This past Thursday the 22nd, one of our writers Michal Tyszkiewicz sat down with the up and coming star from Team Supreme, Great Dane. He was able to ask him a few questions before he destroyed the sound system at 1015 Folsom with the likes of Mr. Car/\\ack and Djemba Djemba. Not only were his words inspiring but they were genuine and wholesome, filled with the honest truth of how this up and coming star is rising to power.
MMIBTY: How did you become involved with Team Supreme?
Great Dane: Preston and I, (Who is half of Penthouse Penthouse), had the idea for the weekly cyphers in 2012 and the label/ crew grew from that. We knew each other through Chapman University in California, along with other fellow artists on the team.
MMIBTY: How did your upbringing influence your music?
GD: Good question, I grew up listening to tons of rap but also classical and musical theater. My father is a classically trained pianist and got me involved with that kind of music very young so I had that side of myself but I also listened to rap whenever I could or I would listen to whatever I could get off of lime-wire. What I’m doing now has a really emotional side to it which probably stems from there, it doesn’t really fall exactly into just hip hop instrumentals or trap or bass or whatever. I feel like there is something lurking inside that makes it unique.
MMIBTY: What was your biggest mistake as an artist and how did you fix it?
GD: I was more worried about what people wanted in the beginning, and the the more I stopped doing that and stayed true to myself the better the response was. On my first album I noticed that people didn’t hate the “prettier” sounding music, and thats when I really got excited about this whole thing because the weird stuff that I personally thought was tight was getting heard by lots of people and I realized how powerful it is to really put something honest out there. You never know what other people will take away from your music, the best thing you can do is stay true to yourself and do that from the beginning.
MMIBTY: What was your best moment of 2014?
GD: When my album hit number 6 on iTunes electronic charts. I’m really hoping to go to number 1 next time, I didn’t even think it would get close to six..its humbling seeing your efforts take form into something that you love and other people might love too. That was a great feeling
MMIBTY: Why the name Great Dane?
GD: Because my name is Dane, other than that Preston (half of Penthouse Penthouse) just kinda gave me that name. He said its so obvious, just do it. I didn’t like it at first, I thought it was weird, but I grew into it. Its also universal, not like “Trap Dane” and in ten years when I’m still making music it will still be called Great Dane.
MMIBTY: Who is your favorite artist to work with?
GD: My best friend “King Henry”. I don’t usually do collabs, but I’ve done a few with him and they usually turn out really well because were such good friends. The best collabs are when you and the other person like each other, not to mention being with them in person to make it. Its not exactly ideal to be sending stems around, better to have the face to face contact.
MMIBTY: What is your favorite city to play in?
GD: Maybe San Fran, this past week we were in New York. It was for sure one of my favorite show ever played, But I love coming back to the bay, its always fun.
MMIBTY: What are/were you doing other than producing & djing?
GD: If you were to ask me what I were to do with my life in college I would have said going off to be a singer, I majored in Vocal Performance and all I did musically for the first part of my life was sing. I did a lot of singing gigs and that sort of thing, but I found this freedom in beat making/ production though that singing doesn’t have and it really changed everything for me, I could eventually combine the two but i haven’t found the proper steps to make it happen. I want it to be natural.
MMIBTY: When did you notice a change in your career?
GD: This week hahah, no but actually this tour has been crazy. There hasn’t been any “Big Breaks” for me. Its the little things that add up, and id rather have it that way. I’m learning alot, it would be weird if i didn’t know how anything works and just sort of ended up where I am. Obviously everyone would like that, but I enjoy the slow process, the little things mean more to me.
MMIBTY: If you could do it all over again what would you do differently?
GD: I would trust myself more from the beginning, I don’t think there have really been any huge mistakes or anything so far, or if there were I don’t see them that way, they helped me learn and put me in the right direction. You only have one run at this, in terms of life like seriously YOLO. Just do 100% you.
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