Daniel Manzano – Boyce Avenue Interview

We had a chat with Daniel Manzano from Boyce Avenue.

You are now the most viewed band on You Tube. When you posted up your first video back in 2007, did you have any idea how much it would end up changing your life?
Honestly, we had no idea it would get this big. We always hoped in a way that it would, because we believed in ourselves, and we believed in our music. But, there was no way to anticipate that a year and a half after posting our first video we’ d be playing for thousands and thousands of people in far away places like the Philippines. It’ s been surreal!

YouTube is now considered to be a huge DIY marketing tool for up-and-coming bands but for that reason it’ s also a lot harder to get noticed because everyone seems to be doing it. Do you think if you’ d left it a year or two before you started uploading videos things would have worked out differently for you?
YouTube has really helped us get the word out to people about our music. And I believe we got into posting videos at the perfect time, when YouTube had legitimized itself, but was still growing. So, it’ s been fun to grow with YouTube, so to speak. And we hope to keep doing so in the years to come.

You have recorded several acoustic cover versions of popular songs. If you could work with any of the artists whose songs you have covered, who would it be and why?
I mean, we would LOVE to work with and tour with Coldplay and John Mayer, and acts like that. These people have been inspirations for us, and to work with them would be amazing. In fact, we got to open up for the Goo Goo Dolls and Switchfoot this summer, both of which are heroes of ours, and it confirmed for us how amazing it is to get to meet your inspirations and work with them. So, we definitely want to do more of that. But, as far as collaborating with an artist on a video or on a duet or something like that, we’ ve always felt it would be great to worm with Taylor Swift or Colbie Caillat. They are both super talented, and I think their voices would go well with Alejandro’ s.

Do you find it strange when you see other bands and artists performing their own cover versions of original Boyce Avenue songs on You Tube?
For us it’ s a total honor to see young artists and fans out there playing our music. I try as much as possible to check out fan versions of our songs and to show my support, because it is a real gift to have fans and people out there so passionate about our music that they’ d take the time to learn it and put a little bit of themselves into it. We are all for it, and we love to see it.

When it comes to writing your own songs, what inspires your lyrics most? Do you have to be sad to write a sad song, in love to write a love song, etc?
For me, I just have to be in a place mentally where I can tell a story or communicate an emotion that has moved me at one time in my life, even if it’ s not particularly fresh or a recent event. I don’ t have to actually be going through sadness or a tough time, or even a good time, per se, to write about it; it’ s enough for me to just put myself back in that place or to empathize with others I know that are going through it themselves. And once I’ m there, what I write feels honest and true, even if I’ m not necessarily a miserable wretch at that particular time myself.

As a band, what do you consider to be your single greatest achievement to date?
I think our single greatest achievement as a band thus far has been the completion of our debut album All We Have Left, because the album was 100% written, produced, and financed by just the three of us. Everything you hear is the way it sounds because of us, and because of the decisions we made, and the blood, sweat, and tears we put into it. It’ s rare for a band, especially a younger band, to get the chance to produce their own music, and to communicate their vision in the purest form, and this album represents that for us. And we are, and always will be, very proud of it.

And finally, you’ re due to tour the UK again in November. What can fans expect from the show?
This tour will mark the one-year anniversary of our first time ever playing in the UK. And it will be our first tour in the UK after having released our album and after having started to release some new videos on YouTube. So, I think there is a lot to share with the fans, and the shows are going to be really exciting and fresh!

Interview by Amy Anderson.