Danielle Duval Biography

 

Danielle Duval - Guitar & Vocals
Erick Bruck - Drums & Backing Vocals

 

The Story

“Hold On! Hold On!......’ Cause this world ….. has seen friendlier days!”

 

The world seems close at hand when you listen to Danielle Duval’s music. Her melodies and rhythms are not easily defined, yet at the same time they touch some fundamental beat that every foot yearns for, and that all Saturday nights’ require. Having roots in the musical worlds of South Africa, Egypt, and England; it is easy to see why you feel something primal and desperately rock-feel-good when you are at one of her shows. And why it is that someone in the audience always manages to bump their chair back and make a break for the dance floor.

 

"Let me tell you this is about……Got a Tendency To Shout…Bout what I Came For"

 

Everyone has a unique origin, a story that could only come from one person and the life they have lived, and all of the music that was born as a result of that life. At the early age of five Danielle began her music career by hammering out tunes on an ancient relic of a piano in her basement, and by wearing out her parents` collection of LPs (The Beatles Red, White, and Blue albums) on her Fisher Price record player.

 

Her father, seeing that music was her joy, decided that the wealth of music that came from his homeland of South Africa was far too rich and important not to be exposed to. Later that year Danielle found herself sleeping in the backroom of a Durban apartment while her father and his friends coaxed their guitars into shimmering South African blues riffs, a sound that can only be described as Dixie-Land-Jazz in an opiate filled day-dream. All the while in the distance the deep rhythm of African drums thundered through the thick night and filtered, along with the melodic guitars, into Danielle`s subconscious. The effect this experience would have on her later in life, both musically and spiritually, would be understood only when she began to seriously lay down her own tracks.

 

At the age of 14, though she was still lovin` and absorbing the sounds of the Beatles and Chuck Berry, Danielle`s ear yearned for more sounds, and soon the likes of The Smiths, Elvis Costello, and The Violent Femmes would become staples in her daily realm of influence. Danielle woke up one day and decided that life could not go on unless she played in a rock n` roll band. A short bus ride away, in a quiet suburb of Montreal, awaited her cousin Sam, who was ironically searching to form his own band at the time.

 

Danielle learned to play the bass and the two of them came together to form their first band that would headline under the name of Grover. They toured the high-school and all-ages club scene and eventually, through their melodic U.K. pop sound, became popular enough for people to start asking them for tapes of their stuff.

 

So there you have the early days. But by far not all of it! At the age of 21 Danielle felt a need to dig her heels into the dirt and rocky gorges of the Himalayas and so she packed her bags and headed for Kathmandu. It wasn`t long after her arrival that Danielle found herself in the neighbouring town of Pokhara playing with a Nepalese family of musicians who later decided to adopt her as one of their own. Eventually she saved enough rupees to take a trip down the Kali Gandaki river, also known as the world`s deepest river gorge. Soon enough, Danielle had traded crafts and was no longer pushing tunes in tea-houses, but rather pulling water as a guide on this raging river.

 

Eventually Danielle returned to her native streets of Montreal and with her she brought a feeling of no-compromise. She no longer felt any hesitation about the kind of music she would make and after 5 days of solitary confinement in her basement she managed to lay down her 1st four-track demo. After making waves at a talent show known as Honey Jam at Toronto`s Opera House, Danielle was invited by Bass is Base`, Juno Award winning, beat box and rhyme specialist Roger “Mystic” Audio for a recording session at The Crib Studios – Chin Injeti`s Studio.

 

Roger produced the new demo which they would eventually submit to Canadian Music Week. She showcased at CMW that year with Chin Injeti by her side on bass and backing vocals, and the rest of the Bass is Base band. Roger became her producer and mentor. Together, they spent time honing her craft as a songwriter and earned a Professional Demo Award from FACTOR. From there it seemed inevitable that Danielle would go on to work with more of Canada`s premiere voices and musicians on the scene.

 

This past summer Danielle performed vocals on a Jim Creeggan (Bare Naked Ladies) produced project (Mike Evin`s 2nd album). In their short time of working together the two developed a mutual appreciation for one another`s style and talent and Jim would eventually go on to arrange and perform strings on the track `Girl`, one of Danielle`s title songs on her debut CD.

 

“And if you should come a little bit closer…….
I`ll let you in just that much further”

 

When the music comes from inside her she wants to let it not only spill out to the world, but alight a place within that is intuitive, common, and makes you want to rock.

 

The deep sense of a journey well traveled; a synthesis of moments leading to one point, could be a way of describing where Danielle Duval is today, both musically and spiritually. While jamming at a barn party in the middle of the Ontario countryside, Danielle came across fellow musician Erick Bruck. Feeling lost in the good dream that was Danielle`s music, Erick could no longer hold himself back and jumped from the rafters onto the stage to join Danielle on drums for an encore. From then on the two have worked together, bringing out sounds and rhythms which both feel could only be achieved through their unique, unspoken, chemistry.

 

Such an intuitive connection both artists realize is beyond rare, and one which they both continually affirm within one another, whether that be through their on-stage performances or through their mutual direction in the recording studio. Erick`s musical experience revels in its own complex history; drumming and rhythm creation are by far the tip of the ice-berg with this artist. Erick delivers constant input into the creative aspect of the band, whether that comes through beat designation or through his intuitive way of communicating with Danielle. Most importantly, the members of this band behave and adhere to a much larger orchestration; the importance and brilliance of making higher music.

 

This seems part and parcel with the very nature of the sound Danielle and Erick create together. Many would say that the music of the Danielle Duval Band is too universal in quality to label, while others would describe it as a cross-roads between pop-rock with an edgy blues underscore. Some songs even manage to belt out the sounds of an acoustic hip-hop jam. As one fan put it, "Right away there is a universal feeling, a sound that reaches into you and gives rise to a happy connected state. With their music you feel that their claims and calls come from the same kind of rock that makes us put our arms around one another after the fifth beer."

 

So what does this all mean. The fullness of sound that comes from this duo can only be said to be remarkable. Whether you experience the Danielle Duval Band live or on CD, immediately it comes to ear that there is a sense of completion at hand. In turn, they have spent the past year recording and producing the Danielle Duval Debut Album on their own at Farms and Cottages across Ontario. They have performed shows around Toronto (The Rivoli, Holy Joe`s, Clinton`s), but have focused their energy on the album. The Debut album will be available in the New Year, with the Spring CD Release party already in the works.

Stay Tuned.