Three Questions With Dana And Alden

Next up in the 3Qs series are Dana and Alden. Found out about their music by stumbling across Alden's (Gucci_Pinapple) viral Instagram/TikTok vids. Their tunes are pretty sweet! Check out their new album, Speedo. [Link]

Photos by Samuel Summers Eszenyi.

Without further ado...

Dana and Alden by Samuel Summers Eszenyi.

Synth History: What was your first instrument? Do you still have it and is there a story behind it?

Dana: Both Alden and I’s first instrument was the clarinet. We were both sports kids and our mom made us join the middle school band because she said we were born into a musical family. But after a year of clarinet, I switched to tenor saxophone and Alden switched to the drums. My first saxophone, and the instrument that I really fell in love with music on, was an old F.E. Olds saxophone we got from our family friend. I had wanted to learn saxophone because our dad used to play a lot of Pharoah Sanders and Stan Getz, still two of my favorites to this day. So when I finally got the sax I raced to the public library and checked out pretty much every CD I could find with saxophone on it. I found Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, Lester Young, Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Sam Rivers, Coleman Hawkins and Dexter Gordon this way. And as soon as I got the CDs home I would take out my sax and play with my heroes. I didnt know many scales or songs at that point so I would just play along by ear with them and try to imitate things I heard them play. Entire weekends would fly by doing this and after a couple months our dad saw an ad in the local paper for a jazz jam every Sunday at a club downtown. So he dropped me off the weekend and I snuck in and sat in the back nervous as hell trying to hide my sax. Kenny Reed, an old jazz drummer originally from Brooklyn, was leading the jam and he saw me and called me up to play. We played some of the Stan Getz songs I knew–and even though I could barely play–it was exhilarating. Alden and I came back to that jam every Sunday for years and Kenny mentored us, teaching us the musical tradition.

Alden: I started on clarinet and spent a year as first chair in our middle school concert band. However, I dreaded my clarinet lessons and quickly became tired of the instrument. My first true love was drums. One afternoon, I declared to our Mom that I yearned to be a percussionist and soon we bought a beat up Pearl drum set that our family friends kept in their garage and never played. I obsessively began to play this rusty untuned set and learned my first beat: a Bossa Nova groove with a 3-2 clave.

I no longer have this kit but I do have the first cymbal I ever purchased. It was a Crescent Vanguard cymbal, I watched the Memphis Drum Shop demo 100 times on YouTube. I remember running after the FedEx truck when it arrived on my block. This wet jazz cymbal from Turkey is still my favorite thing I’ve ever played.

Synth History: What is one piece of advice you’d give other artists who are just starting out?

Dana: I would tell someone that’s starting out to always play for themselves first, to never make something just because you think that people will like it. Play and write songs that make you feel something, that move you, even if everyone around you thinks it’s weird or it’s not popular currently. That way even if the record doesn’t sell or become popular, you’re still left with something that you love, that you’re proud of years later. Make something that only could’ve come from you and it will stand out. You’ll never be the best at sounding like Marvin Gaye or Joni Mitchell or Tame Impala but you can be the best at sounding like you.

As far as songwriting, I find that it’s best to shutoff the brain in whatever way you find possible and just write from the heart, from pure emotion. Learn all the theory, chords and song structure you can, but then when it’s time to write something–just let it all go and see what comes out of your heart.

I also find that writing songs happens best for me on instruments that I’m not very familiar with. For example I write a lot of songs by playing the piano while singing. I’m neither a piano player nor a singer but I find since I don’t have any extraordinary talent to rely on, everything sounds new to me and whatever comes out is usually the simplest and most powerful idea. That also goes for synthesizers, a lot of songs have come to me by playing someone else’s synth or my synth that a friend used and left in a completely different configuration. Often just hearing a new synth sound just sends my mind for a trip and I hear an entire song in a couple of minutes.

And as far as gear, I’d say a true signature sound comes from having a limited budget and being forced to rely on fate and what’s immediately available to you. Don’t lust after the legendary synths that your favorite producers have, instead pull out that toy Farfisa synth that your uncle gave you when he was clearing out his attic and couldn't find any other gift for your birthday. Maybe sound 092 on that synth just happens to be a Moog lead knockoff that shakes the windows when you put it through the right distortion pedal and amp. Just don’t tell your uncle because he’ll want his cut of the master.

Finally, I would tell artists looking for inspiration to look further than what’s popular right now, even what’s popular in indie or DIY scenes. The phonograph was invented in 1877, so we’re sitting on 150 years of recorded music from all around the world and we all have access to the internet. That’s a marvelous thing and I think it’s easy to forget just how marvelous of a thing that is. If you start digging, you might just find that disco albums made behind the Iron Curtain hit you like a freight train, or find the Brazilian musicians of the Tropicália movement that were facing similar oppression from a dictatorship like we are now and made beautiful music protesting it and calling for people to come together, or discover the film soundtracks of the great Italians–Morricone, Piccioni and Umiliani–and be able to watch entire movies in your head just by putting on one of their records. There is so much beyond what is trending right now and the minute you seek further than the trends you will begin to craft a sound for yourself that will catch people’s ears.

Alden: Don’t take things too seriously. I spent years trying to be a serious drummer and comparing the speed of my paradiddles to other drummers. It drained me creatively and I didn’t have much fun. Don’t compare yourself to others just be you! As corny as it sounds.

Weaknesses can become strengths. I’ve never been the loudest drummer or loved soloing with lots of complex chops. For years I viewed this as a weakness until I realized playing tasteful pocket and having dynamic control are very unique skills that will take you far.

While it is important to take your craft seriously and practice meticulously with a metronome, I think experiencing life, falling in love, and jamming with your friends is just as important. You can’t write songs about life if you don’t go out and live a little!

Synth History: What are some of your current go-tos in the studio or on the road?

Dana: Current go-tos in the studio right now would have to be a Yamaha SK50D synth, Micromoog and a Mk I Rhodes. The SK50D is this rare old powerhouse of a synth that we just happened to stumble on at our local shop. It’s got dual keyboards with a lower organ, upper organ, string, polysynth, and solo and bass synthesizer sections. Each of the sounds has different outs so you can stack them and layer FX however you want. Really has everything we could ever need right in one synth. The Micromoog we went for as a more budget version of the Minimoog, but it really packs a punch. Whenever I run out of ideas on the piano or Rhodes, I usually just run to the Micromoog and the bass lines and melodies that can come out of it are beautiful. The filters on it also sound very different from the SK50, so it just gives us a few more options. The Rhodes is the bread and butter of the studio, it’s one of the early ones with the wooden hammers, so it has pretty heavy action but the bark is something else. Gotta give a shoutout to Hans Kocher out in Amish Country PA for fixing it up after we found it in the depths of NYC FB marketplace!

Alden: I am not very knowledgeable about brands and models of gear. I like my Gretsch drums, my Crescent Vanguard cymbal, and these lightweight hi-hats that I purchased from a small Brooklyn-based company called Name Brand. That being said, I believe any drum set can sound good with the right tuning and touch.

I love experimenting with different ways to alter the sound of my drums. I tune my snare drum extremely tight and then muffle it with a tea towel purchased at a flea market in London.

I always use a ¼ inch heavy metal chain that I have purchased from True Value Hardware as a cymbal sizzle. This always seems to amuse people but I am truly addicted to the sound it creates when placed on my ride cymbal. It creates a very washy texture with not much sustain.

I also have been playing around on small ceramic Moroccan bongos that our bassist Andrew owns. They have a fun toy-like high pitched tone and are fun especially on fast drum n bass grooves.

Synth History Exclusive.

Photos by Samuel Summers Eszenyi.

Interview by Danz.