Generation Magazine

When the Spring Fest lineup was announced earlier this year, many students stopped and scratched their heads. “Who is Lady Danville?” they asked. We wanted to know, too. So we sat down for a couple of interviews with them before the show and discovered that Michael Garner, Daniel Chang and Matthew Frankel are some really cool dudes.

Tell us how you came up with your name.

Mike: We were actually being interviewed—we had a different band name before—and we were being interviewed and the interviewer asked us how music first came into our lives. And so I was talking about how I had this kindergarten teacher who was just like this awesome hippie and brought instruments to school. And, like, we didn’t ever learn letters or anything. We just learned how to play the recorder and tambourine and stuff. And Dan actually was like, “Oh, I think I had the same one.”

Dan: We’re from the same hometown but we met in college. So we didn’t know it until we got to school.

Mike: Yeah, so we were like, during this interview, like that’s cool. We went to the same kindergarten. And then Matty was like, “Oh, that’s funny. I have an aunt who’s a kindergarten teacher and that’s her to a T.” Turns out it was her. So the same woman kind of independently introduced all three of us to music. And we remember calling her “lady.” That wasn’t her real name, it was Gloria. But we kind of liked Lady Danville— keeping it mysterious—not Gloria Danville.

Do you find that people expect you to be something else when they hear your name?

Mike: Sometimes we come out and they’re like, “Where’s the frontwoman? We were expecting a hot girl.”

What was it like playing in the SXSW festival?

Dan: It was amazing because: A., it brought us out to Texas, which we had never been to as a band. And we got to play for—the people who go to SXSW are the people who really appreciate music, and they are really, I think, in tune with sort of like all the new up-and-coming bands and stuff. So being able to play for people who really appreciate that aspect of music is really, really nice. But also it was awesome because we got to see a bunch of other bands. And we got these fancy artist wristbands that let us do anything we wanted. Like, Matty would walk around naked on the street. People were like, “Oh, he has an artist wristband.”

Matt: Not true. [laughs]

How did you meet and start as a band?

Matt: We all met in college—actually in an acappella group called Awaken acappella—and I was in the group my first year and they auditioned for the next year, I think. We all met that way and they both had the same class together one year, and they would stay up late. Instead of writing papers, they’d be writing music. And they’d go together for study sessions and they ended up writing this song together called “Cast Away,” and they ended up submitting it to this big competition at UCLA. And they ended up winning the big competition. That gave them a lot of notoriety. They were a duo at this time. I wasn’t a part of the group. Once I graduated I jumped on.

Mike: We were actually in my bedroom—this is how it really happened. Like the specific… We were in my bedroom and I was playing keyboard and I have this little drum pad. And Matty just like picked up sticks and started playing and it was like, “You play the drums?” He’s like… “yeah.” At this point I had known him for like four years. It was like… what?

Dan: Prior to that, we would always—during our shows and stuff—invite Matty up to perform with us because he was the beatboxer in the acappella group, so he was naturally acting as our percussion guy. When he started playing the drums, it was only natural that he hop on and become a permanent member.

Who were your influences growing up?

Mike: Simon and Garfunkel. Lets see, I listened to a lot of Beatles. I listened to a lot of Michael Jackson but I don’t know how much the music really influenced…

Matt: There is a song right now…

Mike: We’re writing a Michael Jackson song right now.

Matt: There is a song right now that actually sounds a lot like a Michael Jackson song, but it’s probably not going to stick.

Dan: And after a lot of our songs, he’ll always play the chord to “The Man in the Mirror.” Almost after every song, we always go… [singing] “Make that change” [laughs]

Matt: You guys might hear that tonight.

Mike: See? That’s my Michael Jackson influence right there.

Dan: I listened to Dave Matthews. I think my first album was Green Day or something.

Mike: My first album was Blues Traveler. I had a tape before that… Alvin and the Chipmunks. Classic.

Matt: I listened to, in middle school, I listened to a lot of Cat Stevens. He kind of went crazy now. Cat Stevens, Simon and Garfunkel, more contemporary artists. Ben Folds, Rufus Wainwright, Guster. That’s kind of a lot of our modern day influences. There’s more and more coming out. That’s what was cool about SXSW, we got to meet a lot of the up-and-coming artists. We look up to them a lot too, and they’re not necessarily played on the main radio stations. A lot of indie music is kind of harmony based, and that’s very influential for us.

On your Myspace page, it says that Matt plays a cajon. What the hell is a cajon?

Matt: It’s a box drum. It’s just a wooden box that you use as a drum. One time, some guy came up to me and was like, “Did you fucking construct that thing?” It’s one solid piece of eucalyptus tree. I saw a friend in Sara Bareilles’ group [Bareilles and Lady Danville have both won the UCLA competition] playing it and sort of fell in loved with the instrument. Since our songs are acoustic, it seemed like the only percussion instrument that makes sense. Just a wooden box.

What’s the biggest crowd you’ve played for?

Mike: We played that competition that Matty was talking about at UCLA. That was in front of 5,000 people.

Dan: We played one song.

Mike: Yeah, it was like out and back.

Matt: And then we once played this place, and it was the University at Buffalo, and it was like 30,000. It was this huge arena and we were really scared before we went out.

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