Marching to the Beat of Your Own Drum: Dan Checkers on The Art of Personalized Songs and Connecting with Fans in Unique Ways

Margo is joined by one man band, Dan Checkers otherwise known as Dan & Drum. Releasing his debut album in 2017 with no label, connections, or many friends for that matter, he was surprised to see it get millions of streams in the first year, thanks to creators like Jenna Marbles featuring the music. Since then, he’s been consistently releasing music, earning 10s of millions of streams across platforms, while touring across the US. Since COVID, he’s been selling personalized songs to fans that are then publicly released later- which he finds to be his most artistically fulfilling venture to date!

Margo and Dan discuss:

His path into music and niching into personalized music
The power of networking and connections in the music industry
How he transformed challenges brought on by the pandemic into an opportunity
His process of songwriting
His belief in the personal being universal
Personal struggles with depression and how a gift from his mom became a crucial outlet
How social media algorithms can be leveraged to build an audience
Potential benefits and limitations of signing with a music label

Mentioned in this episode:

Say Anything

https://www.instagram.com/sayanything/

Rainbow Kitten Surprise

https://www.instagram.com/RKSBandOfficial

Connect with Dan:

https://www.dananddrum.com/personalizedsongs

https://www.instagram.com/dananddrum