“Sure!” I replied. The next thing I knew, I was watching videos of this young Latin rock singer who was taking the stage at a lively American venue. “He’s good,” I said. “His name is Daniel Diaz,” said the man next to me, “and he’s my son,” he added with a proud smile.
It turned out that Daniel was coming to Vancouver only a couple of weeks later, to visit his father and friends. And, with the help of his father, I was lucky enough to get a chat with the talented singer and songwriter. We met up at the same coffee shop where I was first introduced to his music.
Daniel Dayz, as he is called in the music world, is originally from Mexico. He has been promoting Latin music in the U.S. for a few years now and studied at the renowned Berklee College of Music. Daniel has performed at venues such as the Hard Rock Café in Miami. He was the winner of the 2007 BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) awards and played on the first live TV show broadcasted directly from Berklee College – Berklee Latin Icon. His album is called Aunque Falte el Aire (Even if the Air is Missing).Tasleem-How would you classify your style of music?
Daniel- I would call it pop –rock. Ever since I was very young, I listened to a lot of English speaking American music, and I try to bring it to Mexico- blues melodies and rock melodies, but in Spanish.
But you sing in English as well as Spanish?
Yes, I sing in English all the time. My songs are written in Spanish though. But I love English music.
What do you listen to?
I love a lot of Rock and Blues. And I love Alicia Keyes, Pink, Sting, and I listen to a lot of soul… Elton John, Stevie Wonder… all the great ones. I enjoy listening to all kinds of music, especially being in Berklee. I even like the new guy from American Idol. He’s a great singer.
And do you ever listen to your own music?
Yes, all the time, but it’s hard to listen to it as a ‘normal’ listener. You start picking out what’s wrong and get very critical about it. You have to let it rest for a little while, so you can go back and listen to it objectively. I do it all the time, but you always start to think about what you could have done better. There’s always something you want to change.
Have you always played the same style of music?
Well, when I was very young, when I was a kid in Mexico, we were all influenced by this great singer-a pop ballad singer, a bolero singer- Luis Miguel. Do you know him?
Oh yes!- (laughs).
We all wanted to be Luis Miguel. Actually, I have friends who still want to be Luis Miguel (laughs). I love his music and the way he sings. And when I started to play piano, I asked my mom to buy me a piano because I wanted to play Luis Miguel songs on the piano (laughs). I used to sing a lot of his songs and a lot of Alexandro Sanz- pop kind of stuff- in Spanish. I wanted to sing songs of all the big artists.
So it wasn’t your parents who pushed you into playing an instrument? It was always your choice?
Nobody in my house played an instrument. It was strange. But I went to my uncle’s house, and they had a piano there. And one of my oldest cousins was playing piano on Christmas Eve. And I just wanted to play it. It was just kind of an urge. And I guess I fell in love with the piano. So my mom, when I was eight, got me a piano as a birthday gift. She hesitated at first. She was probably thinking, “Are you really going to play it?”
T- (laughs)
But I loved it and I was very lucky to have a young teacher. He understood what I was looking for. I didn’t start playing classical. I started playing the pop music I wanted to play. And I think that’s what motivated me. I was playing what I wanted to play.
When you were playing the piano as a kid, did you ever imagine or have the idea in your mind that music would turn out to be your career?
No, no. I just did it for fun. I just loved it. I didn’t think too much about it. I remember when I was 12 years old, I played the piano for my elementary school graduation. And it was normal to me. I didn’t see it as a career back then. But it was more in high school that I started to realize it was what I wanted to do for a living.
Did you find that people were encouraging you to pursue it further?
The thing is that so many people want to be artists, especially in Mexico City. I guess at the beginning, it’s hard for people to realize that you are being serious, because maybe you’re fourteen or fifteen, and people think it’s just a hobby that you’ll grow out of. So my family was not unsupportive, but I don’t think they realized that I was taking it as seriously as I was. But my parents and friends started to understand just how important it was for me when I went to Berklee.
Was Berklee always a goal for you?
When I was fourteen, I got the chance to meet this guy from Berklee. And he told me about all the classes and programs, and I just fell in love with it. I decided at fourteen that I was going to Berklee. I didn’t know how, I didn’t know when, but yes, it was my goal. I ONLY applied to Berklee.
Really?
Yeah.
It must have been a difficult process to be admitted to the program.
Yeah, because there are so many talented musicians there, and you kind of question yourself a little bit. You go there, and there are so many people with the same exact dream that you have, and they are so talented, and maybe they have been playing for more years than you. But it’s impressive. It’s really impressive to get there. And you start seeing what you have, your own talents, and they encourage you there.
On the one hand, it must be encouraging and inspiring to see all these people with the same interest and goal. But on the other hand, it must be intimidating.
It is. It is.
What allowed you to get past that?
I tried to be really honest with myself. And I tried to put things into context of what I was talented in, but also what I was not as talented in (laughs). I knew I worked hard to get to the level that I was at, so I tried to find something I had that made me different. And in this case, I found that my being Latin American brought something different to the table.
And how did Berklee help?
Berklee supported me a lot, so I started doing a lot of things to promote Latin music- contemporary Latin music in particular. Before I went to Berklee, I didn’t quite understand what I was doing. Things came naturally, but I didn’t know why. But when I went to Berklee, I spent more time learning consciously. It gives you more options, more possibilities to express. And this teaches you to express more easily what you want to express whenever you want to.
Are there any songs that stand out to you that are especially significant to you?
Yes, definitely. Some people get too technical. And then there are some songs that have this magical or special feeling to them. The hard part is trying to connect the two- the technical part and the feeling part. I wrote a song for a girl. I really liked her. I had liked her since I was twelve years old, but I never told her. But I was going away to Boston and she was upset, so I closed the restaurant for her with this song. That song – Todo Lo Que Necessito- earned me the BMI award. It was named the best Latin song of the colleges and universities in the U.S. It wasn’t meant to be perfect, but I really felt that song. And because of the feeling in it, it had this magic.
Do you remember the first time you were on stage? How did you feel?
Yeah, in high school, I got to play an Elton John song with the piano. It was so great.
You put in all this hard work. And then when you’re up there, you can just let go, and be whoever you want to be.
Do you still get that feeling- the excitement or nervousness?
Every time you get up, the feeling gets bigger and bigger because you start thinking less about it, being more confident and comfortable. You connect more with the public. It takes time to relax, and be yourself. But then you start feeling more like yourself. And that feeling is addictive. It gets bigger each time. You always have the nervousness. But it’s good. You don’t want to lose that. Because when you have that, it means you are feeling something. You’re excited.
Some friends and I were having a debate about whether various forms of art can really be learned, or if you have to just have a particular talent for them in order to be successful at them. Some people feel that there are those who are just not made to be artist- whether it’s singing or dancing or whatever else. Others believe that it’s more a matter of a person’s environment- what they grew up with, how they were raised. And that it may take longer, but those people that didn’t grow up with music and dancing can still learn to be musical or to dance just as well. Do you think that it’s just not for some people?
No. No. I think certain people convince themselves that they can’t do it. Maybe they can’t achieve what they want on their first try, but they just need to work at it. I am sure that everyone can develop themselves to a particular level, but it takes time. And some of us are lucky enough to have an environment where we are surrounded by, or encouraged to do, the arts, while others may not have grown up with it. But I do believe we all have it in us.
But maybe it depends on how much you really want it.
