Q & A with Daniel Lee Kendall

After releasing the gorgeous Lost in the Moment EP last year, Daniel Lee Kendall is preparing to leave the Central Coast and show Australia what he can do. As part of the One for the Road tour, Daniel Lee will visit capital cities and regional towns around the country with Old Man River and Passenger. I chatted with Daniel today about that tour, playing some of Australia’s coolest festivals, and what’s next for this promising singer-songwriter.

You’re about to hit the road with Old Man River and Passenger, which is probably your biggest tour to date. How are you feeling about that?
Yeah, I’m excited. I suppose it’s my first actual tour so it’s going to be good to get a string of shows in a row. I’m looking forward to going to a bunch of states and all of that.

Is there anywhere in particular that you’re really keen to see?
Well, somewhere outside of New South Wales I guess. That’d be pretty good I think.

I daresay many punters will be coming out to see the other acts, but they might not be so familiar with your music. How do you plan on winning them over?
I guess I can only do what I can do, be myself. Just sing my songs and be myself as much as I can, and if they like what they see, that’s great. I don’t actually have a specific strategy.

What can music fans expect if they turn up early enough to hear your set?
A nice, intimate, sort of story of my life in musical form I guess.

I believe you’re busy today with a shoot to promote the tour. How is all that going?
Yeah, it’s good. Actually we’re doing a little video, which has been good fun. It’s coming up well. I look forward to seeing it.

That image side of the music industry must be very new to you. How are you dealing with it?
Yeah, I haven’t had to do too much of it as of yet. I wouldn’t say that I love it, but it can be quite fun if you’ve got good people around you.

I loved the relaxed ambience of your Lost in the Moment EP. Was the recording process as chilled out as the finished product?
Yeah, somewhat actually. It was just me basically writing the whole song or part of a song, and then trying to capture what I hear in my head with all of the other little elements. So it can be quite frustrating at times when you hear isn’t coming out on the recording, but doing it in my little home studio makes it more of a relaxed experience. There’s no real cost; you’re not really wasting money so you can take your time and get the songs you want to get.

You ended 2010 with a bang playing the Peats Ridge Festival. As someone from the Central Coast, was that festival always on your wish list?
Yeah, yeah. It was great. I’d sort of noticed that over the past few years Peats Ridge had been getting better and better, and this was a strong year. To play on one of the main stages there was really cool, and to have my name against a few other artists I love, it was really great.

And next month you’ve got a slot at Playground Weekender. What are you enjoying about playing festivals?
It’s just got a good vibe. People going to festivals are keen to listen to music and stuff, whereas in the past I’ve been playing in random pubs and people there aren’t really interested in music like the festivals. There’s a good vibe about them and they’ve all been good days, well the ones I’ve been to anyway. I’m looking forward to Playground Weekender. I think that should be good fun.

I imagine this music thing must see you spending a fair bit of time away from home. As a fellow Coastie I’m wondering, what are you missing about our local area?
At the moment I haven’t been away from home too much. It’ll be interesting to see how I’ll go when it does happen like that. But at the moment I’m still pretty well connected to the Central Coast. I don’t enjoy driving to Sydney. That’s something I could do without.

After the One for the Road tour wraps up, what’s next for you?
We’ve finished recording another EP, so that’ll hopefully come out after this tour. And then, hopefully find another tour to go on! The aim is just to get as many shows as we can and keep building from where we’re going.

See Daniel Lee Kendall on the One for the Road tour at the following shows:

9 February 2011 – Clarendon Guesthouse, Katoomba
10 February 2011 – Heritage Hotel, Bulli
11 February 2011 – Annandale Hotel, Sydney
12 February 2011 – Northern Star Hotel, Newcastle
18 February 2011 – The Soundlounge, Currumbin
19 February 2011 – Old Museum, Brisbane
24 February 2011 – Republic Bar, Hobart
25 February 2011 –  East Brunswick Club, Melbourne
4 March 2011 – Amplifier Bar, Perth
5 March 2011 – Mojo’s, North Fremantle
6 March 2011 – Indi Bar, Scarborough

Image used with permission from Footstomp Music

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