Features, Music April 24, 2013

Q&A: Danielle Ate The Sandwich @ FoCoMX

by John Hann

DSC_0355Danielle Ate the Sandwich filled up Everyday Joe’s to the point that standing room in the back of the audience was shoulder to shoulder. The young and extremely gifted acoustic folk band was fantastic to watch and full of good vibes. Danielle, Denis, and Chris have been playing as a trio for three years and their great chemistry shows both on and off the stage. Danielle Ate the Sandwich’s ability to engage the audience in their show and their chill, vibrant folk sound made for an unforgettable performance. After their show I was able to get an interview with them and ask them a few questions as well.

Q:

How long have you been playing together?

A:

Danielle: Together as a trio for about 3 years. I started solo a couple years before that, so I have been playing for about five or six years. Then I add them on, Denis first and then Chris, but as a group we have been playing for three years.

Q:

What is your favorite memory as a group and favorite concert you guys have played?

A:

Danielle: One of my favorite memories is when we went on tour to the Midwest. One night after a show we told ghost stories to each other and talked about the X-Files and stuff, just us in a dark car, in the middle of Illinois, so it was fun. One of my favorite venue performances was probably the Folks Festival in Lions, Colorado, which was now two summers ago in 2011.
Denis: We played Red Rocks for Film on the Rocks, just Danielle and I. That was a lot of fun, it was really intense to see. The Midwest tour, the California tour was really fun too. It seemed like we were just driving and driving forever, and we finally had like fifteen minutes at the beach and that was like the best fifteen minutes ever.
Chris: The California tour also but driving through the salt flats of Utah. If you were by yourself it could be kind of miserable, but something about driving in the car with the band made it seem kind of magical, and also I hadn’t seen them before. It was really kind of perfect to drive through them with the band and discover that kind of thing.

Q:

Do you guys have any upcoming projects or tours?

A:

Danielle: I’ll tour this summer but unfortunately I have nothing fancy coming up. It’s really hard to just keep going you know what I mean? It’s a lot of work to produce albums and all that stuff. So hopefully nothing has been happening enough that I’ll be like, “It’s time to really kick it into gear,” and then I’ll have some cool stories to tell, but really it’s been like hibernating in the winter and now hopefully that the weather is better hopefully I’ll be inspired by like the hope of spring.

Q:

Why Danielle Ate the Sandwich as the name?

A:

Danielle: I chose to name myself that because I didn’t want to be just another singer/songwriter with a first and last name. I like sandwiches, they’re colorful and cool and I can put them on stickers and stuff, and I like the word sandwich, and what do you do with sandwiches? You eat them. It was really just a muse to come up with something creative and fun-sounding that wasn’t my own given name. So it stuck, maybe fortunately or maybe unfortunately, but now I can’t imagine being called anything else. I mean it’s sewn into my jacket now and I can’t really take it out take it out.

Q:

In about a year where do you see yourself or where do you want to be?

A:

Danielle: I think that’s a really difficult question to ask some of us in the band because we have a bad case of the twenty-somethings, you know like “Where are we going? What are we doing, who are we?” I could see myself doing something completely different, or doing something as exactly the same person and that’s scary but kind of exciting at the same time, but I have no idea, man.

Q:

Do you guys see your music going in the same direction?

A:

Danielle: Ah, I don’t know. There’s a lot of opportunities I have to pass on because my sound isn’t right for the situation. So in the back of my head I’m always like “Should I get a rock number going, or some drumbeats going?” But how I write as a writer, when I’m not trying to impress anyone, and am just being myself, is exactly what you hear. So that seems like the easiest thing to do, but you know time will tell. I don’t think I’m opposed to changing at all. It’s just like making the right choices about how to do it.

The humble classic acoustic Colorado folk band has a bright feature in stealing the stage with fun energy, laughs, and great music.

Photo by John Hann.

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