Freshly Pressed – Dan Moxon’s “Playing With Fire”

To record his solo album, Vancouver singer-songwriter Dan Moxon enlisted the help of his friends and talented local musicians. While he’s spent the last fifteen years as the frontman for Bend Sinister, this is his debut as a solo artist. With the recent release of his single “Playing With Fire”, we had a quick Q&A to learn more about his solo shows, where his catchy hooks come from, and the Vancouver music scene.

From The Strait: We know you as the frontman for Bend Sinister – what made this the right time to release a solo record?

Dan Moxon: I’ve been procrastinating on putting out a solo album for almost 10 years and slowly collecting lots of songs that weren’t quite right for Bend sinister. The best part of waiting so long though is that now that I have that much more time and experience under my belt, and I hope that in shows in the songwriting, singing and all! I also wanted to try a slightly less rock n roll style project now that my beard is going slightly grey.

FTS: What can future audiences expect from your solo live shows?

DM: I’ve got a great band put together with Alanna Pearce on vocals/drums and Jessie Robertson on vocals/bass. We also will tour with a saxophone player which ads a great vibe. The ladies doing all the backup soul style vocals sets a great tone for the music.

FTS: This single had us tapping our feet and bopping out heads within the first few seconds – do great hooks come to your naturally, or is it something you have to work at?

DM: It’s hard to say where great hooks come from. Certainly you can’t try too hard or else it’ll end up sounding contrived. I just do what I do and hope other people enjoy.

FTS: You’re from Vancouver, what’s the local music scene like there?

DM: Yes there are loads of amazing bands and artists in Vancouver, more then I can keep track of. I did have lots of great people help on the record like Tonye Aganaba, Ashleigh Ball (Hey Ocean) and Jody Peck among others on vocals. JP Maurice co-produced and engineered the album with me and members of Bend Sinister, Small Town Artillery, Good for Grapes and more all contributed to the album. 

Check out the video for Dan Moxon‘s latest single, “Playing With Fire”!