3 minute read
Danny Mortimer Charity Christmas single
DANNY
MORTIMER
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Ihave been writing my own music for quite a while now. My latest composition started as a suggestion – more of a joke really - from my dad. Why not write a Christmas song?
We both thought it was a hilarious idea, as the type of music that I usually write wouldn’t ‘fit’ into your stereotypical Christmas song. Having suggested it once, he tried again the following year and, like a dog with a bone, wouldn’t give up. Then it wasn’t until last year that I actually sat down and began to seriously think about it, but I couldn’t get my head around how a “Danny Mortimer Christmas Song” would go, let alone what it would sound like.
The idea got shelved and then BOOM, 2020 happened! We were actually beginning work on recording drums for my third solo album the week before lock down happened. With loads 34 of free time on my hands over the next few months, I began writing more and recording small demos in my little home studio. By the time August rolled around, one of my favourite bands (The Goo Goo Dolls) announced that they were going to be releasing a Christmas album. It was kind of a lightning bolt moment, “if they can release a full Christmas album, surely I could figure out how to write my own song?!”. It also kind of felt like this year could mean “it’s OK to try something new or out of the ordinary” as this year has been anything, but ordinary.
Everything that I was playing I just couldn’t connect with and, in all honesty, felt kind of boring. I then came up with a melody that had a much faster pace, much happier sounding.
There was something about this demo that had the feeling of what a “Christmas Song” by me could sound like. An old friend (Jack Nicolson) recorded the drums for me as he has recorded drums for me in the past and has all the gear at home. We spoke a little about certain parts of the song, discussed what the drums could do in each part and I left it in his hands. He didn’t let me down and came up with the ideal foundation for the song. One drum track back to me and it was perfect.
I then took the drum files and worked on the rest of the track, amending the lyrics a few times, in my little home studio. Christmas songs are usually quite cheesy, they’re supposed to be a bit of fun. My music can sometimes be enigmatic, leaving the listener to make up his own mind, so it was quite a challenge for me to change my writing style and point of view. As a songwriter (and I use that term loosely) this is the first song people will hear from me where it will be blatantly obvious what the lyrics are about.
Listening to “classic” Christmas songs, they all mention certain aspects of the time of year, so I knew I would have to do the same. Trying to work as many Christmas clichés and references into a song as possible, without it becoming too cheesy, was tough to work around.
It has taken a while, but at the end of the day, it’s a bit of fun in what has really been a strange year. During lock down, I covered David Bowie’s “Heroes”, mainly to experiment with some of the recording gear I had newly acquired. I released the song and the music video together, inviting people to send in footage of how they had been spending their time during lock down. The video took off from there and the response was incredible, so much so that it ended up on BBC Scotland’s TV Show “The Nine”.
With the Christmas song, I had a similar idea in mind, inviting people to send in any photos or videos from Christmas over the years. My thinking being, everybody is going to have a favourite Christmas memory or photo from over the years, so it could be something special for this year. If people enjoyed the track and they felt that they wanted to purchase it, in my mind it made sense to give proceeds to a local charity.
The song is now finished and was released on December 1st, with all the proceeds being donated to Children 1st.
Please download it now and show your support. Merry Christmas! https://
