Dan Bodan

Chat interview by Deva Rao
Photos by Martin Thacker in Berlin, Germany

On the surface, the music of Dan Bodan radiates an amorous, tender sensuality, but to go so far as to call it ‘romantic’ is reductive in the worst way. Whatever you do, don’t be fooled by the fact that his latest full-length is titled Soft – there’s a jarring friction to his lyrical subject matter, like nails cleaving a lover’s back. With that in mind, we jumped right in and talked sacrifice, change and limitations. 

Do you feel you’ve ever had to make concessions artistically? Or have you come close?

Only when it comes to not having enough money to produce what I want or have it produced the way I want. But content, never. It’s never a good look to do that, and people can always tell if you’ve compromised. I recently had to scrap this big-budget video because I thought it looked terrible – or rather, felt terrible – and I have absolutely no reservations. It would have been such a huge misstep and would have muddied the vision of what I’m trying to do.

What was its concept? How would it have undermined your vision?

It was a big sci-fi video, and two close friends came up with a very articulate concept . Unfortunately, we hired the wrong director for the project and it became this big, un-affecting mess that no one would fix. So I dumped it.

‘I don’t like to repeat myself in life, and I don’t want to repeat myself in music.’

Apparently you originally intended to make Soft a dancier, EDM-based record… why’d you dump that?

For the same reason: it just wasn’t working so we tried a different approach and it clicked. I don’t like to just kill projects, if something’s not working it’s an opportunity to try something new. Once we got into the studio we had all this material and it quickly became obvious that what I thought was gonna work, wasn’t. Then, when we finally decided on the album title, there was this eureka moment and we knew exactly how to finish it.

Did you at any point experience a ‘no turning back’ moment in terms of pursuing music as a career?

I think when I realised there was the possibility to make my living from it. Not a very comfortable living, but an exciting one. sell my soul to the art world or work in a call centre…

What are some of the most significant sacrifices you’ve had to make in the name of your art?

My sanity… just kidding. I don’t party so much any more, but that isn’t so much because of my art; I’m just kinda bored of partying all the time. I don’t feel like I’ve sacrificed anything.

Did the desire to make art influence your move to Berlin? Does change drive creation for you?

No, I was studying conceptual art in Prague and that was terrible, so after six months I hopped on a train to Berlin. I just wanted to be young, and in Berlin you could be young without it costing anything. I don’t like to repeat myself in life, and I don’t want to repeat myself in music. You have to go out and make the changes yourself sometimes.

Would you consider emotional attachment to be a weakness?

It’s a weakness if it’s doing you or someone else harm, but it’s incredible strength otherwise.

What aspect of your personality do you feel holds you back most?

I can’t really answer that; what holds me back is probably also the thing that makes me distinct. I wish I didn’t worry about money all the time but that’s not really something in me that I can change.

What changes have you forced yourself to make most recently?

Waking up earlier, doing things in the day. My twenties were very much ‘of the night’, and that was absolutely amazing… but I wanna see things in the sun.

Word on the street is you have beef with Proust… care to elaborate?

No, I just dated a jerk who was obsessed with him.

I’m glad we cleared the air.

Dan Bodan plays on 19 December at Goethe-Institut in Amsterdam. The show is free for Subbacultcha! members.