Dan the man

Dan the Automator. Think you don’t know the name? Hmmmm. Familiar with Gorillaz, Handsome Boy Modelling School, Dr Octagon, Deltron 3030, bits of the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Primal Scream, Cornershop and Eels? Then you’ve heard him. And that’s quite a roster for someone who is probably worst described as an alternative hip-hop producer.

“Well, you know, I can understand the term,” he reflects. “Basically, it’s a pretty decent category for what I am. I kind of look at myself as a record producer, that’s really what I am. I just love all types of music.”

Another wee fact that you may have overlooked is that Dan’s the man behind the band that people with new mullets are mostly likely to like, Gorillaz. So while everyone’s blathering on about Damon Albarn and the nice cartoons, Dan’s putting together the bit that rarely gets talked about, the music. So how, and more importantly, why?

“Well, Damon called me up, and said: ‘We’ve got this band, Gorillaz, they’re kind of cartoons, do you want to do it?’ And I was like, sure.

“Basically, here’s the deal. I’m the producer behind. Gorillaz is (pause) Damon is (pause) here’s the deal. Damon is a rock star in Europe.” Really? “He’s really big. They don’t sell many records here, but in Europe, they sell loads. Y’see, there’s so much imaging to be a rock star these days. There’s so much imaging to be a ‘band’. You got your Hear’says, your Back Street Boys, your whatever, all these bands that are put together through auditions to be popstars, and they make these bands, then they hire a choreographer, a stylist, someone to teach them to sing, someone to write the music and it’s just ... you know ... it’s purely manufactured. And the thing is, Gorillaz are the ultimate manufactured band (self-satisfied giggles). There’s always on. They can be anywhere at any time. You don’t need to give them time off or whatever, they’re the ultimate manufactured band.”

This could be a problem playing live.

“Well, being two-dimensional, if you turn sideways, people can’t see you! Here’s the thing. In the US right now, all the charts are dominated by the like of Britney Spears, whatever. And all these people produced by the Swedish hit factories. A lot of people are like: ‘This is all crap’. And I say: ‘Well, look where we are. We’re in America. The number one restaurant in America is probably McDonalds. We’re used to packaged things. We’re so used to everything being packaged here, it should be no surprise we have packaged bands. Hopefully, with Gorillaz, people can look through this and see we’re doing something different with it.”

Dan’s always been keen on the old collaborations. He released his first solo 12”, ‘A Better Tomorrow’ in 1996 – and didn’t release another solo record until this year’s re-release of the same record as ‘Deltron 3030’. But the album that really opened the doors marked ‘credible producer for hire’ was 1997’s eponymous Dr Octagon, a collaboration with the ex-Ultranagnetic MC and crown prince of oddness, Kool Keith.

“Let me put it this way. The Dr Octagon record let people know who I was. I had done remixes and stuff with (DJ) Shadow for a long time but this was the one that let everyone know. It paved the way for some new stuff. The first group that came up to me after the Octagon album was like: ‘We really like the Dr Octagon record’ was a group called Cornershop. They wanted me to do some singles on the record, and I was like: ‘Yeah, I’ll do it’. Because I love music, you know? All music. And, quite frankly, at the time, it wasn’t like Jay Z was knocking at my door! Not like he is now, either! It just seemed interesting”.

Interesting. That’s a word that crops up regularly with Dan.

“At that point I was trying to establish a sound, try a new sound and it just seemed like a good time to work together. It was the first of one of a long series of little projects or partial projects where I did part of the record or did some mixing, just starting to get people to know me in the rock world or whatever, you know?”

The ambitious Handsome Boy Modelling School showed up last year. And as far as impressive CVs for a record’s roster goes, this wasn’t bad at all. Dan and the almost legendary hip-hop producer, De La Soul’s Prince Paul, played host to DJ Shadow, Roisin Murphy from Moloko, Sean Lennon, Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, De La Soul’s Trugoy, Alec Empire, Money Mark, Grand Puba and Sadat X of Brand Nubian. Phew.

“Everybody on the album was a friend,” he explains. “We didn’t deal with labels or managers, we just opened our phonebooks and called people. And when we did it, everyone did it like they enjoyed doing it. And that’s a pretty rare thing. This is exactly what we wanted it to be give or take a song or two.

“And you know, in hip-hop, Prince Paul always been underrated. Paul changed hip-hop. He developed the skit, the whole comedy aspect with De La Soul – and Jay Z doesn’t call him up either!” (Dan’s at pains to explain that he’s got nuthin’ personal with Jay Z. It’s just an example. No beef, capiche?)

Despite all this indie hobnobbing, Dan’s still very much a hip-hop kid at heart – albeit one far removed from today’s world of bright, shiny, mainstream jiggyness.

“Yeah... or the mainstream is a step back from me! I grew up in the ’80s listening to hip-hop when people were trying all sorts of stuff, it’s only since the ’90s that everything got regulated. Remember the beginnings? Run DMC rhyming over guitars, LL Cool J over these big old beats, Mantronix with all these crazy edits, Cold Crush Brothers over James Brown, youknowhaddimean? That’s the era I grew in!

“I love hip-hop. I’ve been in it since ‘Rapper’s Delight’. I know those records back and forth. It’s not a throw-back thing, a lot of us grew up on that stuff. Or look at Public Enemy – they were real important to my development. Very chaotic rock, heavy sounds.

“Quite frankly, I’ll put it this way: Has there been a more powerful group since PE? Has there been a greater rapper since Rakim or LL? Has there been more exciting or innovative editing or programming than Mantronix? For the most part, no.”

Dan’s next album – he’s a busy man, remember – is a slightly perverse work that conveniently sums him up.

“Here’s the thing, I don’t sing and I don’t rhyme – major components in a lot of records. Right now, I’m currently working on a record called ‘Music to Make Love To Your Old Lady By.’ It’s not hip-hop record, it’s the record you put on when you want to get busy. It’s like a marital aid.”

Dan the Automator plays on the Tommy Boy 20th anniversary tour, Music Centre, Dublin on Friday July 6 with Afrikka Bambaata and Maseo (De La Soul)