It’s always cool to see San Diego bands get national recognition. We got to chit-chat with our friends Danny and the Tramp about having one of their songs featured on MTV’s reality show: The Real World. Check out what they had to say below!
How does it feel to have one of your songs recognized by a major network and featured on a national television program?
It feels amazing! We know that opportunities like these don’t come often and we’re glad to see that entertainment platforms much like yourself are out here supporting a local San Diego band.
It really hasn’t sunk in yet. I think once we see our names up on the screen, then it’ll kick in. While MTV is playing our song, captions will come up displaying “Danny and the Tramp” and directing viewers to a MTV page dedicated to us with our music, photos, videos, etc.
We’ve been working so hard for the past few years at this. It’s hard always hustling and making moves. We just always keep pushing forward.
Is this something you’ve always wanted as a band?
Most definitely. We do certainly enjoy making music for our own pleasure and to express our own feelings, but to have a mass audience understand and appreciate it…really just makes it that much better.
What was the process like to work with MTV?
The process was fairly smooth. For the first few conversations, we did have to discuss in length about expectations, usage, and other “business” stuff, but once that was all said and done, it was great. They deal with a lot of up and coming bands, so they answered most of our questions from the get-go.
We’re not necessarily looking to retire off of the money we get. Most of it will come through as royalties which is a calculation that MTV and our music rights management team have calculated.
The biggest thing that really attracted us to the opportunity (aside from the national exposure) is the publicity and local exposure. As a local band, it gets tough every now and then to stand out amongst the crowd and this is a great opportunity to show the San Diego music scene who we really are.
What will have to happen as a band for the thoughts “we’ve made it” to cross your mind?
John and I come from a small town in Pennsylvania (Scranton, yes…where The Office was filmed). Huge acts would come through there all the time and perform at the local arena. We decided when we moved across country to pursue music, that our definition of success and our “we’ve made it” moment would be if we go back to our hometown and headline a show at that arena in front of all of our friends and family.
We still have a long way to go til we feel that. Basically, if we could go back to the place where these dreams started… Going full circle would count as making it. …Or maybe getting invited to the SD music awards, we’d settle for that.
How has the music video making process been?
The guys at Indieverse Visual have been great. Basically, we just show up where they tell us and do what they tell us. John told them his vision and they have just been running with it.
There are a few scenes within the video and all of them are done. We just had our party scene last Friday where we invited all of our fans and anyone who was interested out to be featured in it. All we asked is that they grab the most random and weird clothes they can possibly find, grab a mask, and come out! Our fans have been amazing. Aside from the constant support we get at every one of our shows, they were all willing to dress a little strange on a Friday night in front of total strangers and just have a blast.
We’re currently in the editing stage, but you can check out a sneak peek of it here: www.dannyandthetramp.com/
We expect it to be released within the next week or two. Keep an eye on our website for updates!
What’s coming up next for Danny and the Tramp?
These last few weeks have been pretty crazy – with four shows (one in Hollywood), MTV scheduling, and interviews, we’re taking a step back this next month to finalize the video and get ready for summer.
We have a bunch of shows lined up this summer and are kind of getting an itch to get back into the studio and make some more music! To stay up-to-date on shows and more, visit our website: www.dannyandthetramp.com