone to their own merit, Iโd say.
7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfilment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?
DANI SLOVAK:
I feel really content with my personal life, and I savour every moment, so it balances it out. I mean, I feel fulfilled making the music I am making because I have no one dictating me what to do and no one to disappoint. I guess youโre asking more about the material aspect of it. Well, money and recognition sound nice, but so does taking LSD and drifting into the ocean at an old age like The Old man and the Sea, but that ainโt happening, is it. I donโt ever want to be famous; I love my introverted nature and privacy โ I want my words and music to be known, not my silly face. However, when given the opportunity I will take the route of having management and record deal and all of that, but Iโm not really a materialistic person and Iโm quite gullible, so I will get screwed over a lot, like money and contracts and all of that. It is what it is. I want to make real connection because it reminds me of my humanity and mortality, they can have all my riches and wealth for all I care.
8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?
DANI SLOVAK:
I am too much of an emotional person. My emotions control me and my actions, and I often let them. If I have any strong emotion that is just overflowing me, the melodies and words come in just like that. So usually, I just sit down behind keys and in 15 minutes, boom โ the song is written. Just producing and finishing it takes me months.
I collaborated a few times, but on other artistsโ songs. I have yet to meet someone who thinks like me when it comes to songwriting. I tried to write with others who wanted to help me with my own songs, but I just donโt want to be writing with someone and constantly have to say โI, as a person and an artist, would never say thatโ. I would love to write with someone who completely gets me as a human being and who would boost me in that sense, itโs a little dream of mine.
9. What has been the most difficult thing youโve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
DANI SLOVAK: Personal โ abuse, or suicide attempt, maybe. Musical โ learning to produce โ that shit did not come so easy; I suck at technology; quite frankly I still have no idea what Iโm doing 90% of the time. I am a paper and a pen type of guy. Also, rejection, in personal life and music, is quite shit, butโฆIt is what it is (my favourite answer to any question, haha). Not everyone is for everyone and not everything is for everyone, itโs fine. Weโre all here on a borrowed time, so have fun and do things that are fun and make you want to continue your life journey in this terrifying world. I am having fun with my music, I love fetishizing my own sadness and even the rejection, itโs fun for me and I hope it stays that way. Everything is temporary, even the hard stuff, and in the end youโll manage, people always do.
10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
DANI SLOVAK: Tough one. As a middle child and being brought up in an environment I was brought up in, my whole life I was being told I would never accomplish anything, nor was I ever validated or felt like anything I ever did or accomplished mattered (bullied by both kids and my parents), so I donโt like attention or being celebrated. I even try to keep my birthdays secret and almost anything I do. I try to keep to myself. But I felt really good about myself and my own intelligence when I got my medical diploma at a really good University. So, shit like that sticks with you for life, especially when youโre still young โ meaning that 85% of your life so far you were in that kind of mindset that nothing you could ever do would make you matter.
However, the most screwed up thing about it is that this kind of mindset is something that makes society perceive you as humble, but itโs the biggest absolute bullcrap in this whole mess. Itโs just you projecting your own self-loathing and feeling of insignificance onto your behavior and we as a society glorify thisโฆ(thatโs all Iโm gonna say). It summarizes why I never want attention and to be famous, but at the same time my songs can really connect with people who feel exactly like that and those people definitely donโt care about shit like my status, wealth and good-looks; that makes me feel good and proud in a sense.
KEEP IN TOUCH:
INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | SPOTIFY | YOUTUBE
