Worcestershire singer-songwriter Dan Bull made a name for himself last year with his song Dear Lily, which lambasted Lily Allen’s views on filesharing. His follow up song Dear Mandy became the inspiration for our Sing Our Petition competition, so we thought it was only right to catch up with Dan and find out more about his musical inspirations, views on filesharing and what made him write Dear Lily. So, on with the interview…
Who are your musical inspirations?
“I listen to a huge range of artists, from classical to prog rock to grime and everything in between. Some of my main influences include The Smiths, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Lee Perry, Eminem and Ghetts. I’m always trying to find new inspirations online too. Here’s the latest relatively unknown band I’ve found; they’re called Eliot Fitzgerald and they have some brilliant songs.”
For you, what comes first, the music or the lyrics?
“Both are important to me, although I often write music and lyrics separately. Sometimes I’m in the mood to compose music and other times I’m jotting down whatever’s on my mind. I’ll then go back and work out how to match the music and words together.”
You got a great deal of success with Dear Lily – what made you decide to write the ‘open letter’?
“I saw some blatant hypocrisy in what she was saying – Lily Allen is an artist who started out using other people’s copyrighted material, and once she’d achieved success, she turned round and announced that this sort of behaviour was detrimental to upcoming musicians. I thought the letter would be a good way to get my argument across in a direct manner that people would enjoy.”
You’ve made your album available as a free download or to buy on CD – why did you decide to do this?
“As Tim O’Reilly said: ‘obscurity is a far greater threat to authors and creative artists than piracy.’ I thought it would be better to have thousands of people download my music for free rather than have a few people buy it. There’s so much recorded music out there anyway that it’s lost the value it once had.”
How do you think artists will be able to make a living in the future, given the challenge getting a record deal?
“Record labels really aren’t necessary any more for selling music – there are many companies that can help you do this independently such as CD Baby and Ditto Music. I think live music is gaining more popularity now, because people want to connect with the band and not the product. Generally, it’s the innovators who are going to succeed in the future.”
Why are you against the Digital Economy Bill?
“Because whatever your opinion on filesharing, this Bill is draconian and inefficient as well as being a worrying precedent. Pirates will find new ways to carry on doing what they’re doing, while everyone else’s privacy and assumption of innocence goes out the window.”
You wrote a song about computer games, arguing against negative attitudes towards gaming. What’s your favourite game?
“My favourite game is probably Oblivion, it’s such a huge and immersive game. You can get lost in the details of this open world for hours. I realised I was playing it a bit too much though when I saw a sunset one day and thought, ‘wow, that’s nearly as beautiful as the sunsets in Oblivion…’”
Your next song is about Facebook – how do you feel about social networking?
“Social networks are a great tool for keeping in touch with people, but when everybody knows what everybody else is doing and thinking all the time, then there are no surprises any more; nothing special; and nothing left to discuss when you meet in person. Whenever you go out now you’re bound to overhear someone talking about what’s happening on Facebook. It’s like a weird reversal of reality.”
What’s next for Dan Bull?
“I’m just going to keep writing music and sharing it with people who like it, and hopefully they’ll do the same. The other day someone told me that I put into words the things that are on everyone’s mind but nobody quite knows how to say. That was a brilliant compliment and it’s what I want to carry on doing.”
Where can people go to find out more about Dan Bull?
“You can watch and listen to my stuff or chat to me on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or MySpace.”
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