Currently based in Tampa, Florida, Dani Twice is a singer-songwriter, producer, and visual artist of Colombian and American descent.
Dani Twice has just released the fifth single from his debut album, which is still untitled and features the addictive song “Stupid Bet.” However, Dani is not alone this time. In this brand-new song, the talented Tony Narvaez is featured, and Dani will start exchanging ideas with him about where to find release and pleasure in our overly connected world.
The rebellious statement of BAG MAN’s rejection of the allures of the digital world is one of ferocious and triumphant defiance. The horns twist and create an infectious and rhythmic loop full of rich textures and sharp bass synthesizers, colliding with a huge 808 bass that seems to hit the listener in the face like an earthquake. This is where the Colombian and Latin influence is most noticeable. In the line “straight earthquake when the bass hit my feet, its nature to me, brain vacation for free,” Dani makes a reference to the bass.
Throughout BAG MAN’s themes, Dani and Tony deftly switch between storytelling about the dopamine high that social media and online validation provide and the serenity of the present moment. This continues until the chorus decides that the two of them will resist temptation no matter what is in the bag. Check out the exclusive interview below:
1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how you got started?
DANI TWICE: So, I’m from Bogota, Colombia. When I was 11 I moved to the United States and have lived in various American cities, currently I reside in Tampa, Florida. I started making music as an extension of my love of making videos as a teenager. I used to record my vocals with an old video camera and mix the song with a video software called Sony Vegas.
2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?
DANI TWICE: Musically I haven’t had any formal training, but I consider many of my favorite artists and producers as my teachers. I’m thankful to live in a time when artists like Spaniard Artist Santaflow, musician Kenny Beats and producer Nick Mira have created so much content that has helped me and countless others learn music theory, composing, mixing, and mastering. For the visual aspect of Dani Twice I have a Bachelor of Arts in 3D animation.
3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘DANI TWICE’?
DANI TWICE: I think a really fundamental artistic influence for me has been for years Kendrick Lamar. And there’s many others like Tyler the Creator, Childish Gambino, Calle 13, Mac Miller and JMSN. My artist’s name is a symbol or turning self-doubt into self-love, in life I felt often split into different worlds, Colombian identity vs American, visual pursuits vs musical, digital persona vs physical and after a long time of seeing myself as half of one, half of the other I decided to be it all, fully, and instead of being half I became twice.
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 TWICE: I think a big part of my music is honesty. I like writing about difficult emotions and making stories out of them with some kind of advice or message as to how to deal with it actively or passively. My music has influences from all the music I resonate with no matter the genres, I’m discovering many new styles that I like to mix with Latin music that I grew up with but the world is so big and the sounds so wide that I’m excited to showcase more worldwide palettes now than what is currently out in my discography.
DANI TWICE: Yeah, there was an embarrassing point early on in high school where I would just sing over a song by some underground rapper and record it to show to my friends in art class. They’d be confused like “this is your song…?” But early on I had a lot of influences from underground artists such as Dumbfounded, Micah B and Wax. A lot of my early style came from them being a foundation to who I was on the mic and my cadences and topics. I went through many phases of learning production, performing, and learning how to use my own voice to create something that at its core it’s hip hop but at the same time noticeably different.
6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – 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 TWICE:
Both. I definitely feel called to use music as a spiritual and social vehicle towards positive change, those are deep intrinsic goals I have to convey and I instill that into the lyrics and themes I write about, but sometimes music to me is a form of therapeutic expression and a way to deal with difficult emotions in a productive and healing way.
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 TWICE:
I have a lot of joy about the depth that my music has intertwined itself with people around the world who make it known to me how they receive it. I’ve accepted that there’s many others whom I will never know the full extent of how my music has impacted them, but I am always thankful for everyone who has let my music enter their awareness and incorporated it into their own lives. I’m hoping to connect with more and more people face to face as a means of feeling reinspired bringing the act of creation into full circle.
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 TWICE:
I usually start with producing the beat, and then I like creating melodies with my voice by saying nonsensical words. Once I have that I can think of what the idea of the song and what’s the best vehicle aka setting and story to tell that idea and the rest is recording and making the record sound in a way that conveys the feeling best.
9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
DANI TWICE: I think the fight for confidence in this world and faith is one that left me stuck in depression and apathy for a while. When you work towards a goal and become discouraged over and over it’s easy to slip into energy levels and habits that keep you down and unfulfilled. You must protect your dreams and take each failure as a lesson to move ever closer to your goals. It’s not easy and if your entire self-worth is dependent on success then you have to do some healing on your own and create value systems that serve you and allow you to keep going with your heart full. That’s what I did when depression and heavy losses tried to take away my confidence.
10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
DANI TWICE: I loved creating the music videos WONDERFUL! And TOO COLD! Because it mixed all of my passions together, music video, visual effects. It was such a blast socially! they were a collaborative effort with logistics, set building, acting all sorts of fun and engaging tasks to make a vision come true. I felt immensely proud and there is so much more to come 🙂
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