Today we’d like to introduce you to Danny Hughes.
Hi Danny, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Thanks for having me on Voyage! I developed a certain vision toward music while growing up in Aledo, Texas. Born into a family of musicians, I discovered my passion for music early on, exploring many different instruments – trumpet, guitar, piano, and played in my high school orchestra and jazz band, and jammed with friends in the garage. Before I graduated in 2007 I became interested in electronic dance music and digital music production. Creating tracks on my computer in music tech class was always my favorite hobby. My most significant early influences were artists such as ATB, Daft Punk, Tiesto, and Eric Prydz. At that time, pop, hip hop and alternative rock were making the biggest push in the USA. Like many musicians, I foresaw my career in music as having a low ceiling – not a lot of opportunity to ‘make it big’ especially given the overshadowing of EDM in America by mainstream music.
I put music on the backburner as a hobby and shifted my focus to an accounting career while in college at Texas Tech. I didn’t know exactly how that career would play out, but accounting came naturally, brought job opportunity and structure to my life during my 20’s, and was a great foundational business skill to learn. I worked as a corporate auditor for 9 years and simultaneously, dance music exploded in the USA. After going to EDM events as a social outlet and seeing the depth of what could be accomplished in the electronic music scene, my passion for music was revived. I foresaw a place for myself as a DJ and EDM producer. It felt like the missing link for me, maybe things would have panned out differently if the scene was more prevalent in 2007; anyways I realized I needed the resources, skills, and network necessary to pursue music once again. I started to develop my own sound in 2016, began producing and releasing music as DCPA (Danny the Certified Public Accountant). I quickly realized the industry had become saturated with talent and new production methods, which meant I needed to catch up and differentiate. My research led me to a production studio based out of the Netherlands, which would help me finish my early projects. I was attracted to the idea of working with people over there, it’s the origination of many genres I love and produce.
Fast forward a few years, and I had moved on from hiring a studio, and learned to complete all of the production work on my own. I was being asked by friends and companies to DJ events and weddings around Dallas. Tammy Miranda Music Productions, based here in Austin TX, heard about me through the grapevine, reached out and entrusted me with a weekend brunch gig in Uptown Dallas. That was quite a head trip, being a Senior Manager in corporate audit, but waking up every Saturday to go DJ. It meant a lot to be back on stage, entertaining people with my music – a feeling I hadn’t experienced in over a decade. A few months later, Covid 19 led to a shutdown of that same bar and my gig fell flat. My life as an accountant also changed. The job was meaningful, financially beneficial, but no longer self-serving. The paradigm shift became obvious, and this dual life could no longer continue. In July 2020 I made the decision to go all-in on music and to move to Austin. That seems counter-intuitive at a time when bars and clubs were struggling to keep the doors open; but, I saw it as a good time to claim my spot as a performer in town once Austin’s live music scene came back to life. My parents and I fixed up our old RV, and I drove it down to Spicewood. Living in an RV full-time was a lifestyle I’d always dreamt of experiencing. It creates a lot of flexibility as a working musician. Being outdoors more is peaceful and breeds inspiration. I’m in a newer RV now, just a short walk to Lake Travis. It’s gotten very comfortable out here!
I always had a great feeling about Tammy Miranda, ever since her first text to me. She believed in me from the start, and I just knew if I worked hard that she’d have my back down here in Austin. In just over two years of working with Tammy, I’ve now held weekly DJ residencies at several bars downtown and all over North Austin/Lake Travis, as well as many large private events. It is mind-blowing to see how hard she works for musicians in this area. Knowing the road she took to get here makes me all the more proud to be associated. I’m especially impressed with her daily presence, and how she navigates conflict. Working with Tammy is so fluid that you might assume you’re her only act of the night; but in reality she is in constant contact with dozens of musicians, venues, and coordinators all day and night. Anyone needing a great band, DJ, or solo act for their event should call Tammy Miranda!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Sometimes the road feels smooth, it’s usually a struggle though. On top of that, the road is on a mountain and I suppose there is no such thing as a smooth mountain. My career in public accounting required from 40-60 hours per week for as long as I remember so, in the first several years, I was moonlighting my music career and dedicating weekends to growing as DCPA. I kept myself in high hopes about leaving for music someday, but I tried not to fantasize much about becoming a celebrity DJ/producer. I was climbing the ranks in a great company and had invested a lot into that career path up to Senior Audit Manager. The pandemic hit in 2020 and reminded me there are no guarantees in any facet of life, and we can adapt to our environment as it changes or else move on to a new one. A lot of hard-working people didn’t get a choice this time and were getting let go from jobs they loved and needed. I felt empowered to make my decision and existentially, it was a virtuous trade – I could go off and fulfill my purpose in music, while a more deserving person fills my old shoes.
Artistry is often a series of running through tunnels with no light. The marketing side is always changing and time-consuming, and you might get so caught up in an idea for a project that it consumes you and can even tear you down mentally/emotionally until it’s complete. It’s easy to miss the day-to-day steps in running a music career. We embrace the hurt but sometimes you don’t realize the adverse effects a career is having on your mental and physical self. Some days are like playing contact sports in your mind, until night when you rely on adrenaline to push through a 4-hour set. It’s all worth it in the end. As a musician, you often must block out external influences or negative thoughts and push forward with your vision.
I also realized that a musician’s commitments and vision can change suddenly at any moment. Adaptability and preparation are key to working through the ups and downs. You must have a routine that keeps you on your toes, ready for last-minute gigs or collaborations, but you have to preserve time and energy for new creative work. The more time I spend in the Austin area playing shows and staying fully immersed in music, the more I am given a choice to either believe in or doubt myself. Feeling down or depressed as a musician sometimes is just part of it. Our brains fire off a ton of neurons and we feel lots of heavy feelings when making music. It leaves us mentally and emotionally drained. Often, we’re crashing from the adrenaline rush of a gig. However, the high points of the job overwhelmingly compensate for the lows!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
DCPA demonstrates a transcendent approach to modern electronic dance music and draws influences from industry underdogs as well as mainstage festival headliners mostly in the genres of electro house, trance, progressive, and nu disco. Through DCPA, I would like to offer a unique lens for exploring music and inspire others by showing that one does not always have to follow the beaten path. Nostalgia is paramount to my craft. I think you’ll hear decades of influence being revived at my shows and in my music. I also believe collaboration is the best way to build on and to create musical ideas for others to enjoy, so I look to my collaborators and contacts at Nimble Agency (Amsterdam) for advice. Bringing in outside perspective is a huge part of making good music. I aim to always improve on my music, folding in my life story along the way, and I want people to interpret my music as a reflection of their own experiences.
I believe as a DJ I’m known for melodic, high-energy sets, very eclectic and with decades of music revived as remixes, covers, etc. I can’t help it but to throw curveballs too, you can get away with a lot as a DJ when you mix it up just right. I’ll show up for just about any crowd who will have me DJ, the goal being to deliver a unifying and memorable experience no matter who’s there. I’m proud to be down here in Austin as a renegade professional seeking greater wisdom and purpose through music and to be producing my own stuff.
What sets me apart, in my mind, is the ability to read crowds and relate my music knowledge to them. I’m at that sweet spot in my early 30’s, I’m familiar with the old and new stuff, and have been to plenty of events to know what makes a good party trick.
Also, at this point, I have enough of my own released music to play a straight hour of exclusively DCPA music if the show calls for it. I’ve found great success with recent tracks, even having three of them hit the iTunes charts on release day – in three different countries too. I’m proud of that fact!
I’ve got a busy release plan for the second half of the year, so keep an eye out for new music from me starting with an electro house track “I Feel It Too” coming very soon!
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I feel that we are on the verge of a more efficient distribution of music, mostly related to the speed of return of investment for artists, the flow of information and data. In the age of streaming, it’s almost automatic for listeners to discover new music; but, for artists the pace of the reward is much slower. Most artists’ music costs more to create, distribute and market than it will ever earn in streaming royalties. Eventually, you hope to have a fanbase that drives your play counts at very little extra cost. Streaming platforms are driven by algorithms which have historically favored established artists. Platforms like Audius and Fenix360 have started to emerge, opening the doors to reach more fans, and give artists more control of creative distribution. These could be NFT collectibles, exclusive music, merchandise, shared investments, etc. Overall, I think we’ll have very similar tools and apps that we use now, but a lot of the power will transfer from major platforms back to musicians.
On the marketing front, the big push on artists lately has been creating “micro-content” to promote tracks. This would be things like short-form videos (Tik Tok, Instagram Reels, etc) of performances, track previews, studio sessions, music advice, humor, etc. The idea is that we should always be in front of our fans and capitalizing on the short average attention span. I think it’s a bit much to expect every musician to spend loads of their time creating this content, while also creating the best possible music; but, right now it’s how we can reach new fans who will keep coming back to engage with our profile and build a community. All in all, I believe people evolve from familiarity to fandom. Social media is often someone’s first impression of an artist. Get them to come back to your profile twice and maybe they decide to start streaming your music regularly. Keep things interesting on social media, connect your story to them, and they’ll add to playlists and share your music publicly. Eventually, the die-hard fans commit to buying merchandise or tickets to the next live show, things that allow musicians a real living wage and time to better our craft.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.dcpamusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dcpamusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dcpamusic
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DCPAmusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqyaqz17KPGWvW9_QRyPgjg?sub_confirmation=1
- Other: https://dcpa.fenix.band/
