Dan Call
Gig Seeker Pro

Dan Call

Atlanta, Georgia, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2020 | MAJOR

Atlanta, Georgia, United States | MAJOR
Established on Jan, 2020
Solo Rock Pop

Calendar

Music

Press


"Dan Call Keeps Things ‘Intoxicating’ on Upcoming EP, New Single"

These days, the industry standard for popular radio songs is created by programmers—not songwriters—who create loops, grooves, and sound beds, then they bring in top liners to create lyrics and vocal melody. Dan Call completely flipped this concept upside down on upcoming, debut EP Intoxicating, out Feb. 7. (pre-order)

“Instead of a true collaboration between writers, the top liner writes to a sound bed they have no creative control over in the hopes that they strike gold,” Call tells American Songwriter. “Though creating income for some, that process has resulted into 99 percent of what you currently hear at radio sounding homogenized, plastic, and numbingly similar from song to song.”

For Intoxicating, Call took things—his music—into his own hands. He wanted the programmers to create around the songs he had, rather than the other way around. A radical idea, Calls says it that didn’t go over too well when he first approached pop producers and programmers already set in their ways. “Sounds weird,” and “I don’t get it,” were some of the reactions he received. Then, Calls says, the question was could this even be done?

“I flipped it around, writing completed songs and then had the programmer/producer work to it,” he says. “Up until the last 10 years, the majority of popular music songwriting was done by writers who, with a guitar or keyboard, organically created chords, lyrics, and melody. Since 2010 (with my band The Villains), I’ve written and co-wrote multiple… singles in exactly this same fashion. [That’s] not an easy feat for a rock band considering our current pop-dominated radio landscape.”

Call used this formula on Intoxicating and wanted something unique from The Villains’ rock that would stand on its own. Layered in electro-pop, Intoxicating feeds off some chunky synth, funk guitar, and dance floor beats. “I’ve aways loved great pop-rock bands and artists, especially ’80s stuff like INXS and Duran Duran,” says Call. “I decided to go in that direction using modern sounds and production, hoping for something in the end that would be classic, yet contemporary.”

Filled with jangling, dance-y guitar, “Intoxicating” sounds more like a pop throwback to 1980 rather than something out of 2020—and it works. The title track also kicked everything off to the EP when Call eventually connected with BSE Music’s Ryan Snow and Aaron Brutcher to work through his concept. Though a bit confused at first, both understood what he wanted to do and were willing to give it a shot.

“I sent them a demo of the song ‘Intoxicating’ and off they went,” says Call. “After much back and forth, the track started coming into focus and that’s when we knew we had something special—not just a great song but a fresh, new and hopefully groundbreaking approach to modern popular song creation.” - American Songwriter


Discography

single - 'Color Outside The Lines' (Toucan Cove/ Universal Records) Released Feb 2022

album - 'Intoxicating EP' (Toucan Cove/ Universal Records) Released Feb 2020

single - 'Wish I Was Gay'  (Toucan Cove/ Universal Records) Released Aug 2018




Photos

Bio

After two Billboard Adult Top 40 Singles from 2020’s Intoxicating-EP, Dan Call is set to release his much anticipated new 2022 single Color Outside The Lines. Picking up where the Intoxicating-EP left off, Color Outside The Lines is a high energy slab of pop-rock that will fill dance floors and remind everyone to celebrate the power of staying true to yourself, no matter what life throws at you. 

Guaranteed to be his most successful single to date, Dan will spend 2022 touring, promoting, and connecting with old and new fans alike. With over 500,000 Spotify streams, features on SiriusXM, and a rapidly growing social media presence, he is poised to take the next step in an already incredible career. Take it with him and always remember to Color Outside The Lines.

As a Round Hill Music songwriter, Dan has had the pleasure of working with A-list writers such as Stan Lynch (Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Don Henley, The Eagles), Peter Stroud (Sheryl Crow, Sarah McLachlan), Richard Feldman (Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker), Billy Chapin (Edwin McCain), Josh Leo (Lynyrd Skynyrd, Alabama), James House (Dwight Yoakum, Martina McBride), Charlie Midnight (Katie Perry, James Brown, Hilary Duff) and many others. His songs have been featured on Lifetime Network, TV Guide Channel, E! Channel, NASCAR, and many others. As a bass player and musician, Dan has toured the world with many artists and bands in rock and country over the years. He has also recorded with producers such as Stan Lynch, Brent Maher, and Butch Walker just to name a few.


Band Members