Dan Olsen wasn’t supposed to become a singer, but a footballer as he has represented his club in the Champions League Qualification and the Faroe Islands Under 21 national team for several years. But, unfortunately (or luckily for us), his life took a very different path when he broke his leg during a match.
It’s during his recovery that he discovered a newfound musical creativity which led him to pick up an acoustic guitar.
Dan comments: “It wasn’t until I was in Australia, where I could leave the football image behind me, that I could start to explore and write my own music”.
He started his studies in Australia, as well as songwriting and performing. He made ends meet by living in cheap backpacker flats while playing bars and pubs.
Then, after a year of writing, with a bunch of songs under his name, he decided to go to London. There, he produced a couple of tracks with Steven A Williams (Leonard Cohen, Van Morrison). It gained millions of plays across various streaming platforms.
He met his current manager which is Sam Smith’s former manager, who shares the same vision. Thus, he has produced his own songs and has toured all over the world, including China, New York, Russia and South Africa.
“Living in and travelling to different cultures and music scenes is always going to enrich your creativity, and it’s certainly had an impact on my own songwriting. Today it’s easy to get access to music from all corners of the world via the internet, but it’ll never compare to musical face-to-face interaction and hands-on experiences”, he says about these experiences.
His is now a success story. He has won an international songrwriting competition, has songs placed in various films, signed a publishing deal with Peer Music and has co-written with Grammy, Ivor and Brit award winning songwriters including Linda Perry, Pam Sheyne, Chris Neil and Sonique.
Nowadays, he has released on October 28, the 3rd track from his upcoming new EP. Titled “It Was Only Yesterday” It’s a break-up song with a folk-rocky feel.
Listen here:
#Peace.Love.DanOlsen
