DANNY KIRANOS of AMIGO THE DEVIL: Naming The Monsters
An interview by Bridget Herlihy.
What’s in a name? The moniker of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Danny Kiranos – Amigo the Devil – conjures up images of all that is dark and foreboding. Indeed, Amigo the Devil’s canon of work to date deals with themes such as death, destruction, and the intricacies of human despair, with melodies that draw inspiration from rock, heavy metal, American folk, and country, embellished with echoes of Spanish and Greek cultural roots. Yet Kiranos is one of the most amiable and personable people you could ever hope to encounter – in many ways the antithesis of some of the characters that feature in his songs.
Amigo the Devil’s fourth album, ‘Yours Until The War Is Over’, released in February, has received widespread critical acclaim. Within mere minutes of listening to the LP, it is easy to understand why. Touring in support of the album, Kiranos is visting Australia and New Zealand (for the first time) for a handful of intimate shows. Before jetting down to the Antipodes, with cigar in hand, I had the chance to chat with Kirianos about his New Zealand debut, his home studio, storytelling and his future plans.
How are you?
I’m doing great!
Whereabouts are you at the moment? You can’t be too far away from jumping on a plane.
I’m at home in Nashville, in the studio right now. I start driving towards Atlanta, about four hours away, tonight. Then I fly out tomorrow.
So, I’m calling from the future…
You know how it is, because it’s not looking too bright over here!
I think that you will find it is a lot brighter when you head down under. Have you been to Australia or New Zealand before?
As a tourist.
What are you anticipating from your audience down here?
A party! [laughs] I remember what it was like out there, and it’s a party! The last time I went to visit I went to four different shows in the span of a week, and they were all such a good time. All of them were amazing.
A heartfelt thank-you for including New Zealand in the tour; there were some very disappointed fans initially when there were only Australian dates. The Kiwis started a campaign to get you here…
I do feel bad; I got a few messages from people that did book flights and trips over before New Zealand was booked. When we were doing the initial routing I kept telling them ‘add more, add more – I want to be out there longer. Please add more!’ [laughs]
I’m sure that you have some hardcore fans that would quite happily jump countries and states to see you perform.
I’m very grateful for the people that have made the effort to come out a lot of times, and there are a few repeat moments. I must admit when I see the same people at a few different shows, it makes me nervous, because I feel like I have to play a different set. And then I feel like I am letting them down if I don’t. [laughs]
For most fans I would imagine that the experience of seeing you perform live is a special event in and of itself, whether you play a different set or not!
Do you get much time off while in New Zealand?
I’m staying in Wellington for about four more days. Well… not necessarily Wellington, but I took four more days of time to just roam around if I can. I would have done more but we have to get back for another festival. That is the negative part of touring as much as we do. I want to stay for as long as y’all will let me to be honest!
If you tire of Nashville, just pack your bags and come on down!
I’ve had three friends move out there in the last five years, and they genuinely say that it is the best thing that they have ever done for their life, their sanity, and their wellbeing.
I can’t fathom how you cope with the plethora of current issues over there.
I don’t think we do. And I think that that does bring a state of burden and just exasperation in general that creates that tension out here. It’s a very, very tense atmosphere most days. It’s not good for parties!
But on the upside, you have created your own little sanctuary at home, and set up a studio in the basement?
We actually had such a good time recording the record itself that I ended up building an entirely separate building on my property. The studio is on it’s own; it’s not in the basement any more. It’s a standalone, big ol’ recording studio, and that’s crazy to me! [laughs]
Does that mean that you are already starting to plan and write the next album?
Absolutely. I’m constantly writing; it’s just one of my fidgets, it’s one of my neurosis, that I just have to constantly write. Having the freedom of our own space to create in has opened up the idea that I don’t have to throw away a lot of those anymore; we can make them realities.
Before it was such a daunting task to rent out a studio and make this entire production of the process. But now I can just wake up and come here and start recording. Which makes me nervous as well because now I’m worried that we are just going to start recording anything! [laughs] We had to make sure that what was coming out was okay.
I get the impression that you are quite an old soul. Have you always had this affinity for storytelling when writing music and lyrics?
I have always loved storytelling, but I wouldn’t say that I learned… I’m still constantly learning… my younger self wouldn’t have had the same texture, and I don’t mean physically, I don’t mean sonically. But my younger self was more interested in a little more of the vulgar, a little more of the shock of it all, and as I’ve grown and every time I’ve dived a little deeper into a songwriter I respect, I realise how important it is to have actual purpose rather than intention.
And it’s the same concept of honesty verses wit. Without honesty wit is kind of useless. It’s a growing… it really is a growth in terms of constantly trying to be better. I’m not saying I’m successful in that task, but I do see the need to at least try.
One reviewer described your live shows as being a ‘communal boisterous singalong’. The audience sing, cry and laugh… it sounds like quite the shared group experience.
I think communal is a really great word for it. I had nothing to do what that. That was completely their own decision on how those shows were going to go. So I can’t take credit for any of that. But I can say I learned alongside of them, and I am grateful that they were able to teach me how to sort of be a more honest performer.
It seems such an organic thing to have come about; for your fans to have found this community, one that you are integral to. And all the while you are learning from the audience as well.
At no point would I say that I actually knew what I was doing when building this, and it would be an absolute shame to pretend that I do now! [laughs]
It’s a kind of magic, and a very honest experience for that to be able to transpire.
So will you be bringing your band with you when you come down here, or are you coming solo?
Solo. And it’s a little bit of a nerve-party for me because I haven’t done it solo in a while; I haven’t for about a year and a half now, and I keep wondering if I have that bicycle mentality; am I going to remember exactly how it used to be? And then I tend to calm my nerves by reminding myself that it doesn’t have to be how it used to be; we get to have our own unique version of what the show is based on how we get along.
I’m very, very excited. To be honest I feel very grateful that the shows have been selling as they have; it’s been a very warm reception without even getting there!
I firmly believe that you will have an even warmer reception once you arrive, and no matter what you play or how you play it, the audiences will surely be hanging on every word and note.
Do you have any plans on what you want to check out while you are here?
I have a growing list of recommendations from other friends that have toured out there. To be honest… what I usually end up doing is I will meet a few people that I tend to get along with, and I will get their recommendations, because I would rather learn from the actual pulse of the country itself rather than Google.
Google can very easily lead you astray.
Everything is so sponsored. Everything is so based on the popularity of what’s common, and that’s a beautiful thing as well, but I just kind of want to learn.
While browsing your website I’ve seen a couple of times that you have posted letters to your fans and followers. I really enjoyed reading those posts, and you explained that it would be something that was sporadic that you would do when you wanted to reach out to your community and show the authentic ‘you’.
It’s so, so, so important to find that strength to do so, because I still struggle with that daily, and I have a lot of… I live with a lot of guilt, maybe remorse… what it is I don’t know. I tend to focus on where I could have done better, been ordered better… and then I get stuck in that cycle of ‘why wasn’t I better then?
Living your honest truth, living your genuine joy… I think it’s really hard to come to terms with the fact that you may disappoint some people because we aren’t living their expectation of you.
I’ve come to the conclusion that you can never please everybody, so you do your best, but it is a journey and we just continue to learn from our experiences, and if we don’t, what’s the point?
It’s a very good conclusion to come to.
You have had such an interesting career trajectory; not just in terms of music. I was amused to read that although Amigo the Devil has been referred to as ‘murder folk’, and you deal with some macabre subject matter – albeit in a very nuanced way. And yet there was an ‘Amigo the Devil Day’ in Austin. How did that come about!?
[laughs] I’m not sure…it was one of the situations that I just didn’t question, and said ‘thank you’. And I remember I it was really funny, because the entire time that I was receiving this proclamation and doing the acceptance of all of this, I couldn’t even enjoy it because I just kept wondering ‘have they even heard the music? ‘Did they get the right guy?
And then when we moved to Tennessee I felt so guilty because the entire premise of it was being an Austin-based musician. I still haven’t told anyone I moved. I’ll just have them find out on their own…
I think Austin itself, a lot of Texas to be honest, but Austin itself with its reputation of live music and all that, they have genuinely embraced a multitude of musicianship in general; not just the technical aspect, but some of the best songwriters I know are from, or near, Austin right now. And they’re not really strangers to dark subject matter, I just tend to put a name to the monsters. And they sing about the vague nature of the thing behind the veil. I’m grateful for that too.
It’s cool. It’s been a cool journey. This has been a very, very exciting path. I always mention to people that if it all ended right now , and I don’t mean life or anything by that, I mean if someone just said ‘no more music – you don’t get to play music anymore’, this has already been an incredibly rewarding career; an incredibly rewarding journey. So everything from here feels like a little treat; it feels like a little extra sugar on the cake. Even getting to chat with you; I can’t believe that I’m going to be over there in no time at all! That blows my mind! That’s incredible!
We cannot wait, and hopefully you will fall madly, deeply in love with New Zealand and want to move your studio down here.
I have already made plans for if I decide to just stay. I already told them what to do with all my stuff; I already gave it away to different people. I’ll start from scratch, I don’t care! [laughs]
Amigo The Devil is performing two shows, one in Auckland and one in Wellington this May. Tickets to both shows are still available from Destroy All Lines, but get in quick as they’re selling fast and believe us – you don’t want to miss these shows!
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