Catching Up With Dan Croll, Live Tonight at Union Transfer

It’s been a while since we’ve heard much from Dan Croll here in Philly (or the states in general).  The Liverpool-based songwriter’s last (and first) album, Sweet Disarray, dropped...

It’s been a while since we’ve heard much from Dan Croll here in Philly (or the states in general).  The Liverpool-based songwriter’s last (and first) album, Sweet Disarray, dropped all the way back in March of 2014 and it’s been about the same amount of time since he’s graced us with his presence.  However, that’s all about to change, as he’s currently putting the finishing touches on his sophomore record, which is due out next year, and he just kicked off a set of dates opening for Aurora, which will have him at our very own Union Transfer tonight (He also apparently has US headlining dates in the works for 2017.)

Dan Croll has made a name for himself making what we like to call folktronica, a blending of the sentiments (sonic and otherwise) of folk and electronic music, earning him fans with a taste for a pretty broad spectrum of indie pop, dance music, alt rock, and Americana.  Last night I got a chance to chat with Dan from Washington DC’s legendary 9:30 Club (The most haunted hangout of my high school years.)  When I ask what music he’s actually most drawn to, he mentions The Beach Boys, Paul Simon, and Joni Mitchell as artists he considers to be “classic,” but then goes on to admit, “I really listen to everything under the sun.”  He also says that his music has attracted a wide variety of listeners: “I have young fans, I have old fans, there are people who like me for the acoustic music, people who like me for the electronic music.”

Croll tells me that his sets opening for Aurora are a little different than his normal shows: “It’s three people, so it’s a lot more harmony and more intimate music.  It’s completely different from the full band.”  However, when I ask what he has planned for next year, in addition to the release of his sophomore effort, he tells me that touring the states is at the top of his priorities: “I’ll be bringing the full band back out to America and doing a headlining tour for the first time in a really long time.”  Finally, I ask Croll what can be expected of his new music, the follow-up to Sweet Disarray, and he tells me that he feels like it’s definitely a progression from his debut: “The first album was kind of amateurishly recorded, me and my best friend in a gymnasium, and the songs had been around for a few years and written over a long period of time, but for this one all of the songs were written and recorded within two months and we were working with more of a professional studio.”

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During the day Izzy Cihak teaches transgression, subversion, and revolution at Temple University. At night he haunts Philthy's best venues to cover worthwhile acts for Philthy Mag. Morrissey is everything to him and, in their own heads, all of his friends see themselves as Zooey Deschanel.

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