Today we’d like to introduce you to Danny Parra.
Danny, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born and raised in Langley, Washington, a small town on Whidbey Island about 30 miles north of Seattle. I spent the first 18 years of my life there until I left to attend Loyola Marymount University and my journey of life in Los Angeles began.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’ve been fortunate to come across many great opportunities on the road to where I am today, but it’s definitely been much more of a grind than I could have ever imagined. I’m a complete studio rat and at times will bite off more than I can chew, so I’ve seen my fair share of ultra late nights turned to early mornings for the sake of getting projects finished on time. I’ve taken losses along the way but I really focus on not dwelling and moving forward. I have a deep infatuation with music and the industry as a whole so am driven to keep going and continue to learn about how to improve myself as an engineer and producer along with my knowledge of the importance of every role involved in making records and developing artists.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
These days my work mainly consists of producing, engineering and mixing records, but there’s a lot of back story I think I should give to explain how I ended up here…
I started dabbling with music at the age of 12 when, through my love of hip hop and turntablism, I got my first DJ setup and started learning to scratch and beat juggle as well as play music at local dances, weddings, etc. I was the kid sitting on Napster and Limewire for hours on end, burning mix cds for myself and my friends thinking that I was the holy savior everybody needed if they wanted to hear the best new music.
This behavior carried over when I moved to L.A. and while I was in college, DJing was my main source of income. At LMU, I studied Recording Arts and got my first introduction to record-making and sound design. I continued to DJ at campus events, parties and was a resident DJ at local bars on college nights.
LMU is also where I met my friend Matt Linesch, who is an engineer and producer that at the end of college introduced me to his mentor, Ross Hogarth, who then introduced me to songwriters/producers Tim James and Antonina Armato, who run a production house in Santa Monica called Rock Mafia. This is where I got my first job in the music industry. At Rock Mafia, I wore many hats, starting off as a studio runner and over the years developed further into engineering, production and songwriting. I also worked in the live music space, at times running live sound and tour managing for their artists, namely EDM/Pop artist Elohim. Rock Mafia is the place where I really cut my teeth and was able to develop my skills, connect with artists, and start to gain an understanding of how the music business works from all angles.
Since 2019 I have shifted my focus away from the live world and strictly towards making records. I spent a year and half with The Neighbourhood, engineering and co-producing their 2020 released album, ‘Chip Chrome and The Mono-Tones.’ Following that, I jumped right into another album with Topanga-based indie rock band ‘Hello Forever.’ When not in album-mode, I keep myself busy with writing sessions, working with a variety of different artists and at times helping with final mixing of records.
Some mixing credits include: 6lack’s “PRBLMS” and “Ex-Calling,” Lil Skies’ “Nowadays,” and Deb Never’s “Sorry.”
Currently, I am in the middle of working on an album with RCA Records-signed R&B singer Umi, as well as co-managing up-and coming artist/producer Luke Wild.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
Fortunately for me, I was in the middle of working on an album when covid really had us locked down so on the work front, I didn’t have too much of a slowdown, but what it really made apparent was how fragile the live performance industry is when it comes to public health crises. Touring and playing in front of new crowds is so vital for new acts to grow and is a key source of revenue for acts that have established loyal fan bases, so I saw how that was really hindering to a lot of artist’s careers in the short term. It’s great that shows are coming back now and to see the energy surrounding them.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dannyparlay/?hl=en
Image Credits:
Romari Bonner, Adam Kargenian
