Dan Iris grew up on a soundtrack of old school R&B, and the passion he developed at a young age has a direct impact on the music he makes today. Born and raised in Hungary, Dan Iris moved to London when he was 23, with the dream of pursuing his music career. Dan has opened himself up to new genres and listens to gospel, afrobeat pop, R&B and techno, and pushes himself to draw from different genres when he writes.
What or who inspired you to begin a career in music?
Back in the day when I was 11 or 12 my best friend brought over the Boyz II Men and Jagged Edge albums. That was a life changing moment for me, that’s when I fell in love with melodies and harmonies. I never considered doing music professionally until like 17, but for whatever reason it just didn’t happen until I turned 28. I put my mind to it and decided to push hard and get my music out there.
So I can tell that all those old school RnB artists inspired me but also it’s a voice or feeling from inside that says just do it. My head is full of melodies and it’s getting ‘worse’ as I’m getting older [laughs]. I just have to take those melodies and transform them into songs, so yeah I inspire myself too.
What differs you and your sound from other R&B artists in the music industry?
Nowadays most of the artists just sound like another artist. In my opinion it feels like they are trying to copy each other. I really just do what comes out of my mind and soul, and that’s what I believe differs my sound from other artists. I just want my music to feel real and authentic.
Your debut EP ‘Stardust’ is out now. Can you please describe the creative process and inspiration behind the project?
It’s a funny story. I’ve been writing plenty of songs over the years before ‘Stardust’ happened, and I’ve been struggling because I didn’t know which songs to put on the EP. I have to say the ‘Stardust’ idea didn’t exist until the very last studio session.
I had old songs and brand new ones that I wrote literally the night before. I was just playing around and producing some stuff and improvised, less than an hour later ‘Stardust’ happened. I was so in love with that song that I decided to take it to the studio and record it. My demo ended up so good that we left most of it in the final version and of course I named the EP after this song.
Throughout your musical career, have you experienced any ‘wow’ moments?
Happened a few times but nothing major. One of my favourites was back in the day my little brother, a friend and I decided to perform at a wedding as a surprise. We wrote a little song for the bride the night before the big day and we performed it during the ceremony for hundreds of people. After the performance the whole church came up to us and asked who we were and how long have we been doing this. We were just laughing at the time because no one knew we were hungover and we literally wrote the song the day before and the majority was improvised – that was a wow moment for me.
In your own opinion, what is the most meaningful song you wrote? What makes you say that one?
It is called ‘Stardust’ – the song I named my first EP after.
On all my songs I sing about love and feelings as a normal pop, R&B artist does but on ‘Stardust’ I sing about myself, about my life experience and that I take life the hard way but I never give up. Many people can relate to this and feel the meaning of the song is we’re all the same, we’re made of stardust. My closest friends told me that this song made them cry because they really felt it. That is the most beautiful feedback I’ve ever received.
What personal advice would you give to someone wanting to pursue this career?
Sounds cliché but never give up! It is extremely hard to be successful in the music business. I’ve been trying for years and even though I have put my heart and soul into my music nothing really seems to happen. With that being said I have never considered giving up, that would be too easy.
If music is really in you, in your veins, then nothing and nobody can stop you doing it and believe in yourself. Trust me your time will come!
What does the foreseeable future hold for you as an artist?
I won’t stop creating and writing songs. I am just getting warmed up! I’m getting better day by day. I’ll be releasing more singles and hopefully more EPs or albums – let’s see what happens.
Anything else you would like to add?
Music is the only thing in life that excites me. I wish that one day I can finally sign to a label and do full-time what I was born to do. Until that happens I’ll be the waiter that always sings [laughs].
‘Stardust’ EP is available now via all major platforms.
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