Less than a year after Sunshine Coast musician Dan Horne downed tools as a bricklayer to become a full-time singer-songwriter and he’s already built an impressive solo career.
Eight months ago Dan made the decision to pursue music professionally, releasing his debut album ‘From The Roots’ in July.
Born in England, and currently living on the Sunshine Coast, Dan writes songs that are a blend of roots and folk imbued with his own coastal vibe. “I started writing when my first daughter was born 18 months ago,” Dan says.
“I’d always written songs and being a musician was something I wanted to pursue more at a professional level. So I began writing and I pulled a lot of inspiration from the learning curve of becoming a parent and how it changes how you view things. I think a lot of people probably relate to that.”
While it was a massive gamble that’s beginning to pay increasing dividends, Dan admits it was a lifestyle change that has been a steep learning curve. “Because I knew nothing about the music industry getting into it, so I’ve been learning as I go.
“It was a bit of a slog for the first 12 months but now I’ve got the album out – that was a huge effort to get that recorded – and now it’s done things are going much smoother.”
As an amateur in regards to the machinations of the music industry when he started, Dan says there have been quite a few difficult lessons he’s learnt along the way. “It doesn’t matter how good you are, or how good your songs and performance are, you need to build fan base,” he says.
“Building a fan base has been the biggest challenge and it’s starting to go well now I’ve got something to sell and people have songs to listen to.
"You can be the best guitarist in the world but unless you’ve got people who want to listen to your music, you’re not going to get booked at venues because they want bums on seats.”
Dan may not be a bricklayer anymore but he sure hasn’t forgotten that any structure, be it a house or a music career, needs to be built upon a firm and sturdy foundation.
With ‘From The Roots’, Dan has laid the initial formwork for a promising future. “A lot of people love the album because it’s got a lot of catchy hooks, especially the guitar riffs are very catchy, and most of the songs on the album get stuck in your head quite easily,” he says.
“That wasn’t my intention, that’s just the way I naturally write. All the feedback so far has been very good and from people listening to the album I’m getting really good bookings.”
This December sees Dan embark on his biggest tour yet along the east coast, from Victoria to North Queensland.
While Dan does play as a trio for some shows, this tour will mostly be a solo run for him. “Most of them are two-hour shows,” he says. “They’re all solo apart from a couple of festivals that I’m waiting to hear back from that will be trio shows, but the east-coast tour will be a solo leg.
"Nobody’s heard me down there, so it’s about getting them to hear my music. If it goes well and I gain a fan base, I’ll return for bigger shows with the band.”
Tour dates are still being scheduled for the December tour. Dan does play Maleny Music Festival (Sunshine Coast) 2 September, Scarborough Sounds 3 September (Brisbane) and Buskers By The Creek (Gold Coast) 13-14 October.
