Living with hope
My name is Danny and I enjoy being alive. For me, that means making music that I love, playing music that I love, and collaborating with people I love. It may appear simple, but music is a part of my very being.
I grew up in Wilmette, IL and was a sensitive and nature obsessed child. However, in 3rd grade my father introduced me to the guitar. I began learning songs from the Guitar Hero video games and formed bands to perform at my school’s variety shows. But as time went by, there was an expectation that I would have to find a career that wasn’t music.
When high school came around, I became more of a jock and studied to get into engineering school, even though I felt as though I was a theater kid on the inside. When college came around I became more of an academic so I could get into a good job.
But once I finished attending graduate school during COVID, I was faced with the question of “what will I do with my life when I’m not working?”
Asking myself that question opened up a void within myself. After falling into a dark depression, I searched and searched for meaning in my life. I could not get out of bed most days. I stopped taking care of myself. My friends and family watched me torture myself within the existential vacuum I was trapped in. I needed an answer. Something that would give me a reason to get out bed each day.
The answer for me was music. It turned out that it is what I need to survive. What you see and hear is the result of the choice to create for the sake of staying alive.
I do what I love everyday now, and I am so grateful for where I am. Now however, I hope that I can help others be hopeful even when they are faced with their own voids. I hope that my music gives you what you need. Don’t give up. Have Hope.
Thank you for being here.
Sincerely,
Danny