The P.O.P. Issue 007 - Danny Daze

The P.O.P. (Portraits of POPLIFE) documents inspiring individuals who push artistic boundaries and strive for excellence in order to advance the communities around them. Uniting a wide range of talented creatives from diverse backgrounds, this editorial series invites them to share their passions and the impact they've had on the realms of hospitality, music, fashion, art, and design.

For our first issue of 2023, we sat down with Miami-based DJ, producer, and artist, Danny Daze, to?discuss all things music, art, and the magic city.

Read more below to learn about the message he hopes to share through his work.

Danny, tell us a little bit about yourself. What do you do?

Danny Daze: My name is Danny Gomez, some people know me as Danny Daze or Danny From Miami. I’ve been DJing since 1999, so it’s been 23 years. Been making music for about 20 years. All I do is music and art – I wake up, go to sleep, and dream about pushing myself as an artist.?

Growing up in Miami, being a breakdancer and then a DJ, can you tell us about the evolution of your musical taste/style from when you were a kid until now?

DD: It’s been an up-and-down. I went from liking experimental, electronic, IDM, break-dancing music, to learning about house music, techno, four-on-the-floor type stuff, but it’s been quite cyclical because I’m back to where I began. I’ve been taking a different approach to creativity and art and exploring the visual side, especially with my upcoming album. It encapsulates the last 20+ years of my life along with the influences from the day I was born.

What inspired your new album?

DD: My entire form of being if I’m being honest. From the moment I started dancing when I was four years-old to where I am today. Being able to understand how music is made and how to capture the sounds that are in my head are some things I’ve slowly learned over the last 20 years making music.?

Typically artists release albums within the first couple of years of their career. Being 20+ years into your career, why did you feel now was the right time to do this?

DD: A lot of artists are eager to put out their work because they feel like that’s what is supposed to be heard during that particular time. I started off with releasing EPs. I released EPs because I felt like those would get me to the point that I’m at now. I knew I didn’t want to release an album until I felt I could not fail. Not fail in the sense of success or what people thought of it, but fail in getting my message across exactly how I wanted to. It took this long to know what I wanted my message to be.

Have you ever experimented with other mediums besides music? If so, which ones?

DD: My first form of art was interpretative dancing, where I would use pop-locking and breakdancing as the base, eventually learning to use the music to flow through me. I was also an artist throughout high school until music completely took over my life. Now I’m back to exploring visual art where I can conceptualize music and display it for people to see, as I did at the Planetarium at the Frost Museum during Art Week.

When you play, what kind of impression do you wish to leave on the crowd?? What impression do you wish to leave with this album?

DD: I tend to look for people in the crowd that are malleable. I want to show these people there are new sounds and hope to change the course of their musical intake. “Blue”, the upcoming album, focuses on patience. Not many people sit down and simply listen to an album anymore. During the 92 minutes of the album, I want people to put their phones away and just go for a ride. I hope it can send the message to others that we all need to get off the popularity and numbers train.

You’ve?partied?and?DJ’ed?parties?in?Miami?for?over?20?years. How would?you?describe the scene in?Miami?now compared to when?you?started? What do?you?miss? What separates it from other cities?

DD: Many new people to this “non-mainstream” world are not making decisions based on personal taste, but instead are flocking towards what’s popular. Prior to the influx of new DJs, artists had to earn a spot on a lineup. Now it feels like promoters are booking artists based on a quota that needs to be met. I believe things are starting to change because people are realizing the mediocrity of it. I definitely miss how people appreciated the art form of DJing. I miss people not caring about who was DJing and losing themselves to the music and overall atmosphere. I miss listening to a DJ actually blow me away.

What separates Miami from every other city is the fact that it is a melting pot of influences. We are influenced by many things, from Miami bass and techno, to salsa and merengue, and we are not afraid to put them all together. We’ve been post-genre ever since the early days, and now this entire melting pot is starting to show worldwide.

If you had to pack up and leave Miami, where would you go, and why?

DD: If I had to pack up and leave Miami, I would go to S?o Paulo because of the warmth of their people. Their culture is exactly what I resonate with being that it’s closely tied to my Hispanic roots..

What is a significant memory you have with POPLIFE? Has POPLIFE influenced your life in any way?

DD: POPLIFE definitely influenced my life and changed my approach to DJing. POPLIFE hosted the first party where I heard multi-genre mixing. That really changed the way that I thought. It made me realize my DJing can easily go to places I thought were only meant for house parties… from Detroit electro, to The Cure, to Beastie Boys, as long as I did it tastefully. POPLIFE is one of the factors that allowed me to become the artist that people have gotten to know.