News Dan Croll: ‘I’ve Been Watching A Lot Of Bill Murray Films’

As Dan Croll prepares to play his DIY Presents… show today (18th January) at the Old Blue Last, we thought this would be an opportune moment to catch up with the Liverpudlian to find out just how recording that debut long-player is going.

In the last interview you did with us you told us you had tons of unfinished songs. Have you gone back to any of these for the album? Have there been any examples of you reviving a half-baked idea and bringing it to life?
Yes indeed, I’ve been spending a lot of time focussing my attention on finishing half finished ideas. It’s rather challenging getting back in to that frame of mind/emotional state that you wrote the song in originally, but I’ve been watching a lot of Bill Murray films and eating some good vegetarian food which has helped with the process.

Is the album going to be full of immediate pop tracks like ‘From Nowhere’ or are you going for something a little different?
I’d like to think that ‘Wanna know’ and ‘From Nowhere’ show the punchy pop side of my sound, whilst ‘Home’ shows the more intimate/emotional side. I imagine all the other songs will sit at some point on the spectrum between these.



What else can we expect from the record?
Expect beyond your expectations!

In future are there any dream collaborators you’d like to work with on an album?
Dirty Projectors, Grizzly Bear, Patrick Watson, Beirut, Metronomy, Bombay Bicycle Club, De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest, Seun Kuti, Dustin Wong, Toe, Andrew Bird, Tame Impala, The Zombies, Oh No Ono, Efterklang, Tune-Yards, Caribou, Little Dragon, Burt Bacharach, Brian Wilson, or my Nan… I’d be pretty happy to collaborate with any of them.

What would you do different next time round if you were to enter the studio with a blank canvas?
Have structurally complete songs.

Do you have the idea of writing the ‘perfect pop song’, so to speak, in mind when working on the album?
Not at all, I try and ignore all temptation to formulate any of my songs so that they fit with radio/mainstream requirements and demands. Each track is treated individually and I see it through to the end no matter how structurally bizarre, lengthy, or controversial. If it so happens to make it in to the ‘pop’ realm - as I suppose ‘From Nowhere’ did - then I guess that’s a bonus.



Do you have any pre-studio routine or wind down routine that helps with a day’s recording?
When we were recording in the school gym we had regular pre/post recording badminton games. That really helped cure the mentally drained mind at times. Now we’re recording in the flat, I have started to have a post-recording play on the recently acquired Xbox. There’s just something quite therapeutic and relaxing about battling through futuristic war zones/slaying post-apocalyptic zombies.

When ‘From Nowhere’ first came out and became such a success did you feel under any pressure at all to replicate it?
I did, and still do. The success of that song really was unexpected and certainly rocked my writing boat. But, as I said earlier, I’m just trying to avoid all temptation to replicate it or let it affect any of my other songs. So far, it seems to be working.

Dan Croll plays DIY Presents… at the Old Blue Last, London on Friday 18th January. Entry is free.