Words and Photography by Robin Pailler
This interview was originally published in Volume XIV, June 2024
Danny Garcia is quite an enigma.
A staple of the noughties skateboarding scene, perhaps most renowned for closing out Habitat’s first full length Mosaic twenty years ago, Danny’s skate career continued to flourish in the years that followed.
Naturally with age, Danny’s output in the last decade slowed down as he gently segued from professional skateboarder to professional musician via the moniker Reverend Baron. Yet despite the career change, Danny’s continued to showcase his skateboarding skills via brief cameos in the two thousand and tens. From Colin Kennedy’s excellent music video for Balmorhea’s Pyrakantha, sml. wheels’ The 40s commercial, as well as 2019’s Overpass Boy, a video companion piece to Danny’s record of the same title.
Now in his forties, and fresh off his latest musical release Some Demos, we caught up with the Habitat alumnus to discuss songwriting influences, his love of basketball, producing tracks for Greg Hunt, touring with Cat Power and competing with Janoski for that infamous last part.
Congrats on your new release, Some Demos. Is it officially an album or just some demos?
In my mind it’s not an album, it was just something to do. Something to put out in the meantime.
In between albums?
Yeah. I like demos. I like to hear demos of songs I know. Demos of songs I don’t know. And I guess I took it for granted that demos means informal or thrown out there, in a way. So I just went in my hard drive and picked out some things I thought sounded pretty good by themselves. It’s mostly acoustic, even though there’s maybe one or two with more production to it. Most of it’s sparse.
Are you working on a new album right now?
Yeah, I’m trying to write songs. I’ve got a handful of new songs. I wanna make a record soonish. The first step is getting a bunch of songs together so that’s it.
What does an average day consist of for you? I guess music is your bread and butter right?
Yeah if I’m here I’ll work out of the studio most days. I’ll do commissioned songs that people have hit me up for. People come to my studio to record their own music too, so some days I’m working with people as a producer/engineer. You’re always wavering. Because sometimes people just need me to record them, and sometimes people need a little bit of creative input. So I do a bit of that. And if I’m not doing that I’m still at the studio writing and working on my own stuff. I play live here and there. I tour every once in a blue moon. So it’s a combination of those things.
And you’ve helped out both Austyn (Gillette) and Stefan (Janoski)?
Yeah, I’ve recorded and played with them. That’s what I do. I can do it to a decent level. I think.
So there’s this thing about Habitat riders playing guitars…
Yeah, why is that a thing? It’s probably because they used images of the guys playing.
And when Austyn rejoined the team there was that commercial of you three playing. I didn’t even know how good Stefan was until I stayed with him recently and heard him playing. But I guess he’s good at everything.
He is. He’s good at the arts. And I guess especially the solitary endeavours where he can, whatever, have a drink, get stoned, space out and do his thing.
Does he sing? I’ve not heard any of his music.
He does sing. He hasn’t released anything that we’ve done. I think he doesn’t always like his singing voice so maybe that’s why he’s not putting stuff out. He’s got a growl and a good scream. He’s not a singer hitting much of notes and things. But he’s got a cool thing. His songs are always kinda funny. They’ve got some angle. There’s just humour in it.
What are your key influences musically? I remember hearing you mention (Leonard) Cohen.
Oh yeah, the Cohen thing. I mean, I do like all the songwriter guys. All the classic ones. Randy Newman. All the big names. (Bob) Dylan, Leonard Cohen. I go through phases I guess, of finding ‘new’ old stuff. Different types of genres too. Sometimes I really get into just guitar playing and guitar players. I love Willie Nelson. I like his songwriting and his guitar playing. I mean it’s been a long time but I’ve been through hip hop phases before. I’m not sure how much that stuff influences me. Sometimes I get into piano; I guess that’s where someone like Randy Newman or Alan Toussaint comes in. They’re all just craftsmen. Great songwriters. Great players. There’s a sophistication to those guys that I really like.
How did music start for you? Was your Dad a musician?
My Dad was, yeah. I don’t think professionally. I know he used to play gigs way before I was around. He played saxophone in bands in the 50s or something. But by the time I was born, he wasn’t really playing much. He played a little guitar and saxophone here and there. But he wasn’t a big record collector guy.
Are you self taught?
Mostly. I did take lessons. I played a lot of instruments in elementary school when I was really young but I never stuck to anything, never really got good at anything. I took piano lessons outside of school but that didn’t last very long, even though I did like it. I was just a kid so it kinda petered out until I was a little bit older and then I got a guitar and started really playing. So yeah, kinda taught myself, with a few lessons here and there.
Was it a slow segue from pro skating to pro music?
Yeah, it was a slow thing. I didn’t wake up one morning and think about it too much. I just followed my instinct and interests at the time. It wasn’t that I wasn’t interested in skateboarding, but I’d done it for a period of time and wasn’t as excited by doing the same things over again. I was just trying to find new territory to mess around with. It’s pretty similar in a way. It feels natural to me. I just follow what I’m interested in.
Do you remember when your last pay cheque was from skateboarding?
That’s a good question. It was probably a royalty cheque from Habitat because I don’t think I was getting paid. I think it was just royalties maybe. But I never had contracts with Habitat, so it was a little easier to not have an end date. With all the other sponsors I had contracts. But I mean, it’s been probably ten plus years now, so a long time.
Nice to see you’re still involved in skateboarding though. I see you’re the go-to music guy for Greg Hunt’s edits.
Yeah I love that stuff. I’m glad he hits me up because he’s always doing something.
How did that relationship come about?
I mean we’ve always been friends. I can’t remember the first thing I did for him. But over the years I would do these odds and ends things for him whenever he hit me up. But around the Alright, Ok video is when I had my studio, so he hit me up for music and I guess the stuff I had then was a little more focused and better sounding. So he really liked this one thing and then had me do a few more songs like that. Before the studio he never knew what I would send him. Sometimes it just wouldn’t be that good or interesting. I think now we have our thing—he gives me some general direction and we just go back and forth until we get it. But I’m happy to be doing that because we know each other pretty well, so there’s trust there I guess.
Do you feel your music is more focused since you’ve had the studio?
Yeah. I think I underestimated that for too long. The gear is there. The space. I can make noise there. It’s not my house, y’know? I get in my car and drive there. Clock in, clock out. So to speak.
I guess working from home there’s always distractions.
Yeah and the boundaries are unclear. A modest thing at home would be nice but all my stuff’s at the studio. I can’t do anything here.
How did touring with Cat Power come about?
I think that was sort of through Greg in a way. Greg was shooting a video with Chan and I guess my music came up. And then either talking about my music or listening to my music with Greg at some point, she asked me to do some shows on the east coast. This was a few years ago, and since then we’ve stayed in touch and done a few things.
Was that daunting at the time?
No, it was good for me as I hadn’t played in a while. I wasn’t even trying to play. I kinda put my priorities aside for a second, just to reconfigure my life. I sorta took a year off from music. And I toured with her at the end of that year, so it was a nice opportunity. In a way it was challenging. But at the same time it isn’t when there’s good crowds at good venues. It’s kinda easy. I was playing solo too which can be hard if you’re in a shitty club with a shitty crowd. Her fans know what it is though.
You’ve mentioned in the past how you preferred skating with your own filmer, in your own environment and I guess having control and it not being competitive. But that doesn’t seem to be the case when it comes to music. What’s the difference there?
That’s a good question. In a way, performing music isn’t easy for me. It’s not natural. I’m a little more comfortable in a controlled environment. Performing live is a challenge because you have to let go of control. So the difference in a way would be my maturity I think. It’s still hard for me. But I go towards it, accepting the challenge that a lot of things are out of my control. However it goes, it goes. I prefer to let it fly. Usually it’s pretty good. But shows are hard for me. It’s a bit taxing. I’m not a natural performer. I’ve tried to get better at it.
Do you feel you are better at it now?
Yeah I’ve got better at a lot of aspects of it. But one thing I think about is writing music that lends itself to being played better live. I think it was hard to play shows for a while because I was playing solo and playing a bunch of music that’s very introverted. Which is a cool thing too. But it’s kinda nice to be able to write something that’s meant to be projected outwards and then do it. But that’s all stuff that’s ongoing that I think about working on. I don’t only write music to be projected on an audience, but I’m at least aware of it.
You’ve also played with Drugdealer. How did that materialise?
Yeah the Drugdealer stuff. Michael Collins. He’s an old skater and a social guy. Everyone knows him. And he’s done a bunch of different musical projects. But I really liked the first record and I recognised him on the cover and introduced myself. We stayed in touch. Went skating a couple of times and played music together. I think the second record I played on a bit and then played a handful of shows with them. It’s kind of a collective thing, so there’s a bunch of personalities coming and going. But it’s good to know him and watch him do his own thing. Meeting all the different people that come through his world.
Going back to your day to day, you hang with Austyn quite a bit it seems?
These days I do yeah. Lately we’ve been going to the gym a couple of times a week. He’s still in the game so he’s trying to stay fit and he has his whole routine and I kinda piggyback it a bit, with what I can do. That’s our relationship these days. We have’t been playing music much. We’ll talk about stuff and have some beers or dinner. But I can’t pin him down too much. He’s running around, travelling, doing his thing.
What about basketball? How often are you shooting hoops?
Oh, that’s kinda like my gym time. I don’t go that hard. But it’s funny, talking about competitive spirit. I do really enjoy it. I do enjoy competition sometimes. Basketball’s a good place for me to get it these days. There’s courts everywhere. There’s people everywhere. I’m pretty cool with playing pickup with grown men who are really good or the kids in the park. But I don’t always play. It can be a little taxing. Naturally you can get a little banged up. Knees and elbows and all that. I love baseball and boxing too but I don’t really do those.
You’re an all American sportsman. Does that stem from your childhood?
Yeah I played baseball in leagues and stuff growing up. But I always played basketball outside of that too.
Did you watch The Last Dance?
Oh yeah I loved it. Loved that era. Especially Jordan in the nineties. It’s funny that the TV footage from back then is so bad. So to see all that footage on film was so pristine. You could see the aesthetic beauty of it all. Especially Jordan’s game.
Despite you saying you’re not very competitive, I remember Aaron (Brown) in your Out There episode stating that you wanted the last part in Mosaic. Is that true?
Oh yeah I think I told Joe (Castrucci), ‘Just give me the last part.’ I think I was pleading my case saying, ‘Stefan will have many last parts, just give me this one.’ I mean, it was so valued back then. It was kinda cool that that was a thing.
Was Stefan your biggest competition back then?
I just remember it was debatable who should have that last part. I mean the ‘best’ part is funny but you can kinda tell who was on one. And we were both kinda on one. So yeah, I admit it. I remember thinking I had stuff that wasn’t photographed, still or sequenced. So I had a few tricks that were real surprises, even to some of my friends. So I felt strong about that. It was cool to have some enders that were unseen, or unknown.
When was the last time you skated?
Probably about a month ago. It was pretty bad. My legs just aren’t there really. I would need a few days. It’s sort of there but I didn’t feel totally comfortable.
Is there a specific part or trick looking back on that you’re particularly proud of?
There’s some. I always liked the simple things. There’s this one that I love that is probably lost in the ether. I had a back tail, kickflip out to straight on a three-stair ledge where you slide the top stair. I believe Scuba filmed it and it was an éS sequence. But it was the best one I’ve done. I’ve done a few but they were always sketchy. I can’t remember what it ended up in. But it was the most beautiful one I did. I thought about it recently actually. I mean people bring up Mosaic, but I like the Inhabitants part because it’s very tight and clean and was where I was trying to get to at the time. I always recommend that one to a youngster who’s asking me about my parts. I guess I was little more refined or something. I guess Mosaic I was a little more raw and going for it.
It’s funny, I think Inhabitants is Stefan’s favourite one too.
Yeah it’s a good one. It’s probably a little more slept on because of Mosaic. I think Inhabitants was the first one Austyn was in too. That was around the time, within a year or two, where Stefan was in the conversation of being Skater of the Year. He was just going on runs. Going to contests and skating well. Obviously putting out street parts too.
He’s still filming now. We were on a Nike SB trip in Texas recently and he was getting tricks.
That’s crazy because we’re the same age. But he stayed on top of it. It’s a little more different when you stop and come back to it. That’s the big difference. I guess at the beginning of 2022, I hurt my wrist so bad and I was scared. It was a bad one. I mean, it healed, but I couldn’t do anything.
Do you still watch skate videos? Or at least your friends parts? Like Austyn. Did you see the new Rassvet video?
Yeah I went to the premiere actually. Got my ass out for that one. I’ll watch Christian Maalouf’s stuff too. I like his style. It’s kinda wild. I like the WKND stuff. I like those guys. I mean, I can’t keep up with the team but they’re having fun. Grant’s funny and the skit side of their thing that crosses into the skating—the lightness of it is cool to me. But no, I’m not super on it. Maybe I should get on it more, sit at the skatepark and talk about what’s what. I guess I’ll go on SLAP every now and then and look for something.
What’re your plans for the rest of the year?
I mean there’s some personal goals that I’ve laid out for myself. Professionally, I’d like to make a record and do a little more work. I guess the priority would be to write tunes and do other stuff musically that’s a little challenging. Maybe play with some other people that I haven’t worked with. Maybe some destination stuff. Pick a place, go there, write and record and maybe play shows. Go to Mexico. Learn Spanish. I just want to put out new material. I haven’t played shows in a while but mainly because I’ve been playing the same songs for a little too long. I’d like to play in Europe. It’s kinda far away and I don’t have many connections. I mean I’d like to make a better living being a musician, but I guess that’s how it goes.
You’ve chosen the struggling path, eh? Skateboarder. Musician.
Yeah, it’s like trying to be a poet. I’m sticking to it though. Foolishly. Or maybe not foolishly.
I guess I need to find the balance between constraints and freedom. I need to be my own boss but also be a good boss to myself. There needs to be structure and some challenge. So it’s always playing with the balance of those things. But that’s been the case for most of my adult life. I might need to update that software because I’m getting older, but I do okay. I’m certainly getting by. I’m not totally discontent.
