Daniel McCarthy Music promotions Interview

1. When did you first know you wanted to be a songwriter?

This is actually quite a long story! When I was really young, in primary school, I’d often get selected for my voice to sing in school shows. My drama teacher then started taking me to audition for child roles in major West End productions in London. After many rejections… ha!… I managed to land one or two roles for a short while (for example the role of Tiny Tim in a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens’s famous story ‘A Christmas Carol’) and so, due to my ad hoc successes, the auditions continued.

Then one year I was invited to audition for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s new show ‘The School of Rock’ in London, and I was asked along for the role of the keyboard-playing boy in the band. This led to many stages of auditions and out of hundreds of boys I got to the finals where there were just 5 of us keyboard players left but they only needed 3 of us! As the youngest and the least experienced, I got duly cut! However, just before that, in those final auditions, they’d put us in ‘bands’ to play a couple of rock songs from the show, which I really enjoyed as it was the first time for me. I was also in awe of some of the older boys who could just sit at the keyboard during the break times and play pop songs (like Adele’s Skyfall) just by ear. Whereas although I loved listening to pop on the radio, at that point in time I only knew how to play just a handful of ‘classical pieces’ from my piano exam syllabus!

I was inspired by these young talented musicians who could play pop music and that summer I would not get off the piano! So I taught myself to play a bunch of my favourite pop songs of that time and then once I got the hang of how pop songs are structured, I very quickly started writing my own original songs. That’s how it all started I guess…

2. What was your inspiration behind ‘She Looked Like You’?

I got the initial spark of the idea for this song from a TikTok craze of boyfriends ‘accidentally’ mistaking their girlfriends with their girlfriends’ twins! It all looked staged of course, but once I came up with the melodic hook of the song (“I kissed her ’cause she looked like you”), the rest was relatively easy. Also around that time, I’d been watching lots of teen dramas and old reruns of the sitcom ‘Friends’ (with the whole Ross & Rachel “We were on a break!” episode where both of them regretted their decisions) so I knew this song would be relatable to people. But I also tried to make it a fun upbeat kinda song in the spirit of the TikTok and to inject a bit of hope into the lyrics that all is not lost!

3. How long do you spend writing and recording?

I actually wrote ‘She Looked Like You’ in just one day! That was unusual because it normally takes me a lot longer to write a song. It can literally take months (on and off) just to get the lyrics right… although sometimes it just flows!

Once the lyrics are done, the main vocals for a song are typically recorded in one day, but sometimes I may, on different days, add or change parts of it (e.g. adding extra harmonies or backing vocals). I also need to do the production & sound design which includes arrangement & recording of all instruments. Again this all can take weeks, if not months, to get right in terms of sounds and melodies. All that effort is worthwhile though when a song is finally finished and mixed & mastered.

4. You were selected to sing two songs on Madonna’s ‘Madame X’ album, how did that come about and what was it like to work with her?

For many years, my senior school had (and still has) one of the best choirs in the UK. Our Choir Master is often contacted by studios when the choir is needed to sing on major movies or albums. Sometimes the whole choir would go, and sometimes just some of us would get selected. On this occasion, I got lucky to be selected. The whole thing was kept quite secret from even us for a few weeks and we weren’t told who the artist was until we were on the coach on our way to the studio! We sang on these two songs: ‘God Control’ and ‘Come Alive’. Madonna was really fun (and funny!) and incredibly kind to us. She seemed to really enjoy the session with us and she even posted a short clip of it on her Instagram. Within seconds of posting it, thousands of her fans went wild and were liking & commenting on those posts. She has some of the most devoted fans in the world and it was truly amazing to see that!

5. How was it being in the studio to sing on the movies ‘Last Christmas’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’?

For me it’s always great being in recording studios. I love all the technology there and I don’t get nervous or intimidated by them. From what I recall of these two films, we just sang as a group (there were no solo parts) and left.  It was relatively stress-free. We were always well-rehearsed prior to turning up to the studios and behaved professionally even as young pre-teenagers!

6. Are there any other tv shows or movies you’d like to be on the sound tracks for?

Any that would have me! Seriously though, I am a huge fan of all types of film scores and even some pop songs that are synced for films or tv shows. I would be delighted if any of my tracks are ever selected for use in that respect or if I’m ever commissioned to compose a score.

7. Have you finished writing, recording and producing your EP? When will it be out?

I’m hoping to release the EP by the end of this year. The songs for the EP have all been recorded and ready. I’m just now working on the artwork for the EP cover. I also want to release at least a couple more tracks from it as singles first, before I release the EP. So just trying to figure out the best release dates for all of them. I’m excited to share all my songs as soon as I can!

8. How long have you spent working on this?

I wrote about 20 songs last year and, during the last months of 2020, I finalized and recorded 10 of those songs. I’ve so far released 4 of them as singles this year: ‘Stonewall’, ‘Valentine’, ‘Friend of a Friend’ and my latest song ‘She Looked Like You’. I’m planning to release at least a couple of more of these songs by December, followed by my debut EP (which will contain my latest single ‘She Looked Like You’).

9. Do you write for other artists?

I have in the past written songs for others to sing, and I am hoping to do a few new collaborations over the next 6-8 months.

10. What music are you currently streaming?

I have a very diverse taste in music and I listen to all genres as long as they are well-written & produced. But mainly I love listening to the Billboard 100 to hear all the newest hits and the latest sounds!

11. Who inspires you as an artist?

I guess I’m more inspired by certain songs that I find exceptionally well-written and produced, rather than being influenced by specific artists. For example my current playlist includes an unusual spanish version of ‘My Way’ by Frank Sinatra, as well as some of the latest dance & pop hits in the Billboard 100.

12. Do you have anything live coming up that you can talk about?

Nothing finalised that I can mention at the moment, but I’m looking at some opportunities. Watch this space!

13. Final Messages?

Follow me on social media and Spotify to hear my latest song ‘She Looked Like You’!