Damned If I Don't is a project with all songs entirely written, performed and recorded by Daniel Stacey Herber, an experienced musician with a lifetime love of rock music. Currently based in Hong Kong, Daniel plans to recruit a team of extraordinary musicians as a live act and begin touring around the Asia Pacific region in 2019, in addition to writing the follow-up album todebut Self-Titled.Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Daniel Stacey Herber is of Dutch, Lithuanian and Irish descent respectively. Having now lived in Asia for over five years, he is truly a world citizen. His career in music began at the age of sixteen years old, where he played in various local bands in his home country for over a decade. His bands have toured extensively, played South African music festivals and received international radio-play. His previous band, notably, secured a distribution deal with Universal Music South Africa and were a featured support act for popular American band Underoath when they toured the country. As a music industry veteran Daniel has proved he has the self-reliance, commitment and dedication needed to see Damned If I Don't succeed in a saturated industry; while keeping alive the ideals of rock and roll which have bonded so many people over the years.
Daniel Stacey Herber has had formal training in guitar from Tyrone Mayer, leader of South Africa's popular Guitar Excellence company; studied bass guitar with globally-renowned jazz bassist and music lecturer Carlo Mombelli and more recently has had vocal training from Daniel Tompkins of Tesseract fame. Daniel has also given back to future generations of musicians by teaching guitar and bass to over one hundred students, over the course of four years, as a music teacher himself. He is currently completing a master's degree in education from a prestigious British university by correspondence and teaches English literature at an international secondary school in Hong Kong.
One of the key strengths of Damned If I Don't is clear, transparent and timely communication with press and fans. Should you reach out to the band you can expect a response within 24 hours at most.
Damned If I Don't Self-Titled is the debut album by Damned If I Don't: written, performed, engineered, produced and recorded by Daniel Stacey Herber throughout the course of 2018. This fact in itself speaks volumes and is referenced in the title of the album. The album takes one on a musical journey through a diverse range of rock songs which have touches of thrash metal, punk and pop at times – a subtle nod of acknowledgment to the band who have influenced Daniel to take a versatile approach to songwriting.
The edgy opening track Never Again introduces audiences to the rock flavor of the album, which is then followed by the raw Constellation, which offers some tongue-in-cheek social commentary on popular culture as it is today. Next is The Clamour, an homage to popular punk rock with the inclusion of many lyrical clichés to accompany a sound as familiar as many of these sayings. Bass-driven Octane follows as a shout-out to indie rock coupled with the raw vocal style that can be heard throughout the album. The thrash rock of Second Time Around hits hard and as a calling card, the ambiguous lyrics are open for interpretation – family, politics or another concept entirely, the meaning of these songs are open for interpretation. The juxtaposed gentleness of Hold On was written at a time when great musicians and people took their own lives in 2018 and is a response to these tragedies. The anthemic You Are You showcases a slightly more alternative and progressive sound and features many sonic contrasts. An Ode to the Past is a nostalgia punk rock recollection of days gone by, after which the lighter pop approach of Tartan is introduced, whose central theme revolves around the idea of friendship and departures. Out From Under picks up the momentum of the album at this juncture with its eclectic delivery and lyrical musings. The album closes with the hard-hitting number We Should Be Better, by its design ending the album on a poignant note.
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