[interview] DANIEL LOGAN

Tell me, what do you know about Daniel Logan ? 

If you ask Google and Wiki you'd be glad to know  that he's a bassist, he played with The Kooks 3 years ago ,now he plays the bass with Ice Black Birds,  and he lives in Brighton , hmm ok , interesting ....

oh , and the most important : he's not the famous actor from Star Wars ( no, he's not, i swear)

AND he's not a medium who lives with pigeons ( thanks God)

that's all , and its a shame !

So, i decided to ask him some questions about his life / career etc...

I'd like to thank him for the interest he showed to my questions 

even if i'm always glad to do interviews with bands/musicians that i love, i must admit that i'm very very proud of this interview and i hope that you'll support him for a long time

1) Does your passion for music comes from your family ?

 Yes absolutely music came from my family, my grandad 


taught me to play piano when I was very little, he used to 


play for Jazz bands in the 40s/50s and I guess he was my 


first introduction to music, that's probably where my love of 


Jazz and swing and all things classical comes from. My dad 


taught me my first chords on the guitar and explained about 


what each part of a band does, plus my mum was always 


encouraging us to learn an instrument. She was the reason I 


moved to Brighton to make music my career.

2) When did you realize that you wanted to become a musician ? 

When I was 16 I was working as a waiter, had no idea what 


to do with my life, I thought i wanted to make money and I 


was only good at two things, music and computers, my dad 


put me forward for a job at Microsoft, my mum put me 


forward for a music school, the music school asked first so I 


moved to Brighton, guess i'd be making windows 7 by now if 


I picked differently.

3) If you weren't a musician what /who would you be ? 

If I quit music now i've no idea what I'd do, i'm only good at 


this! maybe computers I guess, Always wanted to do 


something that helps people, maybe a fireman? haha

4) Is there a person /a group of person that really helped you become a musician ? 

Well like I said my family helped most, my grandma drove 


me most! see always told me off for not practicing, Hated 


that at the time but appreciate it now. The people that 


taught me music help so much, a guy called Jim Williams and 


another, Julian Deane, they taught me how to survive in 


music, that's as important as playing well!

5) Cat the dog was your first band , where/how did you meet the other musicians /singer ? 

 At the time Daryl (guitarist) was living with me and he met 


these crazy two Canadians in a bar, they got talking to him 


because of his huge afro, eventually these guys got evicted 


from their apartment and we let them live on our floor, their 


bassist quit the band the two days before the first show, I 


had a bass and, well the rest explains itself!

6) Why did you choose the bass ? if you could play any other instrument you'd like , what would it be ?

I play piano and guitar before I took up bass, I always used 


to play really simple stuff, hated playing solos and one day I 


just messed around with a bass at my friends house, it just 


kinda felt natural, I worked out how to play the bass solo 


from The Chain, Fleetwood Mac, after that day I just wanted 


to learn everything I could on bass. If I could play anything 


else, think it would be Cello, always loved its tone, kinda 


makes you want to cry when you hear it.

7) I know that you can sing, do you also write lyrics ? if yes, would you like to sing your own songs ?

I sing when I'm drunk! yes I write lyrics too but i'd never like 


to sing them, I like being a sideman, all my favorite musicians 


are sidemen (women) James Jamerson, Booker T and the 


MGs, the list goes on!

8) You played with some bands and you went to many countries , what's your best memory on tour so far? 

I have so many its hard to know where to start, seeing 


Niagara Falls for the first time at 4am wearing nothing but 


my PJs was fun, seeing any new country for the first time is 


a feeling like no other, meeting Mick Jagger was pretty 


awesome!

9) I saw you many times on stage with The Kooks in 2008, you played in very small venues but also in big venues and festivals, what did you enjoy the most ? 

I always enjoy the small shows most, I like to see the fans, 


feel what the crowd feel, the atmosphere, sweating so much 


you almost pass out but still running around like crazy 


because you're having so much fun. Big shows can get 


souless, I feel so distant from everyone, like, corporate I 


guess 

10) What's your worst memory about a gig ? your best ? 

Worst: Playing to no one but the door man, our driver and 


the bar staff at Birmingham academy because the venue 


forgot to sell any tickets, haha, in fact it makes me laugh 


now! Best: I know it sounds corny, but every gig, in a way It 


always makes me happy, I just love it, nothing like it.

11) You have many fans on twitter, some of them are also fans of The Kooks, you're not in the band anymore but they still support you , what do you feel about that ? 

Its wonderful that so many people still want to hear what I 


do and would support me in everything I do. I think without 


that support to keep me going I would have given up long 


ago.

12) Can you tell us more about your band Ice Black Birds ? How did you meet them ? 

Well I'm doing many musical projects IBB is just one of them, 


i've known them around Brighton for a long time, creatively 


they blow my mind, those guys write like no one else I know, 


i've learnt a lot from them.

13)  Who would you dream to play with ? ( musician/singer/band)

So many people! I'd like to work with a legend, Dylan, Neil 


Young, anyone like that, Playing for Ray Davies was an 


amazing experience, I'd love to collaborate with The 


Maccabees one day, not just because i'm friends with them 


but I honestly think they make the most beautiful forward 


thinking music these days, no better band In my eyes.

14) What was your favourite song as a child ? 

Hmm, I have several memories of my first songs, Chuck 


Berry, No Particualr Place To Go. Dire Straits, Money for 


Nothing, The Clash, Should I stay or should I go? and lastly, 


Glenn Miller in the mood, can't remember which came first 


but I loved them all.

15) What was the first gig you went ? 

Eek! first gig, was the Offspring in Manchester when I was 


13 I think, apart from the Jazz and Classical shows my folks 


would take me to.

16) What's your favourite album/song of all time ? 

Oh god this on is too hard! Its obvious but Sgt Peppers 


Lonely Hearts Club Band, It was the first Vinyl I ever heard, 


blew my mind, still does.

17) What was the first album you ever bought ? 

First album I bought was Rage Against the Machine by Rage 


Against the Machine, I was 13 and angry at the world, It was 


the perfect music for it! was so scared the first time I went 


to a record shop, everyone was cool and grown up, I had the 


album name written on a tiny piece of paper which I gave to 


the clerk as I had no idea how to find the record, glad I 


didn't wimp out and got the album though!.

18) Have you got one song in your Ipod that you'd be ashamed to tell about ? 

 I'm not ashamed of any of them! Some people would call 


Wham, Wake me up before you go go a guilty pleasure but I 


love it, in fact I really like Wham, I recently became friends 


with their bass player, the most amazing Deon Estus, check 


him out he makes awesome music as well as being a bass 


legend, he's played with every one, Marvin Gaye, Elton John, 


he basically who I want to be and the fact he wrote back to 


my email in the first place makes me very happy.

19) What's next for the next months ? will you be on tour with a band ?  

The next few months are busy with all kinds of things. I'm 


working as an engineer when i'm not playing so i'll be on tour 


with The Pierces October, then The Maccabees after that, 


after that, who knows! keep checking my Twitter!












Twitter : DanielLogan

Interview by Marion

20 sept 2011