American singer-songwriter, Danny Kiranos aka Amigo the Devil has returned only a year after his debut Australian tour.
In April 2024, he was doing a solo show introducing his style of music – to some this has become known as 'murderfolk' – to Australian audiences. This time 'round, he has his full band with him for the first time in the country; he's upgraded to larger venues and sold out a number of shows along the way.
From an outsider's point of view, everything is going extremely well in his career. However, in June this year, Danny posted shocking images of his home up in flames.
'Everything is gone,' the Instagram caption started as Danny explained that he and his partner were safe but had lost everything.
Australian fans may have expected the tour to be immediately cancelled, but Danny was back doing shows in North America a week and a half later.
"Well, everything that was taken from me in that fire, only proved further that the only thing we can really control is our word," Danny explains, as scenestr speaks with him backstage at Lion Arts Factory before the Adelaide show (12 August).
He's visibly in pain after popping out his shoulder earlier in the tour and having ongoing issues with it since. It's something you'd never guess when he's onstage later in the evening, all smiles, not showing any signs anything is wrong.
"At the end of the day, the only thing that I can protect is my word. When I agree to do tours, that's my word that I'll be there and I will give the best of myself in that moment.
"So, initially everyone kept saying why are you going on tour? Just take time for yourself. I understand that, but then what? Then the fire takes more from me?
"That situation is going to start taking from other people that made plans, that bought flights, people had their plans. They've adjusted their lives to come to see something based on our word that we were going to be there.
"So no, that's what I'll honour. I'm gonna honour that and every show I'll try to give as much. . . to be honest, way more of myself than I have to give," he laughs. "I'm in so much pain, not just my shoulder, it's like everything's been really bad."
As Danny shares the situation in more detail, he describes how he was recording a new song in his home studio when the fire started. "The studio's a separate building, the studio's like 50 metres from the house so it's soundproofed.
"The only thing we heard was this rumbling sound. It sounded like thunder. The building around the studio is aluminium, so thunder does rattle the building a little bit.
"So all we said was ‘f..., I didn't know it was raining, it wasn't supposed to rain today'. I was actively recording a song but I don't even know if I'll ever release it because it's too close to home.
"It's really interesting how the universe works because there's lyrics in that song, like every other f...ing song [of mine], that relate to fires and sh.t like that. While actively recording the song, while actively singing, the house burned down.
"I came out [of the studio] because I thought I heard these popping noises, but since we are in Tennessee, when I was getting to the main door, I thought it was somebody on the property that was shooting. So when I opened up the door to peek to see what was going on, the whole house was on fire."
Thankfully there was an immediate outpour of support with people asking what they could do to help. A GoFundMe was set up that has exceeded its goal of $USD100,000. Danny says the support has been an "injection of hope".
"This is one of those moments where you wonder, whether the truth matters more than the sentiment. Because, it felt amazing. It truly felt like an injection of hope and it was heartwarming. I felt very loved. We felt very supported.
"It also made me question myself. Whether I was doing enough for other people and whether I had stopped giving as much as I could. It made me feel bad about myself for certain other things.
"The sad reality is that it made me realise that it's not going to stop the hurt and trauma that happened. It is helping. Massively. I can't help, but feel guilty for still feeling bad about a lot of the things that were lost.
"Because when so many good things are being presented to you and so many f...ing amazing people are there to lift you up and support you. You almost feel guilty for feeling that.
"That was a conflicting sentiment in my mind. So, I've been trying to think of ways to give back to all of them. I've been trying to figure out how to be better. That's the conclusion I came to.
"I'm still allowed to f...ing hate the circumstance and mourn the circumstance while being grateful for this massive, massive help, but that only makes sense if I start to change how I help others as well.
"I can't just be a dickhead that is going 'me, me, me, grief, grief, grief, trauma, trauma,' because it happens to everybody. Grief, trauma, loss happens to everybody. Everybody's going through their own things.
"A lot of people would prefer to have gone through my situation than what they're going through and vice versa. So, it kind of put me in a position to really, really consider the fact that instead of the pain olympics. . . The trauma olympics of like, which one's worse. It's not about that. It's how can I be there for other people? So many people were there for us."
In the fire, among countless personal items, Danny lost a lifetime's worth of handwritten lyrics, books filled with song ideas, thousands of demos on hard drives and their backups, "the whole journey".
Surprisingly, the situation has already inspired Danny to begin writing again. Many fans may expect Danny to eventually write about the fire in his trademark tragic and morbidly comedic way, but he has been inspired in a different way.
Plus, as he jokes again later on in the night onstage, he's already written songs about fire. "Like 80 per cent of the songs already have a reference to fire or house fires in them. I probably manifested this bullsh.t," he laughs.
"Everything that I've been writing has been from the perspective of regrowth. Not rebuilding. Not the phoenix bullsh.t. I don't care about the rebuilding part because rebuilding would simply be re-establishing something that left.
"So, we've been moving forward in different ways day to day, it does change. Some days, it feels like well, 'this was meant to happen, this is an opportunity to shift gears'. Other days it's just hate. 'Why'd this happen? I hate this and just full-on emotional paralysis.'
"Other days it's just like, 'well, we did that. We experienced all that. What else? What's next?' I'm taking all of those feelings and at the end of every single one of them, it leads me to realise, how far I got from my true self.
"At some point, I stopped caring about the reason. At some point I stopped seeking answers and I realised, all I can control is how I treat other people. How I treat myself. How I treat my family. How I respect the things that I acquire.
"I keep thinking of things that I lost, material things. Or, you know, parts of history that I was grateful enough to be a steward of and I realise, I could have honoured it better. I could have given this experience, this moment with something I could have given it more pure attention.
"I could have been more grateful for it and I could have enjoyed my time with it a little more. So, that's where the inspiration for the songs is coming from, I'm pretty f...ing grateful to be able to do this for a living.
"I always have been, but I'm also understanding that there are moments where I haven't shown it. Not through the writing. Not through my behaviour to myself, not with my understanding of the world and at the end of the day, what the f... do I have to be sad about?
"I'm grateful for my friends, my family, I'm grateful for everybody who came together. I’m grateful for the opportunity I had to ever hold those things at all."
Danny has a level of resilience and gratitude that is admirable. As he goes onstage later in the night and plays 'It's All Gone', he makes light of the situation with the crowd and hushes their cries of sympathy as he breaks the news to those who didn't already know.
He shares how he's grateful for every single one of them and for welcoming the band back with open arms and supporting them by being here tonight.
Apart from this small reference, Danny and the band are in high spirits; they laugh through the whole set and are obviously having the time of their lives as they play a 15-song set list that spans the Amigo the Devil discography.
The positive energy is infectious with silly moments like Danny doing a short solo cover of 'All Star' by Smash Mouth and a DJ scratching mix with his broken guitar string as he waits for it to be fixed.
However, throughout the set with songs like 'Hell And You', 'I Hope Your Husband Dies' and 'Another Man's Grave', he reminds everyone why he's one of the most unique voices and songwriters of a generation.
Next time Amigo the Devil come to Australia they'll need even bigger venues, even if it was only another year between tours again. "I'm here. In f...ing Australia. Happy, healthy. . . for the most part," he reflects backstage, laughing at his dislocated shoulder.
Amigo the Devil 2025 Tour Dates
Fri 15 Aug - Lyric's Underground (Perth)Sun 17 Aug - Railway Club (Darwin)
Thu 21 Aug - Altar Bar (Hobart)
Fri 22 Aug - Royal Oak (Launceston)
