Daniel Etherton is an artist to watch. His emotionally charged lyrics and sonically exciting music is gaining a big following, so we sat down with Daniel to talk about his new music.
How did these new tracks come about?
These two tracks evolved from something really sad happening. Last April my Grandad passed away. I was asked to write the eulogy and read at the funeral, deciding to focus on the ‘good’ in goodbye. With restrictions at the time, it was harder to give him a proper send off. I bottled up a lot on that day to get through my part and have mixed feelings about it but made ‘Good in Goodbye’ as a coping mechanism. ‘Sand’ came about earlier this year – a year past, my Grandma living without her soulmate and my Mum and her brother without their Dad. Based on the idiom; sands of time. The concept connected to popular memento mori paintings and inevitability of death. We can’t hold back time but can live life with love lost, although never forgotten. This is why I’ve decided to have a double A-side for this release. It’s two-parts to one story.
What was lockdown like for you, and how did it affect you creatively?
Looking back now, the majority of it was quite reflective; as mentioned, dealing with loss in the family really highlighted my own personal way of navigating my emotions. It was also the period of time where I decided to knuckle down and work on the production of my debut single, Foundations, as well as those track(s) which have followed up. There is a tonne of songs that were made as a biproduct of having so much time to digest the state of not only my headspace but also the world going through a pandemic. I’m so grateful to listen to other artists new releases and music which creatively inspired me, too. Phoebe Bridgers, Nick Mulvey, Dustin Tebutt to name a couple.
You’ve started playing shows recently, what has that been like?
Playing shows and going to gigs – it’s been a dream to return to live music. As a kind of storyteller in my craft, there’s so much more to relate with when you’re performing to a physical audience. You can see people resonate with songs that bare so much emotion and narrative. It’s been a blessing and super encouraging to continue working hard at it. What can we expect from you in the future Daniel? I’d say expect a lot of hard work and dedication to a medium which I give my whole heart to, that’s music. Song writing is at the very core of it all; to glide from strength to strength in my own ability and confidence. More shows, music, collaborations, an EP – an album.
Daniel’s new singles ‘Sand’ and ‘Good in Goodbye’ are out today
