slimdan

Following on from a string of fresh and exciting cuts including 'MVP', his Garrett Nash collaboration 'Super Glue', and more recently 'Be Somebody' from earlier this year, emerging artist slimdan has now announced his plans for his debut EP 'to anyone who cares' out April 1st, alongside the uplifting new single 'Politics & Party Tricks' which is out now.

Continuing his pursuit of light and invigorating indie-pop delights, 'Politics & Party Tricks' makes for an instantly engaging listen. Serving as the opening song on his forthcoming EP, this new jam sets the sweet and effervescent tone he embarks on throughout this whole collection, and adds a much-needed dose of sunshine into these looming winter months.

Speaking about 'Politics & Party Tricks', slimdan said, "'Politics and Party Tricks' is a song about my experience of hating to go out while simultaneously desperately needing to be invited to things. I wrote this tune with my close ally Brian Brundage and we had a lot of fun writing the verse lyrics (particularly proud of the fact that I snuck in the word nonchalant lol). I then brought the idea to Ryan Linvill and we fleshed it out together over the summer of 2020. Shout outs to Ted Poor for ripping the drums on this record!"

While adding about the new EP, "shalom. My EP 'to anyone who cares' is a collection of five songs that were made over the past two years. It's mostly me dealing with the desire to be heard and understood, while simultaneously feeling like what I want to say doesn't matter. Over the years leading to this project I was hyper aware of the fact that thousands of people release music every day that nobody cares about, and that we live in a time where trends, style, and opinion change on what feels like a minute to minute basis. It took me some time to feel confident enough in myself and my story, and while I hope the whole world gets to hear these songs, I’m more interested in the people who want to hear these songs. 

"I discuss "really important" stuff ranging from the hit ABC reality show 'The Bachelor', to my fascination with Florida, to my experience with watching someone I love lose a parent. I tried really hard to make songs that I would want to listen to, and hope that comes across in the EP. I fucking love this "music" thing that I get to do every day, and I’m just super stoked to be putting this out. Please don't be mad at me."

'To Anyone Who Cares’ tracklisting

Politics & Party Tricks

Hollywood, FL

MVP

Magazines

Be Somebody

Growing up in a modern Orthodox family and attending Jewish school in Sherman Oaks in his formative years, Danny Silberstein found his way to the guitar through his mom's love of music. "She has amazing taste," he shares, "and was exposing me to artists from Paul Simon to Moby to 50 Cent when I was a kid. That's how I found my way to playing and writing songs."

After four years at college in Boston, Silberstein returned to Los Angeles where he "had every intention of working in a coffee shop and trying to tour in an indie band." Instead, he started getting invited into pop sessions. "I was bored of guys with acoustic guitars and didn't think the universe needed another one, so exploring the way other artists create was really interesting to me.” 

His first collaboration, with singer songwriter Sasha Alex Sloan -one of his best friends since the age of 15 - was the ballad 'Older' which kick started his career and led to work with artists like Diplo, Ethan Gruska, and King Henry. "Before I knew it," Silberstein recalls, "I had several years of pop writing under my belt." Writing his own songs though, wasn't really on his mind.

"For a while, I felt like I didn’t have anything to say," he muses. "I didn't want to release music just for the sake of doing it." But when an artist he was scheduled to write with cancelled her session at the last minute, he decided to meet with his collaborator Bryan Brundage anyway to "just write from the heart and see what happened."

The result was 'Magazines', a rare moment of seriousness on the EP via piano narrative (featuring Ethan Gruska) about his now-wife's father's cancer diagnosis when the couple had just started dating in high school. "I don't even think I meant to be writing about that," he says, "but it's what came out and the song gave me clarity about what I was trying to do. I got the sad song out of my system for now," he laughs. "There are enough of those in the world and people who do them better than I do. I'd rather use my sense of humor."

As his songwriting evolved, Danny assumed the moniker Slimdan - a throwback to his fourth grade screenname, which he chose after memorizing Eminem's 'Mockingbird' in homage to Slim Shady. Silberstein finished his forthcoming five track EP (out 23rd February on Communion Records) shortly after. It connects the dots between his irreverent wit, knack for writing sophisticated pop hooks, and diverse early musical influences to reveal an authentic talent: a unique brand of outsider indie rock that rivals the genre's finest.

Opening song 'Politics & Party Tricks', written "after staying at a party for a personal, record-breaking, seven minutes," shows off his flair for harmonies as it quips "all I'm ever thinking about is what everybody's thinking of me, (nobody's thinking of me)." 'Hollywood, FL', a rousing anthem about a visit to the Sunshine State, where he "ended up buying weed from a 70 year old man who kept calling me 'bub' in his backseat outside a beach resort," describes what Danny candidly refers to as "a mindfuck" of existential dread against a sprawling rock chorus. "I don't actually do cocaine," he confesses, "but it sounded cooler than weed, so I said that instead." 'Be Somebody' balances pop, folk, and electronic music with cheeky intimacy to describe a "quarter life crisis moment when I was living with my mom, and she called to ask what cereal I wanted from the grocery store. I was imagining 15 year old me roasting the shit out of 24 year old me."

When talking about his forthcoming releases, Danny explains that he "just want[s] to write songs and work with artists [he] loves. I don't take myself too seriously." Like his EP's track 'MVP', an artful folk-pop ballad that tells the tale of a little league game gone awry, Silberstein's voice refreshingly defies expectations with irreverent honesty: "In that moment, I got so panicked while I was pitching that I started crying and everyone stopped the game to clap for me," he shares. "I've been chasing that attention ever since. Hence this stupid artist project."