—Rebecca Caroline contributed with this article
From 150 acts to five, local musician Danny Bell beat his competition to go through to the final of Lincoln’s Young and Rocking competition in February.
Having battled it out on the night, Bell managed to come second and secure himself a recording session at Tabby Road Studios in Lincolnshire: “It’s only recently that I’ve started doing serious things like Young and Rocking,” he says.
Initially an electric guitarist, Bell changed to playing the acoustic guitar at the age of 13 and now has his own session band consisting of Andrew Wood on drums, Joey Faulkner on guitar, and Ben Jones on bass: “It’s good to have those kinds of people on board to give me inspiration and to help me out writing stuff and give me new ideas to get a really good EP,” Bell says.
Starting to take his music career more seriously, “Have It Your Way,” a song Bell performed at Young and Rocking, has already been played on BBC Radio Lincolnshire and will feature on his new six-track EP. Even though he sent in a recording, Bell never expected anything to come of it.
“I sent it in thinking that nothing was going to happen and that they wouldn’t really listen to it because it was a rubbish recording. But I got an email saying that it would be played on this show if I wanted to listen to it,” he says.
“When you hear your own name mentioned, it’s really odd.”
Although he has received recognition on the radio, Bell knows that isn’t enough and that there is a long way to go yet: “There are so many ways you have to get yourself out there, you can’t expect people to come to you and just kind of listen and think this guy is amazing.
“You have to get out there and do it yourself. There are so many people out there with a band – young people especially – who think if they have 1500 friends on MySpace that they’re going to be made. It doesn’t work like that, it’s really tough. You have to know exactly what you want and why you want it.”
Having a wide taste in music, Bell has been able to incorporate different elements into his work and create a sound that is everchanging. Growing up means he includes more emotion in his music, with inspiration coming at the most awkward of times:
“Usually [inspiration comes] at the worst times like when I’m on the bus and I have to…hum a tune into my phone or write notes…the times when you can’t write anything down.”
To listen to Danny Bell’s music, visit his MySpace page.