{"id":7379,"date":"2025-11-22T16:54:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T16:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=7379"},"modified":"2025-11-22T16:58:48","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T16:58:48","slug":"danny-ayala-stepping-into-the-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=7379","title":{"rendered":"Danny Ayala &#8216;Stepping Into The Light&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Here&#8217;s the full-version of CAMILLA AISA&#8217;s excellent interview with DANNY AYALA (The Lemon Twigs and now solo) that appears in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.silverbackpublishing.rocks\/product\/shindig169\/\">issue #169<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<div>\n<p class=\"Default\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">There<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">s no need to alert the readers of <em>Shindig!<\/em> \u2013 arguably the birthplace of Lemon Twigsmania \u2013 to the fact that the group is at the peak of its powers. But it<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">s worth pointing out that such a golden moment doesn<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">t just manifest itself through canonical releases and unforgettable live dates. The Lemon Twigs are currently producing their finest music while simultaneously multiplying into side projects, solo adventures and offshoots. If you<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">ve seen them onstage \u00a0you will have noticed Danny Ayala and Reza Matin, too, swapping instruments with the D<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">Addario brothers and growing into explosive rockers in their own right. Matin<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">s other group, Uni Boys, is already known to Shindiggers. Now it<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">s Ayala<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">s turn making a foray into centre-stage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Danny Ayala - I Don\u2019t Like Her (Official Music Video) \" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rAYps3Jd8_A?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"Default\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">Danny Ayala<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">s first approach to playing music was typical of many a childhood. <\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u201c<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">I was forced into piano lessons by my grandmother when I was six years old,\u201d he says. Unlike many children sitting in front of a piano, he started showing both talent and persistence. Soon he was performing classical music at his elementary school<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">s talent show, where he caught the attention of a few fellow students. Brian and Michael D<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">Addario were attending the same school. <\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u201c<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">They already had a band by the third grade,\u201d<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">\u00a0Ayala notes. Together with their friend Thomas Murphy, they asked Ayala to join them. <\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u201c<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">I didn&#8217;t really know anything about rock <\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">n&#8217; r<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">oll,&#8221; he points out. <\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u201c<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">At a young age, my mother introduced me to The Backstreet Boys, My Chemical Romance and groups like that. So when I joined the brothers&#8217; <\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">band and started learning about The Rolling Stones and The Who, it was all very new to me.\u201d \u00a0This spontaneous pre-teenage alliance would prove a fruitful one. <\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u201c<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">I quite literally joined their group in the fourth grade and we&#8217;ve been musical partners ever since.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Danny Ayala - Pluto (Official Music Video) \" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Fr3lAV-zgvE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"Default\"><i><span lang=\"EN-US\">Only Fools Love Again<\/span><\/i><span lang=\"EN-US\"> has all the feel of a debut album but this is not Danny Ayala<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">s first time focusing on his own songs. For a while, he was releasing music under the pseudonym of Dr. Danny. <\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u201c<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">I just wanted to start off fresh. I felt like I was in a new state of mind at this point, and I hadn&#8217;t really released anything that I was super into or super proud of since COVID. It felt like a new beginning, so I started going by my name and I got a great group of guys who I pretty much just met this year to play in my band.\u201d Tours with The Lemon Twigs and Sunflower Beam, as well as the first recordings as Dr. Danny, have allowed Ayala to come a long way. The resulting collection of songs is eclectic and full of surprises. <\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u201c<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">I have a lot of different friends showing me a lot of different things. I cling onto quite a bit of it,\u201d<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">\u00a0he considers. <\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u201c<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">I obviously love The Beach Boys and Beatles, as well as the powerpop that Brian and Michael have showed me along the way.\u201d But true to the free-minded, omnivorous tastes of a generation that grew up in the streaming era, <i>Only Fools Love Again<\/i> is wide and curious in its inspirations. <\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u201c<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">I started writing down the records from the past 25 years that have influenced this album, or that I<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">ve been listening to while making it,\u201d<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">\u00a0Ayala tells <em>Shindig!<\/em>. <\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u201c<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">It<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">s interesting: I can<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">t say that these were a direct influence, because some of the stuff that I wrote and recorded doesn&#8217;t quite coincide with my music taste, but somehow I still got here. It<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">s ultimately this clash of the powerpop that I<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">ve taken from touring with the Lemon Twigs and what I listened to for other reasons\u201d. His list of inspirations includes <i>Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots<\/i> by The Flaming Lips and <i>Congratulations<\/i> by MGMT, Beach House<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">s <\/span><i><span lang=\"DE\">Depression Cherry<\/span><\/i><span lang=\"EN-US\"> and Radiohead<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">s<i> In Rainbows<\/i>, Foxygen and Cigarettes After Sex, indie electro-pop duo Oh Wonder and the hugely successful Hall &amp; Oates. <\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u201c<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">These are the extras of constantly listening to The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Raspberries. You listen to these artists and you&#8217;re like, well, who were they listening to? And then you find out that it all boils back to the two Bs,\u201d he laughs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Danny Ayala - Something With You (Official Music Video)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3AtqFgGuD18?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"Default\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">A classically trained pianist, Ayala spent a year practicing every day for hours on end after he was asked to become The Lemon Twigs&#8217; <\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">bass player. When working on his own songs, he<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">s come to appreciate the different possibilities offered by each of the instruments he<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">s played on stage. <\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u201c<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">I went to school for music composition,\u201d he reflects, <\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u201c<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">there were juries and I had to play some jazz and really hard classical pieces for professors. Throughout that I learned a lot of music theory and the best way you can showcase that is usually the piano. I&#8217;m definitely not as well-versed on the guitar and bass and it<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">s easiest for me to write songs on the piano. But because I&#8217;m limited in what I can do on the guitar, it simplifies the songs and doesn&#8217;t make them over complicated. It makes the songwriting poppier. On the piano I tend to write a lot of ballads, whereas on the guitar it&#8217;s a little rockier.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Danny Ayala - The Ballad (Official Music Video)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Sqp6oVLnMPE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"Default\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">The first seeds of <i>Only Fools Love Again<\/i> were planted in East Williamsburg, at the D<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">Addario Brothers&#8217; <\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">studio. The pair produced and played on two of the album<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">s eventual singles, <\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2018<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">Something With You<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019 <\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">and <\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2018<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">I Don<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">t Like Her<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">. Then, Ayala was off to the West Coast, visiting Fernando Perdomo (<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u201c<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">a fantastic guitar player and musician\u201d) in Sherman Oaks, California. <\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u201c<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">We were in the studio for five eight-hour days and I tracked eight songs right away. I came home with a finished record\u201d, he enthuses. <\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u201c<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">Then I went back to the Lemon Twigs<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019 <\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">studio. Their neighbour Paul Millar, who has an incredible ear and an incredible mind, mixed and mastered the record. I<\/span><span dir=\"RTL\" lang=\"AR-SA\">\u2019<\/span><span lang=\"EN-US\">m very grateful to be surrounded by such talent to help this release. Yes, I wrote all the songs, but I don&#8217;t think it would&#8217;ve ever been the same without them\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"Default\"><span lang=\"EN-US\">\u00a0Only Fools Love Again <em>is out now on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reminderrecords.com\/shop\/p\/danny-ayala-only-fools-love-again\">Reminder<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><iframe\nsrc=\"https:\/\/widget.qobuz.com\/album\/p7rmbxv7odumc?zone=GB-en\"\nwidth=\"378\"\nheight=\"390\"\n><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iframes.<\/p>\n<p><\/iframe><\/p>\n<span class=\"synved-social-container synved-social-container-share\"><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F7379&#038;t=Danny%20Ayala%20%E2%80%98Stepping%20Into%20The%20Light%E2%80%99&#038;s=100&#038;p&#091;url&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F7379&#038;p&#091;images&#093;&#091;0&#093;=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F11%2FScreenshot-2025-11-20-at-13.40.54.png&#038;p&#091;title&#093;=Danny%20Ayala%20%E2%80%98Stepping%20Into%20The%20Light%E2%80%99\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F7379&#038;text=New%20post%20on%20our%20site\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-mail nolightbox\" data-provider=\"mail\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share by email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Danny%20Ayala%20%E2%80%98Stepping%20Into%20The%20Light%E2%80%99&#038;body=New%20post%20on%20our%20site:%20https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F7379\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"mail\" title=\"Share by email\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/mail.png\" \/><\/a><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s the full-version of CAMILLA AISA&#8217;s excellent interview with DANNY AYALA (The Lemon Twigs and now solo) that appears in issue #169 There\u2019s no need to alert the readers of Shindig! \u2013 arguably the birthplace of Lemon Twigsmania \u2013 to the fact that the group is at the peak of its powers. But it\u2019s worth [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7380,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1189,28,1009,1172],"tags":[1226,345],"class_list":["post-7379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive-content","category-features","category-magazine","category-qobuz","tag-danny-ayala","tag-the-lemon-twigs","post_format-post-format-video"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7379"}],"version-history":[{"count":-2,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}