With just one track, 25-year-old Danny Harley has had the kind of break most musicians can only dream of.
Better known as The Kite String Tangle, the Queensland ConservatoriumGriffith Universitygraduate is celebrating his debut solo single “Given the Chance” being voted in at number 19 in the Triple J Hottest 100.
The multi-talented electronic artist and producer has generated almost 30,000 facebook followers, 1,000,000 plays on SoundCloud and a near sold-out national tour backed by Triple J – with what was originally just an “experimental side-project”.
After graduating with a Bachelor of Popular Music, Danny teamed up with fellow Con alumni Nick Kirk and three other musicians to form electronic dance group PIGEON.
The five-piece has since garnered a huge following, sharing stages with some of Australia’s best live acts at Splendour In The Grass, Parklife, BigSound, Fat As Butter and Peats Ridge, and amassed more than 350,000 views on YouTube after their Daft Punk medley went viral.
In May 2012, Danny embarked on his first solo venture, The Kite String Tangle, which he describes as “a seamless blend of ethereal pop through to the darker shades of ambient, electronic music”.
His success comes as no surprise for his former lecturer, Queensland Conservatorium Deputy Director Dr Donna Weston.
“At graduation Danny already had the makings of becoming the next big thing.”
“He and Nick had a well-developed business plan and over the next couple of years they were successful in securing several grants to support their careers and develop new material for PIGEON.
“When Danny launched his solo initiative through Triple J Unearthed, the single was picked up for airplay on the main station and the huge audience response saw it skyrocket to success.
“Getting to number 19 on the Hottest 100 is a huge boost but he deserves every bit of this success — he worked really hard throughout his degree and he hasn’t let up since,” she says.
Danny credits his time at the Queensland Conservatorium with “introducing me to a bunch of technology that unlocked a whole different realm of musical possibilities.”
“That’s what I really love about making music with a computer; there are seemingly no limits.”
Named as one of 10 original artists to watch by Faster Louder and one of five Australian artists you should know by The Music, Danny has plans to release his first album in the next couple of months.
With this now highly anticipated album release and plans for a trip to the famed South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival in Austin, Texas — it looks like 2014 will be even bigger and better for The Kite String Tangle.
With special thanks to Sydney-based music and fashion photographer Daniel Knott for supplying the images used in this article. www.danielknottphotography.com
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