Going Solo: Daniel van der Noon

Heads in the Cloud byder hermed på en ny omgang Going Solo. Denne gang har vi fået en lille snak med briten, Daniel van der Noon, der pt har slået sig ned i Århus. Vi får bl.a. en snak om struktur i hverdagen, usikkerhed og Ricky Gervais. 

HitC: Who are you, where are you from, and what are you doing here in Denmark? How long have you been here and how long are you planning to stay?

Daniel van der Noon, I grew up in the second-largest city in the UK; an industrial city called Birmingham. I initially moved to Copenhagen as an exchange student a couple of years ago. I settled in, kind of fell for the place then made my way over to Aarhus to try out my artwork there and that's where I'll be for the immediate future. Who knows? According to the Mayans the world ends around December so I'll see what happens there before I pay a deposit for my next place.

HitC: What does your normal work day look like?

Everyday is entirely different. You probably think that I sit down at a desk for hours on end listening to music, drinking coca-cola and drawing. It's rarely the case. There's so much legwork involved. Visiting framers, customers, printers, promoters and potential clients. Such a lack of structure can be liberating I guess, but at the same time it can sometimes make you feel a little 'insecure' I suppose.

HitC: Why have you "gone solo"?

It simply happened. I never envisaged my life turning out this way. I wear my profession on my sleeve; I couldn't imagine it any other way.

HitC: What is the best thing about working alone?

Ummm, I'm not sure. It's a lifestyle choice I think. Doing what you love I rarely think of it as 'work' so I don't really think about pros and cons too often.

HitC: What is the worst?

As I mentioned above, it's that lack of security and structure. Your calendar or whatever is often defined by the month previous so it's impossible to plan trips and the like really, same goes for cash-flow. One month can be grand but another, could be potentially dire (hasn't happened yet but who knows?!) so the idea is that you save for a rainy day.

HitC: How do you finance yourself? Do you work full-time on your art, do you have a job on the side, do you study, etc?

I do this ful-time but I have all sorts of side projects and things happening simultaneously. I was a guest teacher at a high school a few weeks back for instance. Things like that rise up all the time.

HitC: What or who gets you up in the morning?

I get myself up, I'm always the last to sleep and the first to rise. Sometimes the laugh of Ricky Gervais wakes me up since I often sleep with my headphones on and listen to British comedy stuff.

HitC: Why don't you get a REAL job!?

I'd like a real job as well. It's my belief that I've now made my days 32 hours long, so I could manage that. I have a degree in literature and back in the UK I worked as assistant editor and the like for newspapers and magazines. I'm also a music journalist for a few publications.

HitC: What advice would you pass on to other solo-artist out there?

I don't know. There's no established route. Besides the basics, it's a personal formula and one that you simply figure out for yourself.

HitC: Who or what inspires and motivates you?

All sorts of things, but I think the word 'inspiration' is a little off. It's all about mind-states. Surrounding myself with good friends and stuff I think that's a driving force. I listen to a lot of music, and of course literature has always been instrumental to keeping the blood pumping around my veins but visiting art galleries and all those things that people typically think of as inspiring do nothing for me.

Vi siger tak til Daniel for snakken og anbefaler, at du tjekker hans detaljeret arbejde ud her.

Alle fotos tilhører Felicia Nathalie Elin Warberg.