Rising Stars: Meet Dan “Chimy” Chmielinski

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan “Chimy” Chmielinski.

Hi Dan, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Music has been in my life for as long as I can remember. My journey starts in the Chicagoland area. My parents weren’t musicians but were serious music enthusiasts. Car rides, dinners, and just hanging around the house, some genre of music was always playing. I was always drawn to bass lines and music, and when I was 3 years old, I asked for a double bass for Christmas. When my parents told me they did not make double basses for children, I assured them Santa would find one. To keep my vision of Santa intact, they rented a half-size cello strung with bass guitar strings.

My first and most important influence was the Richard Davis Conference for Young Bassists, which is held annually in Madison, Wisconsin. I attended from age 3-18, and Richard and the talented faculty not only introduced me to jazz and classical bass repertoire, but also taught me important life lessons, grounded me with a deep respect for music, and ignited my passion for this career. These days, I still head back there every year, only now I’m a member of the faculty.

I picked up the nickname, “Chimy” (pronounced shim’-ee) from my last name Chmielinski. (Pronounced shim-uh-lin-ski) It’s become a professional moniker of mine and many people refuse to call me “Dan,” my partner included. In high school, I was introduced to, and fell in love with, film scoring. I scored a movie for a good friend and aspiring filmmaker, Connor Smith. This was a great project and a great introduction to something I would go on to pursue. For me, scoring is very akin to the role of a bass player in a band. As a bassist, I have to be the foundation and support the narrative in a melodic sense, as it flows from chord to chord, player to player. Scoring is the same principle, except I’m supporting a visual narrative and my sound palette expands from one instrument to… well, whatever I want.

I was fortunate to get into The Juilliard School, where I received my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. I loved my experience at Juilliard, especially being around artists who are equally as passionate about what they do. In addition to jazz studies, I took composition courses, film scoring courses, and music technology courses, where I found a passion for a new instrument: synthesizers. I fell in love with the sound creation process of synthesis and began collecting analog synthesizers, old and new, many from the 70s-80s.

On the jazz front, I gigged regularly around the New York City area, and soon, around the world. I became a member of the Joey Alexander Trio, a piano prodigy from Indonesia whose talent and spirit can only be described as far, far beyond his years. We traveled and toured the world together for about 3 years hitting every major jazz festival and venue. It was an incredible experience. I also joined the trio of legendary pianist and keyboardist Marc Cary shortly after my time with Joey. We performed regularly every week at Smoke Jazz Club in Harlem, eventually recording a record I’m quite proud of called, “Life Lessons.” I also scored quite a few short films, feature films, and documentaries and was one of 11 composers selected to partake in BMI’s “Composing For the Screen” intensive, a six-week study of film scores and honing in on the craft of media composition. The more I got into film scoring, the more seriously I considered moving to LA. My partner who was finishing medical school matched at Cedars Sinai. She moved to LA in the spring of 2020. I was finally able to move here in June, 2021. LA has been magical. I’ve scored and composed music for several films, one of which won the Grand Jury Prize for documentaries at Sundance Film Festival 2022. I’m regularly producing, mixing and mastering projects and my little crazy synth room is a revolving door for friends, producers, and LA musicians looking to add that analog warmth to their projects.

I’m still performing regularly on the bass, both finding my way into sessions across the city as well as staying true to my jazz roots. One of my first gigs here was one of the most amazing gigs of my life – Billy Childs featuring Dianne Reeves at The Ford Amphitheater. This place is already inspiring me to the fullest and I look forward to growing here. I’ll be continuing and expanding “Chimy Music” through all my endeavors – bass, synths, composition, scoring, sound design – and getting to work with some truly amazing people in the process.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The art world forces you to adapt constantly, so LOTS of mini setbacks and adjustments. I’m a firm believer in taking great leaps to follow your passions, but also setting yourself up to take advantage of the doors that come along. You don’t always get the gig or the project you are going for, but if you keep your eyes and heart open, often those setbacks lead you to something else.
A great example of this has been the last few years. COVID has been a monumental challenge for everyone, and has hit the creative arts community particularly hard. For me, this was an incredibly difficult time personally and professionally. As I mentioned, my partner moved here to start her residency at Cedars in the spring of 2020. I was really busy in NYC at the time, had tours planned, and was staying in NYC for a transition year before relocating. Well, everything stopped. I was alone in an apartment with no gigs, no touring, and not able to do anything I had planned.
I began working at home for a California-based music sampling (software) company called Dio. They had met me at one of my gigs and due to my diverse range of interests as a bassist, composer, and music tech guy, they took an interest in me. They asked if I’d like to come aboard on a revolutionary new virtual instrument to be released in 2021 called, “Soundpaint.” I agreed and totally found my zone sound designing and beta testing for them.I’ve stayed on with the 8Dio team and have become a face of “Soundpaint,” recording weekly tutorials and demonstrations for their popular YouTube page from my studio. It is a fantastic opportunity to utilize my love of synthesizers with this incredibly creative instrument.

The upcoming album I have with one of my projects, ChimyTina, is also influenced by the pandemic. The songs are really reflections on that time, hope, and perseverance.
I’ve had many leaps like that throughout my career, big and small, and I’ve been really fortunate to have mentors and friends to catch me when I jump. Moving to LA after nearly 10 years of establishing a career in New York City definitely qualifies. It was a huge financial and emotional undertaking, but every day, I wake up here and encounter new opportunities, it reaffirms my decision.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I try to approach everything I do with passion, a healthy moral outlook, and lifting up those around me. Sharing my deep passions with as many people as possible drives me to explore new endeavors. Every project I embark on is a reflection of something I deeply love and want to explore.

The groups I founded all are based on exploring and sharing things I am passionate about. “Four by Four” is an octet featuring original music and innovatively showcasing jazz quartet alongside string quartet. Four by Four is a reflection of my passion for strings and classical music. I wanted to give the strings an active role and show how intricate writing can establish a string quartet as a lead voice. For every film score I do, I try to support the vision and narrative of the writer/director as faithfully and selflessly as possible while still making my artistic voice crystal clear. I value melodies and developing melodies like character arcs in a film. “Circuit Kisser” is an electronic ensemble consisting of five synthesizers, electric bass, and drums, combining jazz harmonies and electronic music, (also showcasing my original compositions). I’m incredibly proud of Circuit Kisser’s debut record, “Faking the Moon Landing,” and am working on our second album. It’s a nostalgic journey that’s true to the textures that I love most in synthesizers while honoring my jazz background through harmony and form. “ChimyTina,” a bass and vocal duo featuring tight-knit arrangements of classic jazz standards, folk tunes and popular music with vocalist Martina DaSilva. I’m also very proud of ChimyTina’s winter holiday-inspired album A Very ChimyTina Christmas, which received critical acclaim from Rolling Stone, NPR, The New York Times, and more. We are releasing our second ChimyTina album in June of this year.

Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
It never gets easier, and if you’re doing it right, the stakes only get higher. I think what sets truly successful people apart is their willingness to take risks and their risk tolerance.
I consistently have to talk myself into doing things that maybe aren’t the most comfortable to me naturally, but never recklessly. With any risk, be it personal, financial, or professional, I always trust my gut and act with all the information and resources available to me.

I’ve definitely taken quite a few big ones, several of which I’ve outlined in previous questions, and the ones worth taking are the ones with strong outcomes. Either you take a major plunge and it was totally the right move, or you fall flat on your face and learn something. That’s always been my way of operating and it hasn’t failed me yet.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.chimyonthebass.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/chimyonthebass
• Facebook: facebook.com/ChimyMusic/
• Twitter: twitter.com/chimyonthebass
• Youtube: youtube.com/c/chimymusic
• Other: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Chmielinski, www.circuitkisser.com, www.chimytina.com, youtube.com/c/Soundpaint, instagram.com/circuitkisser, youtube.com/c/circuitkisser

Image Credits
Anna Yatskevich, Attis Clopton, Natalie Deryn Johnson, Sarah Escarraz, and Austin Kruczek,