Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with twentylove

Up-and-coming singer-songwriter Dan Burke has spent years behind the scenes collaborating with music’s biggest artists as well as sharing the stage with them. He’s learned the secret behind success of the pop genre and is bringing those learning experiences to his alternative sound.

This year, he embarked on an exciting chapter in his career with the launch of his new band, twentylove. Pop Culturalist caught up with Dan to learn more about twentylove, his two singles, and how he hopes to redefine his genre.

PC: Take us back to the beginning. How did you discover your passion for music?
Dan: Wow, good question. Music’s been a huge part of my life for a long time. It started when I was a kid. I got into bands like blink-182, Sum 41, and all those pop-punk bands. I started playing drums in my first couple of bands and slowly moved on to guitar, bass, piano, and other instruments to try to help write songs. It all started from just wanting to play along to music. I felt so inspired to try to do that. I wanted to create my own. It kept growing, and I kept trying to learn new things. It evolved from me getting my first drum set to buying new microphones or an interface to record something.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Dan: My girlfriend has definitely had a huge, huge influence. We’ve been together for ten years now. She’s always been super supportive. That’s a big part of why I felt it’s been easy for me to continue for so long.

My manager Scott Nebb. He’s been huge for me. He’s been a huge mentor. I met him a little over a year and a half ago. We instantly clicked. He really helped me take all these songs, this passion, and guide it to where it is now as twentylove. I’m releasing music and feeling good and confident about it.

Also, influentially, Travis Barker and the 1975 have been huge for me. I feel like they changed my outlook on how alternative music can cross over into pop music. Those are definitely some of the big people for me.

PC: You’ve been on the music scene for a while, performing with artists like Jake Miller and Devin Kennedy. How have those experiences prepared you for this chapter that you’re currently in?
Dan: That’s been awesome. I started out playing in bands that were more alternative or heavy. We were heavily involved in the Warped Tour scene when I was just getting out of high school. Those couple of years from eighteen to twenty-one were spent on that. Then at twenty-one, I moved to LA. I started playing in bands for pop artists. A lot of alternative bands were complete bands. They had everyone they needed. In pop music, there’s such a big team that travels with you, and it’s a big part of what you do. But in ways, they’re working for your brand, which is great. I learned a lot about what it’s like to go and play shows as a pop band, working with tracks, and making things sound the best.

I’ve also realized how to use social media, your platform, and your voice for something. That’s really cool to share what you believe in. It’s cool to be connected with people and continuously share content. It’s pretty crazy to think that any day at any time, any one of us could post something that can affect someone else.

PC: Tell us about the backstory to twentylove, how it came to fruition, and what you hope to say with this project.
Dan: It took me a while to come up with the name. It took me a while to figure out exactly who it is I wanted to be. These past three years, I’ve been spending so much time either playing with pop acts or writing music for pop, other people, for film and TV licensing—all sorts of different outlets. I’ve been trying to grow as a songwriter. Before I made the decision to put out my own music, the next best thing was to write for someone else.

I was writing a lot of heavy, heavy pop. I think where I feel most comfortable is a bit more on the alternative side. I wanted to take all the lessons I’ve learned from why pop music is the leader in everything and apply that mentality to a handful of traditional instruments and my sound.

Once I was able to figure out that it is a band that I want to do, that this is its name, and here are the first couple of songs, I worked with a really close producer and friend of mine named Will Ventres out in LA. He’s been working with bands for a long time. The two of us have played in bands together. He produces pop and a lot of hip-hop now. So I’m, like, between all our tastes, skills, and everything, we just started making a bunch of songs. It wasn’t until we had three or four solid songs that felt like the same project, but all different worlds and different little outlets in their own. It’s almost like you’re following the same character throughout all of these different life events and situations. All of these songs are the different moments of somebody’s life that they go through. It’s trying to be from all the same perspective a bit.

That’s how that came about. That’s how the music really started being able to flow and I felt comfortable putting it out. I’m just excited.

PC: Tell us about your new single, “low lights.” What was the inspiration behind the song?
Dan: I wrote “low lights” with Will and another close writer friend, Rebecca Perl. The three of us got together. I had this riff in mind and this concept of how I wanted this song to flow. It wasn’t originally called “low lights.” I don’t even remember what it was originally called. We started by telling the story. I feel like when you write a song, a lot of the times you can start with the chorus, you can start with the title, you can start with an emotion or feeling, or you could try and tell a story. This one is definitely a story about how you never really know someone until you see them at their best and their worst. To be able to judge someone’s character, the best way is to see what they do in those sink-or-swim moments.

A lot of my life lately has been learning who a lot of people are, for better, for worse, and deciding what to do with that information. That’s how the song came about. “low lights” was just a lyric that we ended up spilling out, and we rolled with that in the day. We finished the song all in one day, had it mixed and everything another day.

PC: How does it differentiate itself from your debut single, “sorry pt. 1?”
Dan: “sorry pt. 1” is almost like an overture of what to expect from this era of my writing. I feel like I know what and how I want to write a lot of the songs to come, at least for the first batch of songs. “sorry pt. 1” is an ongoing thing. There’s going to be a “sorry pt. 2.” It’s an apology in a way. It’s for the people who can’t always be home. It’s like, “I’m sorry for not being able to be home more—be with the people who I care about more.” It’s an ongoing apology.

“low lights” is a lot heavier. It takes you in a bit deeper. “sorry pt. 1” is a good place to discover what’s to come. “low lights” is like you’ve settled in one place. It’s the first time that there’s a video or any kind of visual. It feels a lot more like my introduction as an artist. “sorry pt. 1” feels like it was there to get the ball rolling. Once you’ve released a second single, you can make more comparisons. You have more than one song from an artist to look at at the same time. When it’s one song, it’s hard to draw any conclusions on whether or not you like or want to follow them.

PC: You’ve teased this a bit already, but as we look ahead to the rest of 2020, what does the rest of the year hold for you?
Dan: I want to be creating and releasing music. I want to try and raise the bar for myself. I find it exciting to know that the sky’s the limit. It’s a lot of fun to be able to pair music and videos with photos. All of the album art so far I’ve been doing myself. It’s been more than just writing the songs. It’s been a huge creative process for me. I’m excited to be growing with it.

Once we’re able to have shows again, the goal would be to have enough songs to hop into a hectic touring schedule. I plan to be on the road as much as I can when that’s happening. For now, it’s using this time to learn a lot of skills. I’ve been trying to get better at producing. I mean, I produce a lot of stuff. I’m always in the room, helping with different things, but by no means am I an engineer or the guy doing the mixes. I’ve been having my friend Will help me with that. I focus a lot more on the songwriting, the chords, melody, and lyrics.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Dan: A lot of people probably don’t know how much I like Anderson .Paak and Childish Gambino.

PC: First album you bought?
Dan: The first album that I ever bought was Take Off Your Pants And Jacket by blink-182.

PC: First concert you attended?
Dan: blink-182 and Weezer in Connecticut.

PC: An album that changed your life and why?
Dan: Definitely the debut album from the 1975. That record changed my entire outlook on how alternative music can cross over into pop. They’re four guys with two guitars, a bass, and drums, but they incorporate synths, samples, and electronic music. They can bridge the gap between four people with instruments into this pop phenomenon that they’ve turned out to be after a couple of records. They put that album out before they had a lot of support or help.

You can tell that nobody was really watching when they wrote it because it’s exactly what they wanted. There’s something so cool about that next step that they took for alternative music and looking at where it is now.

PC: A venue on your bucket list to perform at?
Dan: I really want to play the Oakdale in Connecticut. I know it’s such a random little one, but I’ve seen too many shows there to not just add that to my list.

PC: A must-have on the road?
Dan: An acoustic guitar and my skateboard.

To keep up with Dan, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Also, follow twentylove on Twitter, Instagram, and Spotify.