For Dan art & music is what it’s always been: a journey, making rougher ideas smoother, something to
look at, sit with, and a place to hold emotion and thought.
Making music started early for him in the 90s, in the Ozark mountains of the US, when he began to
make his brand of ‘lo-fi emo hip-hop’ using the name Listener. Dan went on to record eight albums in
the hip hop duo Labklik and three albums in the hip hop group Deepspace5 as ‘Listener’. In 2002 he
started touring full time as a solo artist under the name, and has since played thousands of shows in
over 30 countries zig zagging across the globe. In 2007 & 2008 Listener became a band with Dan as
the vocalist, bass guitar, and horn player. This non-stop touring period in Listener transitioned their
music into what it is today with their unique musical voice coupled with Dan’s vocal brand and
channeled poetry. He calls the music “Talk Music”.
Dan is stepping out on his own once again and has created one of the most personal and connected
albums of his career in “The Shapes We Make”. Dan continues to strive to combine all the loves of his
life with a balance of time at home, building art, playing shows, creating music solo and in the band
Listener, through his work as a painter, and as a mental health therapist at his practice in Kansas City.
An idea/mantra he has used since his early days in making art has been: “Making the music that you
are going to need, but you just don’t know it yet.”