Summer 2016 … at a homeless hostel in York, and with over 20 years of addiction as inspiration, D.Ni.L began his multi-instrumental solo project, and started working on his first album: “This In’t A Party” (May 2017), followed by “Suicide In Sips” (November 2017) and now the third album, just released: “Boy. Inside”
The artist’s name, D.Ni.L (pronounced denial) symbolizes how D.Ni.L started off his journey of recovery through music, with bravado and a sense of dark-glamour, in denial of the sordid reality of his life as an addict. Fusing elements of post-rock, rap, math-rock, indie and metal – D.Ni.L’s influences are eclectic, ranging from Deftones and Slint to Michael Jackson and Marvin Gaye, to Plan B and Eminem.
Covering a diverse range of styles – “Boy. Inside” profiles D.Ni.L as the Industrial-Rapper, as well as D.Ni.L, the experimental Post-Metal-Rocker. Widely varied musically, D.Ni.L’s central lyrical theme is always the same: the lived experience of being a drug addict. Without this knowledge, the listener might be forgiven for thinking D.Ni.L expresses the age-old theme of love/hate, and relationships where he has been treated badly, abusively even –but this is not the case, the ‘you’ addressed in D.Ni.L’s lyrics, is often alcohol, or other drugs personified.
The second video-single to be released from the album (“Glue” was the first), the title track “Boy. Inside” explores the theme of how addiction stunts personality and growth.
Having found a new way to live in recovery, D.Ni.L has been writing prolifically and shows no signs of letting up, with a fourth album in the pipeline for release before the year is out.
The 11-track album “Boy. Inside” will be available to stream on all major platforms, and/or purchased as a limited-edition CD album featuring 16-page lyric-booklet, from 15th June. All tracks can be previewed/downloaded, and the CD can be purchased from D.Ni.L’s official website https://www.d-ni-l.com/
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
D.Ni.L: I was born in Mayday Hospital, Croydon, but my family moved to York when I was a baby and I’ve lived here all my life. I used to listen to my Mum’s records on our Amstrad hi-fi
and pick out melodies on a little Casio keyboard. By the time I was 10 I had my first full size keyboard and I wanted to be a pop star like Michael Jackson. Then I got into indie, I loved
the Charlatans and Rob Collins’ Hammond organ skills, which I tried to emulate through my teens. I got into grunge and metal of all different varieties and played in bands around York
from the age of 13 up to my twenties. My alcoholism took hold in my teens and I spiralled further down and out of control in my twenties. My use of other drugs escalated from the age
of twelve alongside my drinking.
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
D.Ni.L: As an addict, I am galvanised by layers and layers of denial – it’s what protected me through my years of addiction. I’m in recovery now and have started to peel away at those layers.
It was actually my friend and record label boss who came up with the suggestion and I really liked it. I was very paranoid when I started out as a solo artist and I didn’t want people to know who I was.
That is not a problem for me anymore and I’m comfortable with who I am but I’m keeping the name now.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
D.Ni.L: As an artist, I write music and lyrics that are personal to me and I’m under no illusion that my eclectic style is going to be popular to the masses. I’m also an addict and I’m not into
gigging endlessly, trying to sell tickets and merchendise – I’m a recording artist. I’ve done the gigging thing and it’s not for me anymore so to see me at a gig is a bit of a rarity, but it does happen.
So sharing music online is important – I’m not in it for the money. My first three albums have all been released as limited runs of CDs, but they are also available for download. There are costs
involved and if the sales of CDs and downloads can offset that cost to an extent, that’s great. But I just want people to hear my stuff as well so some of my music is available for free, either on
my website or I have some music videos on YouTube that you can stream for free.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
D.Ni.L: Well, as I have been in dozens of bands, I know how hard it can be to make any money from gigs and if you’re having to pay venues to play and you haven’t got much of a fanbase yet,
it can end up being costly. You can end up paying to play instead of being paid, so it can be pretty disheartening and tempting to knock it on the head. Make some connections with other
local bands and venues and build up a local fanbase before moving further afield. If you can combine your audiences then you have a better chance of covering your costs and getting booked
again. As a solo artist who plays all of the instruments I’m totally self-sufficient, and I don’t envy the days of practicing with a band for months or years in order to get songs gig ready. When
you play a gig, you’re selling a product, so you need that product to be as good as it can be – don’t sell yourself short. But perhaps don’t aim for perfection either otherwise you’ll never
gig and you’ll never put any recordings out. A decent recording of an accomplished, well-rehearsed band is better than an expensive recording of a sub-standard band. Get you stuff out there
and send it to your local radio stations and if they like it, they’ll play it.
Exposed Vocals: Do you ever make mistakes during performances? How do you handle that?
D.Ni.L: Yes. In the past when I was in active addiction, I was always out of it on alcohol and/or other drugs and that made for sloppy performances. That being said, when I gig sober nowadays,
I still make mistakes. I’m my worst critic, so if I can get over it then it doesn’t matter. I write material in the studio and move on, I don’t rehearse unless there is a gig coming up and then I have to
learn my guitar parts and practice them with my vocals.
Exposed Vocals: Do you tour? Anything interesting happen on tour that you think our readers would enjoy hearing about?
D.Ni.L: The closest I ever got to a tour was playing a few gigs around the North of England with a band from America called All the Pretty Horses. The band was awesome and they were all transgenders.
They were fun to hang out with – we were only 17 and 18 at the time. Our drummer turned 18 during the tour and one of the Pretty Horses gave him 18 spanks for his birthday.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
D.Ni.L: My lyrics are always based on personal experience. I try and write about anything else and I dry up pretty quickly. I use my experience as an addict to write songs. I often personify alcohol and
other drugs, so my songs might seem like they’re about a person, but they’re not. I rarely start off with a lyric, but I have done. 9 times out of 10 I pick up my guitar and start playing around with a riff or
some chords, or a bit of both. I play keyboards, bass and drums as well so I compose for all of the instruments. Once I have a guitar part, I start to add the other instruments and it all takes shape
pretty quickly, sometimes I’ll have nothing at 9pm and by 1am, I have a decent recording that I can finish in another session or two. I’ve released three albums in a year and I’ve already written a fourth
in that time too. I’m involved in other projects too for which I have a role as a musician but also as a composer so I’ve been pretty prolific since I got clean. I play guitar and sing backing vocals for a
band called Wasabi Fire Alarm.
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
https://www.d-ni-l.com/ –
Spotify, i-tunes, soundcloud …. Loads of places
Exposed Vocals: What are some really embarrassing songs that we might find on your mp3 player?
D.Ni.L: If I had an MP3 player you’d find all sorts on it, from Jackson 5 through to Meshuggah. I like a good song, regardless of the genre so I do like some songs that others might think are embarassing,
but I don’t so I can’t answer that.
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
D.Ni.L: I need my routine as an addict in recovery, so I don’t think anything would change. I’d buy some more equipment and soundproof my council flat. I’d also get some good video equipment because I
make my own music videos and I have been doing them all with a camera from work and my GoPro. I made a green screen in my front room using green material from a local store and some drawing pins.
Half a million dollars would buy my flat outright and I’d have enough to kit it out with everything I need. I wouldn’t pack my job in at Tang Hall SMART, it’s my dream job working with kids and adults with
learning difficulties, disabilities, addiction, homelessness and I need it to keep my life balanced plus it is very rewarding, it helps me and it helps others.
Exposed Vocals: Any planned studio upgrades? What are you working with now?
D.Ni.L: I’d probably get a new studio PC and a new guitar. I don’t have much space as my studio is in my bedroom. I’d get some soundproof panels and a better microphone. I currently use FL Studio 12
with Native Instruments Komplete 12 Ultimate installed onto my HP laptop. I have an Orange CR60 guitar amp and a PRS SE Soapbar II guitar. They’re my main pieces of kit really, I’d love to have the space
for a Hammond organ but I have to make do with the Kontakt plug in as money and space are limited. Oh and a Fender Rhodes and a Mellotron would be pretty sweet.
Exposed Vocals: If you could perform anywhere and with any artists (Dead or Alive) where and who would it be with? Why?
D.Ni.L: I’d perform with Deftones at Fibbers in York. I’d also love to perform wiht Slint anywhere, if they reformed again. They’re my favourite bands and I’d have liked to have performed with Manic Street Preachers
when they’d just released The Holy Bible and before Richie went missing.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
D.Ni.L: Well, I’ve written and recorded 12 tracks for my fourth album so it will be onto number five. I’m gonna make a music video for a third single off ‘Boy. Inside’, which is available now on Musication Records.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
D.Ni.L: In active addiction or dead.
Exposed Vocals: Do you remember buying your first album? Who was it? What was going through your head?
D.Ni.L: I used to pick up records from record fairs when I was little, but I don’t remember my first. The first cassette album I bought was The Charlatans’ self-titled album. And the first single I bought was ‘Insomnia’
by Faithless on a CD!
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
D.Ni.L: As hard as it is, I have to priorotise, which I don’t always get right. Once I get engrossed in a composition or a video, I find it hard to pull myself away. But I am grateful for what I have in my life and I must remember
that I’m only ever a step away from that downward spiral, so I have to keep myself in check everyday and that includes doing the things that I need to do, before I can do the things that I want to do. I need to write music,
but not as much as I need to be clean, and the rest follows.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2018?
D.Ni.L: A continuous output of material for a long time to come I hope.
