Dan Sindel

Interview With Dan Sindel

SBS:  Welcome to our pages!  Whether you’ve been here with us in some way before, or you’re brand-new to the site, it’s probably best to get an introduction from you so that we get everyone on the same page to start.  Tell us a little bit about the history of your music, and what’s happening with it lately!?!

Dan Sindel:  Hi and thank you for having me here.  I am an independent solo artist based in Los Angeles and have been playing music a real long time, since the mid-70s.  Way back in the legendary “80’s LA Heavy Metal scene” I have shared the stage with some of the biggest names in the Rock and Metal world (e.g. ACCEPT, SAXON, KING DIAMOND, WENDY O. WILLIAMS, RACER X, ARMORED SAINT, FLOTSAM & JETSAM, HELMET, GRIM REAPER, METAL CHURCH etc…) and these days I am putting out my own music and having fun.

SBS:  Let’s talk about the before and after of where you’re currently at.  What’s something about the music that you’re making now that you don’t think you could have done five years ago, and what’s something you think you’ll be able to do with your music five years from now that you can’t do today?  How have you grown as an artist/band, and what steps do you take to continue your artistic evolution?

Dan:  Good question.  Well, 5 years ago my production skills were pretty good but that is roughly about the time where I became serious in deciding to finally search through my archive of demos and find tracks that were worthy of spending the time on to bring them to life, and that is exactly what I did, as of this writing I now have 2 solo EP’s mixed and mastered.  The first EP was released in 2023, UNPOPULAR MUSIC FOR POPULAR PEOPLE Vol. 1 and my second EP THEY ONLY LOVE YOU WHEN YOU’RE WINNING is just being released now.

As far as predicting the future, who knows?  Technology is certainly developing at a fast pace.  I would never lean on AI to create music that takes the humanity away from the art form.  Bands are already tempting fate with AI and the music fans appear to not be very happy with that, we’ll see if that attitude changes, I sure hope not.  I even thought about using the chatGPT for a fast minute to clean up my poor grammatical errors and punctuation for this interview but said “HELL NO!, keeps it real!” lol you will get 100s of misplaced commas!

To me, music is a never ending discipline, be it music production or continuing to evolve as an instrumentalist.

SBS:  If you were to assess the overall health of the independent music scene right now, what would you say?  What are the positives and the negatives about the current state of independent music, and what do you feel like artists & bands can do to contribute to the community & help it grow beyond the music being made?  If you’re not actively looking to listen to the music of other independent artists/bands, is it really all that fair to expect anyone would listen to yours?  How do you help the scene around you grow?

Dan:  There are pros and cons to everything; I am no expert in this topic but from my experience as an independent artist I would definitely say it is not easy to get your music heard or be “discovered” as they say.  Granted, there are always exceptions to the rule, perhaps with a little dumb luck or what have you, perhaps being “shared” by an influencer and they send traffic your way?  Gone are the days of just being a competent musician and having a label do the heavy lifting of marketing and distribution, that is a thing of the past, it seems you also have to become a “content creator” and spill your life on social platforms like IG or Tik Tok to be relevant, yikes lol.

I am not sure of the exact number but I’ve been told by a few insiders that on the average 60000-70000 songs are uploaded every single day to Spotify etc. and that is pretty overwhelming to think that in a few weeks’ time almost another million songs are there to compete with.  How do you rise above this output of music?

It is great when artists can support each other, that makes a healthy community and builds friendships, out here in LA there is quite a lot of camaraderie with local bands and that is absolutely great but the real challenge it seems is to reach past family/friends and get ones music out to the masses on a global level which requires time, dedication and sadly, lots of money for promotion.  And with that said, needless to say, I am very grateful for allowing me and other artists the opportunity to be interviewed on your network, that is kind and generous of you and I hope your readership continues to grow.  We are in this together and should help each other out when possible.

SBS:  What do you consider to be the biggest accomplishment or achievement you’ve had with your music to-date?  How do you personally measure your own success – is that something that even can be measured?  Is it awards, accolades, chart position…or is your definition of success based on something entirely different?  Should success, however you define it, be something that artists are continually focused on – or is success something that naturally occurs in the course of doing what you love to do?

Dan:  You definitely ask good questions.  Success to me can be broken down and compartmentalized into a few different areas, personal achievement and how well the music is received by music fans (popularity).

The big emphasis is on personal achievement.  I am more than satisfied with being able to create and continue to create music; it’s a lifelong passion on a “musician” level.  The pure joy of just making music and creating art is what should be first, not chasing fame and fortune.  Unfortunately sometimes life just gets in the way, the personal trials and tribulations that I’ve had to endure are daunting; in 2012 there was a battle with (almost) stage 4 cancer that caused everything to stop while I fought for life itself and to be able to recover from that is a miracle let alone be able to come back to playing guitar and singing.  After years of recovery and rehabilitation I was able to go back to my job and continue to teach guitar at the local colleges here in Los Angeles and that is a beautiful thing helping others get started on their musical journey.  I’ve probably taught well over 1,000 beginning guitar students over the years, which makes me happy.

On a “professional” level, well that’s another story, the landscape has changed quite a bit and yes I am putting out music, 2 EP’s as a solo artist, writing and producing my own material is very satisfying, especially with the help of some very amazing individuals.  On my new EP, THEY ONLY LOVE YOU WHEN YOU’RE WINNING, I had my friend from the old high school days, Danny Saber (who has worked with amazing artists such as: U2, Bowie, Marilyn Manson, Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Michael Hutchence, KORN, The Rolling Stones etc.) help me out by mixing my tracks and take it to a whole new level.  As of this writing I have released the first single from the EP, “AMBITION,” which has been very well received and the second release “FREEDOM” will be out June 19 of 2025.

As far as performing and doing concerts, I am not sure if I could handle the rigors of an actual tour anymore but I am definitely looking at putting a power trio together and playing select live shows in town.

SBS:  When you’re working on something brand-new, and something about it just doesn’t feel like it’s coming together the way that you think it should, how do you know when it’s time to give up on it, or how do you know that it’s time to dig in even harder and find a way to make it work?  Are there distinct red flags you can hear when something’s not working?  What are the signs you look for that tell you to stop forcing the material?  What would actually encourage you to keep going with the process instead?

Dan:  Another brilliant question indeed.  Sometimes you get lucky and everything just magically works and fits together seamlessly, and yes other times there are places that don’t appear to be shaping up the way you hoped; that is when you dig deep and find a way to create the flow or put it away for a while.  That all depends on deadlines (self-imposed or otherwise).

Thankfully I have been quite fortunate in that most of the songs that I go into production for have gone rather smoothly without a lot of headaches, grateful for that.  Most of it has been worked out by going through the initial songwriting/demo phase prior to actually going for the studio production.  Pre- production saves countless hours of drama.

SBS:  One of the points of general consensus in the art of making music, is that we all get our sound from somewhere…we hear what we like, then more often than not, we take tiny pieces of what we love to find our own voice & approach to go on and make music in our own way.  Essentially, what I’m saying is that it’s absolutely natural to be inspired by other artists/bands, and almost every artist/band ends up having that inspiration show up in their own work in some way, shape, or form.  What the real key is though, is retaining your own organic perspective – you still wanna be original too, right?  So how do you go about doing that?  Are there artists or bands that you know have been an influence on your style & sound?  How were you able to incorporate that influence without becoming too noticeably derivative and still be yourself?  Should we embrace and celebrate our influences more than we do?  It’s almost like we try not to admit influences exist in the pursuit of being original, but it’s like, bruh…if it’s there, we can hear it.  We all borrow something from those that came before us to some extent, don’t we?

Dan:  Most of my musical heroes came from the 60s-70s-80s: Led Zeppelin, Genesis, Deep Purple, Jethro Tull, YES, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, THE WHO, RUSH, JUDAS PRIEST & Jeff Beck just to name a few.  There is a list a mile long of what I would call “favorite guitar players” that helped shape who I am and my vision of how music should be.  It’s really hard to pick up the guitar and play a few things and not say “oh man, that sounds like RUSH, Carlos Santana or Ritchie Blackmore” or whatever.  Finding your own voice takes work.

As the saying goes, “You can’t escape your roots” so embrace it and do your best to not plagiarise (too heavily) and add your own voice and personality!  There’s nothing new under the sun.

SBS:  Has there ever been a time where you wrote something inside one of your songs…maybe it’s a lyrical line, or maybe it’s a riff of some kind…something that you did, where you surprised yourself?  I like to think we all have a moment or two where we can stand back and be amazed by something we created, and appreciate the fact that maybe, just maybe, we exceeded our own expectations of what we thought we could accomplish – you know what I mean?  Get as specific as you can so the fans out there know what they should be paying attention to when they hear it – what’s your favorite thing that you’ve written on the inside of one of your songs, and why does this particular piece resonate so much to you?

Dan:  That is a tough one to answer; it’s a bit like asking someone “who is your favorite child” (although I don’t have kids, lol).  Every song I’ve written and recorded means something special to me, be it on a personal or musical perspective.  But if there was one song that I’d have to commit to for the sake of argument here would probably be “EDGE OF ETERNITY” from my first EP, UNPOPULAR MUSIC FOR POPULAR PEOPLE Vol. 1.

“EDGE OF ETERNITY” is sort of my own personal “BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY” or “STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN”; it’s a multi layered, symphonic 6 minute Rock opus that deals with life and death.  It was mixed by my friend, multi-platinum engineer Steve Sykes and he turned this into timeless magic.  My friend Alex Wyatt (RIP) played drums on this as well in the studio, he was a good guy and left us too soon (about a year after the song was released); it’s a bit difficult for me to listen back to this song sometimes.

SBS:  I’ve been having a lot of great debates lately about whether or not everybody that’s making music has the right to be heard…and you’d probably be surprised by how different people seem to feel about this issue.  I know where I stand on it, and I think you can all probably get an idea of what my position would be from this free interview we’re doing here & the way we run things at sleepingbagstudios…but regardless, I’m putting this question out there to you, because I’m interested in YOUR perspective.  Just because you’ve made a song, does that mean people should listen?  If your answer is yes, do your best to explain why you feel that way & why we should make a sincere effort to listen to the music of others.  If your answer is no, explain why you feel that way, but also explain why people should still be listening to your music if that’s the case – what would make your music the exception, and not follow the rule?  Is there any value to an idea that’s not finished, or a song in its demo stages, or maybe something that’s not recorded in a top-shelf studio or with good equipment – somebody still took the time to make that song to the best of their ability with the means they had to create it – should that be listened to, or not?

Dan:  That is a deep subject and not enough time in the day to debate this properly as everyone seems to have a strong opinion on this (and you know the old joke about “opinions”).  Perhaps it was the way I was raised and the values that were instilled in me but in short I would say that just because someone creates a song (or paints a picture or anything creative in the arts), the artist does not automatically get to demand an audience, or as you say “the right to be heard,” if I am interpreting this correctly?  That would be incredibly selfish and narcissistic to think in that manner as if the world owes you something, lol.  I am not one to sit on the judgement seat but over the past 3-4 decades or so music certainly has become less of a respected commodity and many out there do feel that the music they get to listen to is free, not taking into consideration how much time and money was spent creating the product.  Ever since NAPSTER, Pirate Bay, Lime Wire And MySpace appeared in the early years of the internet things have turned inside-out.  I’m certain many disagree with me and that is ok too. ☺

Hopefully every musical idea can find an audience in whatever capacity.  Before the internet and CD’s, when cassette tapes were the still the king, you bet your life that tons of great songs and artists found their way to recording contracts and great careers without all the expensive recording gear.  It is pretty damn cool though nowadays for a few hundred bucks you can get an audio interface and a laptop and have a studio and make music just about anywhere.

SBS:  There are ups and downs in the dynamics of almost every album we listen to, with very few exceptions.  Even those exceptions, probably still come down to more of a personal preference about what we enjoy about music and how we personally hear it, rather than anything being completely and totally “perfect” – you know what I mean?  Does an album actually need to have some kind of up/down dynamics in terms of what’s appealing to the masses in order for the best of the best songs in a lineup to be fully appreciated?  Wouldn’t every artist & band avoid the ‘down’ side (less accessible/less popular for example) if they could?  Does the ‘down’ side represent something else perhaps, like the story of an album or journey of an artist?  Is the ‘up’ side of a record as potent or noticeable if it doesn’t have a ‘down’ side to go with it?  Would a completely balanced album somehow be boring if it didn’t have the ups/downs that most have?  Do we HAVE to like every single song on a record for it to be considered complete?  Are the dynamics of an album something anyone can really steer in the direction they want to, or are all artists & bands simply going with the strongest material they have created at the time?

Dan:  Wow, that is a multi-layered question, a bit like some of my guitar arrangements.  ☺  If I was on an actual phone conversation with you than perhaps I could ascertain a deeper meaning of what you are hoping to hear from me but in regards to what I get out of this is, my long winded answer is…

“Beauty is in the eye (“or ear” in this case) of the beholder,” wouldn’t you agree?  Some of my most favorite albums of all time from when I was growing up were anything but a commercial endeavor from the artist’s point of view; they were creating art as they felt it should be and had the liberty to do so to a certain degree.  True, some cuts off many LP’s became massively successful on FM radio and the albums sold millions upon millions of copies and yes, the artist had serious obligations and commitments to the record label to create material that they (the label) deemed worthy of a “hit single” (after all they are in the business to generate sales).  Although Jazz/Bee-Bop/Classical types of artists didn’t really have to suffer the same fate as per se’ a Pop singer who has to deliver “solid gold hits” each and every time, they just had to keep being creative in their art form and collectors of that genre would happily keep purchasing their catalog.

Some albums are perfect where every track is just as good as the next, top to bottom; some have a few tracks that aren’t as great as they could be comparatively, but those less than popular tracks did give a perspective into the artist that you wouldn’t get from a more commercially driven arrangement, if that makes sense?  I don’t know, once again music is very personal on so many levels and what is good to one person could be “utter crap” to someone else.  It makes absolute sense for an artist to go with their strongest material, don’t know why anyone would opt-in to go with anything that is sub-standard but things have changed especially if you are an independent artist as most of us are these days, you have the freedom to do whatever you like and if it’s good enough for the artist and they are happy, so be it.  I can’t speak for everyone though, lol.

I always tend to think of the perspective of an oil painter, they paint for themselves and hope along the way others can admire the painting, unless the work was on commission and the artist was paid to create and the client must be happy with the results.  Hobby vs. commercialism?

Technology has driven us pretty far off the deep end in a lot of ways i.e. the “Auto Tune Curse,” prior to recording software such as: Pro Tools, Logic, GarageBand etc…bands for the most part had to be prepared before booking a studio and recording, the vocalist had to be as spot on as possible and nowadays someone could be way “off pitch” and have horrible timing and thanks to computers and software like Melodyne or Auto Tune it’s all “fixed in the mix” by a savvy mix engineer/producer.  I don’t think there are any productions left where vocals haven’t been processed (other than perhaps Deathcore, Brutal Metal?) and the listening audiences have been trained to now listen to “perfection” and toss to the side anything that doesn’t match up.  For example, go back and listen to any old Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The WHO or Black Sabbath record, there’s no auto tune, the vocals go in and out of pitch and to me, it is the greatest thing ever, pure humanity and artistry, nothing fake about it.

Anyway, in my case, I am following my heart and passion, trying my best to honor the craft of songwriting and come up with things that are interesting and memorable; it’s not an easy task.  There are tons of undeveloped ideas and cool little parts in my archive and they are like little sketches or puzzle pieces that one day just might fit in the “big picture” as it were.  First and foremost, I am out to make sure I’m happy with the results before getting brave enough to share it with the world.  I’m personally grateful if anyone likes what I create and at the same time respect the fact that it might not resonate, what can you do?  One has to take the good with the bad and not be too thin skinned about negative reviews, not everyone will dig what you do.

Ok, I sure hope I didn’t digress and psychobabble too badly on this question, haha!

SBS:  I wanna send out a shout-out to YOU from me personally – I appreciate everyone that has taken the time to talk tunes with me throughout the years, and I appreciate the time YOU have taken with this interview too.  Because this one’s a little different in the sense that it’s been sent out to multiple people and is a little more generic in that regard, I have no doubt whatsoever that we probably didn’t get to talk to you about something you wanted to talk about – so let’s fix that!  This final space is what we call the SBS Open Floor – a spot where you can say anything else you want to say to the people out there.  It can be anything at all…your main websites…something else you want them to know about you and/or your music…your favorite bands in the scene right now…the secret 11 herbs and spices to the Colonel’s secret recipe – you get the idea, and it’s probably best you choose something that suits you rather than take any of my suggestions, but feel free to take the SBS Open Floor for a ride.  Whatever it is you want the people to know, now is the prime time for you to tell’em!  Thanks again for everything – keep in touch!

Dan:  AWESOME.  Well first of all I would like to thank you Jeremy for providing this forum and allowing artists such as I the time to express ourselves and have a chance to let your readers know about what we do.  You ask very challenging and thought provoking questions which is inspirational and makes for good journalism.  I am personally grateful for having an opportunity to let other people know about me and my craft of creating music on your platform.

My greatest hope of being here is that you guys enjoy my point of view, sense of humor and are encouraged to check out some of my music.

It’s all good!
Dan Sindel

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*I just put my first EP, UNPOPULAR MUSIC FOR POPULAR PEOPLE Vol. 1 on sale on Bandcamp, it’s a 5 song collection and it’s only 5 bucks to download.
https://dansindel.bandcamp.com/album/unpopular-music-for-popular-people-vol-1

*My Spotify profile is right here:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/12JOM4gAm4nuaXD8GXLW3x

*My first release from the new EP, THEY ONLY LOVE YOU WHEN YOU’RE WINNING is called “AMBITION,” and is up on YouTube!  I actually did all the animations and cartoon work myself (NO AI).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4rytxdLDYk

*My website: www.dansindel.com

You can connect with me on Social, please say hello!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanSindelMusic/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dansindelmusic/

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