They’ve had gigs at venues played by The Beatles and a successful debut single, but with rapid change in the industry reaching a crescendo, how are things playing out for the next generation of music making talent? Sam Burton joined the band ‘Danny’s Always Late’ in their Liverpool studio to find out.
“The highest of lows…” murmurs lead singer Leo Dunn, strumming an acoustic guitar on one side of the room. He pauses, then turns to drummer Toby Rees: “Does that even make sense?”
It’s seconds since they walked into the recording studio on the University of Liverpool campus and the creative cogs are already turning.
The four music students from the up-and-coming band ‘Danny’s Always Late’ are here to start the recording process for their third single, which will form part of their first studio album later this year.
Despite only forming in October 2023, the band – named after the punctuality of bassist Danny Woodhouse when they were starting out (“It’s a get out of jail free card,” he jokes) – have already gained momentum both digitally and on Liverpool’s iconic music scene.
Their alt-rock debut single, ‘70Mph’, has received 20,000 international streams since it was released in February. Not platinum-selling, but for a group of 19-to-21-year-old independent musicians in the North West, it’s a number they had “never even imagined”.
A place on a Spotify playlist drove the spike in listenership – a fortunate flip-side to a medium sometimes criticised
for its algorithms and royalties. “I don’t think we would have come to selling 20,000 CDs so it’s a really weird comparison,” Woodhouse explains. “There’s pros and cons [of streaming], but I think there are more pros.
“There’s thousands of people listening who we have no idea who they are, and we’ve never even been near where they are,” adds guitarist Jude Bennett.
Digital success has boosted ticket sales too. Early gigs at venues such as The Jacaranda – renowned for its role in the early days of the Beatles – they say generally attracted a dozen or so mates loitering at the back of sparse rooms.
However their post-‘70Mph’ headliner at nearby The Zanzibar – previously host to the likes of Noel Gallagher – drew a 150-strong crowd who echoed the chorus back to the stage, a moment Dunn had dreamt of “since he knew what music was”.
“I remember thinking back to writing the song in my room, and then now there’s actually people singing it…” he recalls, trailing off as he shakes his head with bewilderment.
A strong community within the historic music city is another factor in their trajectory. As Rees says: “Everyone wants to make it as a band, but it’s not making it instead of us, it’s making it with us.
“If we are doing well, we’re going to give others support acts and pull them up. Then if we’ve got a gig, they’ll bring their friends. This community really makes you feel appreciated and supported. It’s one of the things I’ll never take for granted.”
Woodhouse continues: “It’s not a competition. Music is a friendly community. That’s what you lose these days as everyone’s against each other venue-wise. It should just be we’ll all bring people in and have a great time.”
Danny’s Always Late’s second single ‘What Do You Call Yourself?’ is out now.
Check out the band by clicking on the link: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4mw3DHSNaYVcBWeuaKZQR0?si=L1HjIEshRzqodGMuRFT4sg
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