With the release of their latest Old Man Creaky Bones tape quickly approaching – we sent Danny Echo a few questions about creativity, inspiration, the pandemic, and what they think about the state of the world today.
Hi Danny – can you briefly introduce yourself?
Hey! Thank you, neighbor Deathforms for having me!
So, yeah my solo project is called Old Man Creaky Bones, I make kind of mod/glam inspired post-folk rock/pop? I’m really bad at pinning down genres tbh, I find that most of the stuff I love has some blurred edges, and I like to give myself room to keep growing in whichever direction a vine can catch a post.
Is Old Man Creaky Bones simply a solo-project or a pseudonym, a project name, a character you perform as, or something else entirely?
The name came about as just something awkward said on a first date. I don’t remember if she said it first or me, but it was cold out and I shiver pretty violently when it’s cold, and we just kept saying it a bunch because we didn’t know what else to say. I started using it, hoping that it would become more of a band thing than a solo thing, but soon it started to feel like I had kind of trapped myself into a side solo project. But I try to treat it as more of a band anyway rather than a character or a pseudonym
As an artist with an increasing focus on extravagant performances – how have you been dealing with the sudden loss of live performance opportunities?
Okay so, thanks for saying my performances are/were extravagant lol Like I know I daydream of extravagant performances but I dunno if I’ve really pushed myself to make it happen (yet) maybe one day lol
As for dealing with the loss of live… I’ve just been trying to focus on other things. Drawing, drag, improving my home recording skills, hanging out with my partner and our cats. Lots of back and forth between feeling pretty good about minute things and feeling pretty despairing, but feeling like maybe this whole experience will make being around people later on so much better, but feeling like, dang, this whole experience is making being around people ever again seem awful.
What influences (musical, visual, etc.) on Stressed to Impress, Old Man Creaky Bones, and your music in general should people check out?
Dig on Talking Heads, Prince, Saint Vincent, Of Montreal, Tom Waits, Ty Segall, Dorian Electra, and T Rex.
Not to say that my own music is anywhere near the heavens these greats dwell in, but my feathers do melt in their brilliance.
Dig on films by Alejandro Jodorowsky, drag looks by Yovska and Charity Kase and Juno Birch, get totally lost in the brightly dark illustrations of Abbey Luck, and absolutely dig on Hallie Linnebur for their style, costumes, drag, installations and over all vibe. I think I was starting to try and dress like Hallie before I knew them and then we met and I was like okay. Yes. This.
Any thoughts on Ariel Pink and John Maus attending the pro-trump riots at the United States Capitol and/or thoughts on the state of the US in early 2021?
Oof
Yeah, Pink officially declaring that the dick behind the curtain is actually just the dick on stage was pretty disappointing, it sucked but after a week + later it’s sunk in and it’s like “well no shit.” I had NEVER heard of John Maus tbh. So what evah.
This country is going through some growing pains and they’re NOT taking it like a champ. I’m just here to listen and observe and be open to new possibilities of what America can be. What it is and what it was built to be, the system is working just how it’s architects designed, and it’s overdo for a makeover by new architects. I have never felt like I know how to talk about politics, and it takes me a while for things to sink in to try and express them, so I won’t say a lot. Only that it’s dismaying as hell thinking things can only get better from here, only to have Trumpet and his Kazoos outdo themselves time and again. I’m hoping police and the prison system as we know it is dissolved and I hope we appoint better over watchers who possess souls and compassion who can make it legal to be human, safe and enjoyable to be human. My optimism for that swings back and forth.
Aside from the upcoming release of Stressed to Impress – what are your plans and goals for the year?
My biggest hope is to be able to nab a couple Flaming Lips tickets for a bubble concert before scalpers do. I’m gonna keep experimenting with recording of course and writing, but I’m not very optimistic that we will be safe to continue live shows in general in 2121, mostly because I just know anti vaxers are a thing and unfortunately where we come from there’s enough folks refusing to follow basic practices of kindness to stretch this thing out indefinitely. However, I do want to explore other options and maybe give virtual stuff/video a fair shake. In my wildest dreams we Impeach Trump, his name is officially and legally disgraced and his name, flags, stupid hats all become an official hate symbol. Him and his followers rounded up and burned to cinders. Police done away with and a new system of social work implemented. Reparations and equal opportunities for all POC, Indigenous, and LGBTQIA. All this done, the sun bursts out of the clouds and a rainbow lights up the entire globe in technicolor glory and suddenly we all know that it’s safe to go places again. Hallie and I can go on some trips to see cool shit and stop to pee or eat without worrying about what the questionable people of rural America MIGHT do to us for looking strange, and on a greater scale POC can do their own thing anywhere, like in their own homes, without worrying about what all kinds of Americans DO every day.
Any parting statements?
Making stuff is hard for a lot of people right now, myself included, and I think it’s because it’s a selfish thing to make art. But I know there are others out there making stuff and I hope even more that have more important things to say than myself and are better equipped to express this period in time, and I hope that anyone who feels inclined to make right now does it.
Thank you so much Danny!
Follow Old Man Creaky Bones on Facebook + Instagram + Bandcamp and be on the lookout for the Stressed to Impress tape preorder coming soon!
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