CORRIDOR RADIO - DANIEL T
Photography: Nikki Kilmer
Los Angeles, 2024
For our third installment of Corridor Radio, we welcome LA-based DJ and producer Daniel T. As a longtime record collector, Daniel T finds inspiration from all corners of the world. For his Corridor Radio mix, he presents a selection of reggae and dancehall. Listen now, and look out for his new song, releasing this summer.
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INTERVIEW WITH DANIEL T
MAY, 2024
Can you tell us about yourself and how you were drawn into music?
I'm a record collector. I'm also a DJ. I also produce my own music. They all seem pretty related, but there are enough differences amongst those identities to have given my sound an identity crisis over the years. In the past, my DJ sets haven't sounded exactly like the many kinds of records I collect, and the music I make hasn't really sounded like either of those other identities. After 18 years of doing all those things, I'm finally getting closer to tying them all together into something coherent.
It's hard to pinpoint how I was originally drawn to music, but it happened and became an obsession in high school. I don't know—music is tight. When it's good, it's super gripping to me, and when a song has the special magic ingredient in it, it always stuns me and takes 100% of my attention. It's rare for other art forms to hit me in that way.
What was the inspiration for your Corridor Radio mix?
Okay, so you guys are officially responsible for the first Instagram ad that made me cave and buy something. I wanted to resist the advertisement algorithm because I'm getting old and sometimes I think the computer is coming for my soul, so I have the urge to fight it, but your clothes were too cool to ignore. In fact, the way you styled your models seemed to be in the spirit of 80s Jamaican dancehall fashion. At the time I first saw your ads, I had just received a copy of Beth Lesser's book "Dancehall: The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture." I'm obsessed with the fashion in that book. Tons of sharp-looking dudes in striped, camp collar button-downs, polos, knit sweaters, nice trousers, and Wallabees. They are dressed sharp but relaxed and casual at the same time. Anyway, summer is coming up, and there is no better hot weather music than reggae and dancehall, so it seemed like the perfect style for the mix.
Were our ads your first introduction to the brand? How did that grow into this collaboration?
The ads were my first introduction to the brand, but the real connection was made at a friend's wedding back in March. I was DJing the wedding of Earth Beat/Fundido co-founder Latane Hughes and his wife, Marie. Dan (Corridor Dan, not me) complimented me on my shirt--which I purchased, by the way, because it looked like a shirt I saw in the "Dancehall" book. We talked a bit, and I quickly learned that he was the designer behind Corridor, which was a pleasant surprise that made his compliment feel even better. He was wearing a fuzzy pink Corridor shirt that I can only really describe as having a disco-Muppet look. The idea for the mix soon materialized from there.
You have an international sound but are based in LA. How have you navigated the LA music scene?
I think navigating the music scene out here for the past 18 years has contributed to the international scope of my record collection. It's a diverse city, so you will hear tons of amazing music if you have open ears. When I started DJing in LA, it was not uncommon to hear other DJs playing all kinds of music. Around 2007, my buddy No-MSG turned me on to Fela Kuti, and soon after, I heard one of his songs played at The Do-Over. I caught a DJ playing Eastern European gypsy music at Dance Right the same year. In 2009, Dam-Funk came back from Japan with a stack of what he referred to as "Japanese boogie" records and played them at Funkmosphere. In 2013, J. Rocc did an interview with Fuse, and it was huge for me. He talked about digging all over the globe with his friends, and he showed off Indian, Brazilian, and Italian records. My friend Susan (aka Straight Honey) played a killer set of Thai funk and disco at our party Heat-Wave, back in 2017. Around the same time, my friend Raghav would visit India and track down records for me while he was there. Those experiences and many others are all imprinted in my memory and hugely influential for me. Not to mention, mariachi and cumbia music are all over this city, too. If you aren't soaking all this stuff in, then you are kinda blowing it!
What are your current fascinations? Music or non-music related.
At the moment, I'm super into creating. I've been having fun accumulating and recording with small hand percussion and toy-like instruments. They've been making their way into my music. I've finished three original songs this year and have three more on the way--this is unheard of for me. Normally, finishing music is like pulling teeth. Recently, I've also completed a bootleg remix of a Gorillaz song (just a fun little experiment) and two other bootleg edits of some rarities I've picked up over the years. Besides creating, I can't seem to shake my obsession with reggae in all its forms. It's definitely been the dominant music for me in recent years. Truth be told, I've only been in this phase for 5 or 6 years, so to the real reggae heads, I'm just a little soundboy.
Where can we find you playing? What do you have coming this year?
Not playing out as much these days. I needed a long break after many years of full-time DJing. However, I have a few things coming up. I'll be spinning with friends Scotty Coats and Turbotito on July 6th. We'll be opening up for De Lux at Lodge Room in Highland Park. I've also been grabbing a few gigs at Gold Line and Gran Blanco, which are always fun.
I have a new song coming out around late June or early July. It's a collaboration with Woolfy. I'm very excited about that one. I also recorded some songs with my nephew Luke a few years ago, and I'm planning on finishing those this year.
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Daniel T is a producer and DJ living in Los Angeles, CA. Follow him on Instagram, and keep up with his music on Bandcamp, and Spotify.
Corridor 2024
