Dana Johnson - Less Stress

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Troy, of ByhandNYC, got a hold of the producer Dana Johnson for a few questions regarding his new ep "Less Stress." Dana has a happy attitude that compliments his style of music, and was willfully eager to get his music to the public. He has a particular vibrant sound, and a calm approach to making music. His initial goal was to reach over 1000 downloads a few days after the release, seems like the downloads went above and beyond expectations. Check out his interview with us and more!




"How long does it typically take you to make a song?


I mean it can come together fast, the song "legal alien" was made the night before I put out the ep. All I had was the drum pattern, put it down and chopped the sample beforehand. It came together so smooth, I always wanted 10, at that point i had 9 and like 3 possible ones to fill the void but it came together in like less then a hour. "Turks" came together quick, too, songs like "all i ever wanted," that took time for me


What inspires the make up of your sound? 

Honestly, everyday things, life experiences. Growing up in an urban environment (raised in East Orange, NJ), things like public transportation and the hustle&bustle of people walking down the streets..there's always a scene. It is kind of like that show Flight of the Concords, honestly. I'll be walking down the street, hear a natural rhythm or tempo and develop from the sounds of the city or my environment; and grab ideas for future beats. My parents had seriously different backgrounds musically..Mom from England, big on British Invasion and sounds from her homeland. Dad from Newark, serious jazz head, big into soul/funk/early hip hop. I had a super diverse soundtrack playing in my house growing up, which I guess is showing with my work. 

When did you begin producing? Has your style changed over time?

I've always had music as a part of my life, dating back to band class in middle school. I started taking my production serious the summer of 2010, when a couple of my friends started reaching out to me for inspiration for beats to rhyme over. I would direct them to different things I've come across, good instrumentals or breaks that could be developed. 

I feel like I'm starting to find my niche in what I like/don't like to, production-wise. I've got better with every beat I've made, I feel like you can hear it in Less Stress..which ones are earlier then others. With every beat and project, I get more comfortable with my sounds and my technique, while always looking for creative inspiration.

What are your future plans with Less Stress? Are you in the midst of collaborating with others?

I hope that Less Stress goes as far as people want it to. I get humbled when people I know reach out to show love..it's even more humbling when someone I've never came across goes out of their way to reach out and say thanks. I've had people that randomly stumbled upon the EP reach out, which is just awesome.

As far as collaborating with others, I'm always up to working with creative, like-minded people. Immediately after I dropped the EP, I got insane amounts of Twitter love ( @DanaJ_ ) from rappers wanting to rap over different beats from the tape. A few said they wanted to re-do the entire thing, which was an honor for me that someone wanted to work it from top to bottom. I have a select close set of friends that are starting to break out of their rapper shell, so you just may see a big camp movement from my people. Look out!"




Make sure to download his ep here!