Lady Danville

Employed at a record label, the Los Angeles school district and in health administration, UCLA alumni Matt Frankel, Michael Garner and Dan Chang have successfully transitioned from college students to real-world employees.

But they’re not ready to stretch out in leather recliners just yet.

The trio, who make up Lady Danville, want to take on something else a bit more seriously first: music.

“Music is the top priority even though at my job I really downplay it. As long as it’s fun, there’s no reason for us not to do it,” said vocalist/pianist Michael Garner. “None of us are in a huge rush to grow up, but still we have other interests.”

The acoustic pop collective will be playing the Temple Bar tonight at 10 p.m., in support of John West. Though they will be arriving to the show after long days at work, they hope their music channels simpler times, from childhood to their days at UCLA.

Musicians skilled in storytelling and harmonies, like Rufus Wainwright, Simon and Garfunkel, Ben Folds and Guster, are the band’s main musical influences, but UCLA has everything to do with the band’s actual existence.

Despite each member’s reluctance to label themselves as vocalists, the three met through UCLA’s Awaken A Cappella. Frankel was already the campus group’s beatboxer when Chang (vocalist/guitarist) and Garner, both skeptical of their chances of getting into the prestigious group, auditioned.

“Dan and I were like hey, if we don’t make this we should hang out. We ended up making it,” said Garner. “But it was a year that a bunch of people made it.”

Their experience in Awaken can be heard in the band’s catchy and compeling vocals.

“We want to create a really vocal aesthetic,” said cajonist/vocalist Matt Frankel.

“A Cappella is all about different harmonies and creating a full sound out of voices,” said Garner. “We are a small acoustic group but we do produce a bigger sound than is expected.”

While Awaken’s influence on the band is notable, the boys became a band thanks to other UCLA traditions – procrastination and Spring Sing.

“Dan and I were poli sci majors at the time, and we had a class together and Dan would come over and write papers with me and we would just never write papers,” Garner said. “I had a keyboard in my room, and we would jam a bit. We decided let’s enter Spring Sing, it will be fun.”

The two Danville, California natives had only one song to their name – Mikey G and Dan from Danville – for their first Spring Sing performance in 2005. The ensuing good response provoked more writing and more band performances.

The next year, Mikey G and Dan from Danville won Spring Sing’s Best Duet and Best Overall Entry and continued to expand.

“One day after graduation, Matty and I were hanging out in my apartment. I was messing around on the keyboard in my room and Matty picked up my drum kit and started playing,” Garner said. “I thought he just beatboxed. He had never mentioned (he played drums) that entire time, which I thought was a little bit rude.”

After this revelation, Frankel began playing shows with Mikey G and Dan from Danville. Once Frankel replaced the electric drum kit with a cajon, a Latin American drum with a much more acoustic sound, the three decided to change their name.

“We’re very much a three person band. It’s very egalitarian. We figured a name specifically isolating two members of the group was not the best for that image,” said Garner. “Dan seems to write things that are a little a bit cheesier, and I write things that are a bit incomprehensible. He grounds me. Matty is extremely good at (figuring out) what is good and what is bad.”

After changing its name, the band entered the Annual 98.7 Star Lounge Competition with its newly recorded song “Tired Musician.”

Entering and subsequently winning the radio contest paid for the band’s self-titled five song EP and gave the relatively unknown band a place on Star’s compilation with artists such as John Mayer and former Spring Sing winner Maroon 5.

The trio also started to realize the place of the band in their own lives, promoting it from a side hobby.

“We not only rented a rehearsal space, but we made a rehearsal schedule,” Frankel said. “We weren’t just meeting when we felt the urge to write music, which was usually always.”

However, getting more serious about music did not mean getting more serious.

“All three of us come from a place where music is fun and enjoyable. None of us have intense technical backgrounds. This keeps us excited and happy to play together,” Garner said.

“From the get-go, we all like music and we like to play. We’re growing a lot as musicians by being in a band together, so (playing is) always for the right reason.”

Though they have sold out a number of Los Angeles venues – such as the El Rey and the Hotel Café – Lady Danville will continue playing UCLA events for good causes. The group recently played at OCHC’s Mock Rock and have played for Relay for Life.

“As long as we are a band, we will always play Dance Marathon,” Frankel said.

Innocent and fun to sophisticated and serious, the band’s music offers something appealing to a wide scope of listeners.

“We’ve also had people come to us who are 40 to 50 years old from Virginia on MySpace and tell us how much our music has affected them,” Frankel said. “It may be reflected in the lyrics to a certain extent, but the music is extremely universal in its appeal to all different age groups.”
- The Daily Bruin

Resident celebrities Lady Danville, named after the small town in Northern California, consists of three UCLA alumni -- Matt Frankel on drums, Dan Chang on acoustic guitar, and Michael Garner on keyboard. In 2006, the band took home best overall entry for its song “Cast Away” as well best duet at UCLA’s biggest talent competition, Spring Sing. Since then, Lady Danville’s soothing folk-pop has been delighting local audiences. The band won Star 98.7’s Star Lounge CD contest with its ballad “Tired Magician” and played at this year’s UCLA AIDS fundraiser Dance Marathon. It is always a treat when Lady Danville’s in town. – Kimberley Wong - Billboard.com

Lady Danville...wants you to take her home.

This trio is leading Deli’s band of the month poll, and for good reason. The music of Lady Danville could bring anyone out of their Seasonal Affective Disorder funk. Pulling from influences like Guster, Ben Folds and Jack Johnson, Lady Danville will bring you some much-needed sunshine. “The compatibility of bacon, lettuce and tomato…that is Lady Danville.” Makes me think a little bit of Wendy’s…but simply well said.

All three members are California natives. Great friends, one can tell they value honest music and just plain having a good time. Their self-title EP is available on i-Tunes, or you can order it off of myspace.

Lady Danville is in the middle of a month long residency at the Hotel Cafe in LA, playing on Thursday nights. Tickets are $10.

-Mean Dean - The Deli Magazine

Lady Danville was a pleasure to work with in our series. It's important that we feature music that can match the same liveliness and heart that our show has. This group did not disappoint. We found perfect songs in their line up for various episodes/tones of our show. Additionally, they were so much fun to work with and were incredibly accommodating to our show. Their sound is refreshing, their lyrics are compelling, and their energy is undeniably contagious. We have been privileged to be able to use their music and I can't wait to work with them again.


- Brian Singleton Creator/Producer of

Shangri-La music presented One Eskimo and the LA band Lady Dansville at Largo, an intimate venue within the Coronet in West Hollywood. Largo is a charming performance hall with outstanding acoustics and small enough to make any seat in the house feel as though you are sitting in the best seats at the foot of the stage. The staff at the Largo was helpful and friendly from the time I walked through the door. My evening had started out very well and would only get better as I took my seat to enjoy the two fantastic bands on the night's bill.

Lady Danville opened for One Eskimo. Their performance was flawless, energetic, and uplifting. The three piece band consisting of Michael Garner on keys, Matthew Frankel on the cajon, and Dan Chang on the guitar were consummate musicians wove a tapestry of beautiful harmonies, both instrumental and vocal. Their performance was particularly enjoyable as a result of their interaction with each other and the fact that they simply looked and sounded like they were having fun playing music and performing songs they loved for an appreciative audience.

One Eskimo was the headlining band for the the evening. They are a U.K. band with a brand new album and tour. I would suggest trying to catch them at one of their upcoming shows. After hearing them online I was excited to be able to see them live right here in L.A. and one of my favorite venues. The band includes Kristian Leontiou - vocals, Adam Falkner on drums, Jamie Sefton on bass & horns and Peter Rinaldi on guitar. I was particularly impressed with Adam Falkner and Jamie Sefton. In my opinion they are the heart and soul of this band. Sefton at one point in the show was hammering on bass notes with his right hand while playing a horn with his left. These guys were really fun to watch and listen to.

I would recommend seeing either or both bands if you have the opportunity and I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did. - Sugar Pop Ribbons

July 31st, 2008 Written by: Brian McConnell
As an alumnus of UCLA, I am always extremely excited to hear about other Bruins doing awesome things. I recently had the opportunity to interview Lady Danville, a group of three guys that grew up in Danville, CA but didn’t end up meeting until after joining Awaken A cappella while at UCLA. Their music certainly has hints of their A cappella experience with Awaken and has won local accolades including the annual 98.7 Star Lounge Competition with their song “Tired Magician,” off of their self-titled debut EP. In addition to sounding great on the radio, Lady Danville knows how to put on an awesome show. They will be playing Saturday, August 2nd at the Ford Amphitheatre for the Kollaboration Acoustic Show (All Ages. Tickets $20-45. Buy Tickets) and can also be seen (for FREE!) at the Apple Store on 3rd Street in Santa Monica on Saturday, September 6th. Take the time and get to know Lady Danville:

Could you please introduce yourselves and state what part each of you play in the band?

Hi! I’m Matt Frankel, I play the Cajon and sing!
Hi! I’m Dan Chang. I play the guitar and sing!
Hi! I’m Michael Garner. I play the keyboard and sing!

What is something you would like fans/soon to be fans to know about each of you and/or Lady Danville as a whole?

We are just young chaps that like to write music! Michael used to be very politically involved in college, Matt has a dog named Ninja and Dan blows his nose a lot.

Are you guys originally from Southern California? If not, where did each of you grow up?

None of us are originally from Southern California. Our origins span from the east coast (Chicago) to Northern California. After “being birthed,” if you will, most of us moved to Danville, which is a cool suburb near San Francisco and grew up in suburban harmony.

When did each of you become interested in music?

Matt became interested in music when his 1st grade teacher, Lester Chun, taught him how to play the accorder. Mr. Chun then taught him the saxophone and some drums too! Dan found his love for music hiding in the corner of his Choir room freshmen year of high school.
Michael came out of the womb singing a Ben Folds song… that’s 73% accurate.

What other musical projects has each of you been a part of?

We all met actually in an A capella group at UCLA called Awaken A cappella. We had all sung before…Matt as a Musical Theater major, Michael with his keyboard, Dan with his guitar, so it was only natural for us to get involved in the evolving hip, yet still dorky, world of college A cappella. We loved it. Actually, Sara Bareilles was in the group with us, and we’re hoping to follow in her footsteps of being accomplished Awaken alumni who go on to getting our music heard by people across the country. So many people from our A cappella group have pursued the music industry, and we’re happy to be a part of such a great and accomplished group of people and musicians.

How did you guys end up meeting and eventually forming Lady Danville?

Mike and Dan met their first year in Awaken. Matt was already a part of the group, playing the role of “beatboxer.” Mike and Dan discovered their mutual passion for abandoning writing papers for late night music writing sessions. Mike and Dan formed a duo named “Mikey G and Dan from Danville,” and wrote a few great songs that won them the top award at UCLA’s Spring Sing. This really was the beginning of an extremely supportive UCLA fanbase. After all three of us graduated, we were in Michael’s room one day and there was a mini electronic drum kit that Matt picked up and started jamming on. Unbeknownst to Mike and Dan, Matt retained a few skills from the Mr. Chun days back in elementary and middle school. It didn’t take long before we became a trio and the three of us began meeting pretty regularly to play music together.

Why did you choose to name yourselves Lady Danville? Were there other band names you guys were contemplating?

There were definitely other band names we were contemplating. Thinking of a band name is one of those things you can do of for hours on end, come up with some funny stuff, but nothing will click. It’s funny, because people always think that the front-person in the group is going to be a “front-lady”…but much to their surprise, it’s three young guys.

What is your guys’ process for writing a Lady Danville song?

Usually the way it works, is one person will come to the table with something substantial for the base of a song (whether it be a melody, a lyric, a concept) and then we’ll put our heads and fingers together and start to come up with something. Some nights we’re ultra productive writing as a trio, sometimes as a duo and sometimes one person can get more done by himself…it just depends.

What are you guys currently working on?

We are in the studio recording a song titled “Sophie Roux,” and we are writing two new songs. One is a song that you would sing to someone that is going through a lot in life and the other is about trying to be a better person…pretty general descriptions, but I think it makes more sense in music form.

Who/What are the strongest influences on your music?

We are all very influenced individually by different artists, but generally as a group we are influenced by the music of Guster, Ben Folds, Jon Brion, Coldplay, Rufus Wainwright, Jack Johnson, etc.

How does living in Los Angeles influence the music Lady Danville creates?

Well, Los Angeles is quite the machine and we have written a song actually that highlights L.A. But the truth is, we would write this style of music whether or not we lived in this city or elsewhere. It always helps to be surrounded by creative people (which L.A. has a lot of!). And of course, when you live in a city as crazy as L.A., crazy things start to happen to you and crazy music starts a-flowin.

What venue, in Los Angeles, is your favorite to play? Why?

It’s hard to choose between the Hotel Cafe and the Temple Bar. We love them both so much. They are definitely our style because of the types of bands that play at them, the size, the atmosphere, the people, the booze, the babes, J, etc.

How do you think the LA music scene compares to the rest of the country right now?

I think the L.A. music scene is great! Bands move to L.A. to try to get their music heard, because there are so many people in L.A. that love going to listen. That being said, I think people in L.A. sometimes forget how great places like New York, Nashville (great Jazz!!), San Francisco, Detroit, Atlanta, Seattle, etc…have such great music too.

What are some independent bands, LA based or otherwise, that you are currently listening to?

We are huge fans of Cavil At Rest, The Payphones, Kina Grannis, Davey G. Project, Jason Reeves and Tyrone Wells (they started to get a little less Independent there at the end).

I read that each of you still have day jobs. If this is still true, what are they?

Michael works at GreenDot as a knowledge management analyst, Dan works as a healthcare analyst for Goldman Consulting Group, and Matt works in fundraising at UCLA.

Where is your favorite place to eat in LA?

Gushi

Hang out with friends?

Cloverdale, Manhattan Beach

Recover from a hangover?

Bread and Porridge

Discover new music?

Largo/Hotel Cafe/Temple Bar

Lastly, who would play each of you in the movie version of Lady Danville’s rise to the top?

Dan: John Cho
Michael: Old School Robert Downey Jr.
Matt: Matthew Broderick - La.CityZine.com