After a long hiatus from the Haitian music business, Daniel Pierre aka Danny P/ Danny Le Beau is back for one night to help Tabou celebrate their anniversary at SOBs this weekend. Before the show this Friday, Opa caught up with Danny and had a little chat with him and for those that are not familiar with Danny, he was Tabou Combo’s keyboard player and vocalist during the 1994–2002 circa and notably for the song, Feel Good.
What song will you perform with Tabou at SOBS?
DP : I will be singing 3 songs with Tabou on Friday night at SOB’s. 2 old ones and the new on “Se Pa Zanmiw”
How is your relationship with Shoubou?
DP : Shoubou and I are really good friends. We have a lot of love for each other because we respect one another. Shoubou is a true Haitian Music legend. He’s done more than what most people will ever get to do in their musical career.
Are you fascinated by big live Konpa sound?
I love that music. Nothing feels better than a good Compas tune. I guess it’s in the blood.
What’s a typical day like for you? Run us through the day from the time you wake up …until you go back to bed?
DP: I’m usually up at 8am. I eat breakfast and try to get to the gym by 9 am. (Depending on the night before). I get an hour and 30 minutes of workout then I get in the shower for 30 to 45 minutes, which is the most important part of my day. I usually come up with a lot of songs or the main ideas of songs that I’ve written during that time. I also take a few minutes to speak to God about everything. If someone were to hear me you would think that I need to be in the coocoo house. At 11 am I drink my protein shake and rest for an hour by noon I’m getting ready to head to the studio. I usually start my sessions at 1 pm and work until 8pm so I can have dinner or do something. That’s the basic regular day for me. But sometimes I go until late and sometimes I’m out an hour earlier depending on what I have to do. Weekends I try to stay in and spend some time by myself at home or get away with a friend to relax.
How do you fit everything?
DP: It’s hard because sometimes I have to be at meetings and I don’t make it to the gym and sometimes I get home really late and I cant wake up to get to the gym on time but I try as much as I can to stay on a schedule and discipline myself to stick to that schedule. But it’s a give and take.
Did you live in LA?
DP: I never lived in LA. I had a place there for a little while last year but I was never there. I also had a girlfriend in Toronto while working mostly in London and Paris so traveling was crazy. I live in NY City.
How did you first get into music?
DP: I was a Top Vice fan when I was 15-16 years old. But because my dad was a pastor I wasn’t allowed to listen to that kind of music or go see any shows. I remember living in Ft. Lauderdale and Top Vice were coming to play at a club (Le Chic) and I wanted to go badly but my dad wasn’t having it. So I snuck out that night and went but when I got home my room’s back door was locked. That’s when I made the ultimate decision that shaped my life. I knew that if I went to knock on that front door, I might not have been alive today because my dad would have definitely killed me (NO JOKE). Lol I went to my aunt’s house and I stayed with her for 2 months then I started a band and that was the beginning of my life as a professional musician.
Is there someone you look to whose career you use as a role model for your own?
DP: Yes, in my early Haitian music days it was Charlot from Nu Vice, then as a singer/ songwriter/producer Babyface then R. Kelly. Then the person who made it seem possible and it wasn’t just TV like my parents always said it was Wyclef.
How did your success come about?
DP: I am that guy that just doesn’t take no for an answer. I am a realist as well. If I felt that this wasn’t my calling I would have been doing something else in life. I ultimately always knew that I wanted to be a successful person in life. My drive and self-confidence are key.
What makes the biggest impression on you about an artist?
DP: True talent, you can’t mask true talent. It is what it is.
Is having a big ego a necessary item to be a real superstar?
DP: I have no answer for that question because I am not at all a superstar. That word is used far too lightly. I’m not even a star. I’m just a musician who’s got his mind right and always trying to take it to the next level.
What’s your musical goal?
DP: I’m just on this path which I used to try and control but now I’m just going along with it and seeing where it takes me. I have been thinking about shifting to becoming an exec. I just had a meeting this morning with a very powerful guy at Jrecords who was working at RCA when Bob Jamison signed me there. He was telling me his story on how he started as an artist in this business and became a writer/producer, which led him to the position he’s in now. He told me that he sees that quality in me so I’ll see what happens but like I said I just want to make the most of my field.
What instrument do you play?
DP: I play the keys; piano (it’s very different from playing the keys), guitar, bass and I can hold a beat on the drums.
Are you going to have your own Haitian band someday?
DP: I already do. Tabou Combo.
What artists have you written for?
DP: Robbie Williams, Joss Stone, Aaron Carter, Ashanti and I wrote a few songs together, (I also took her to Tabou Combo at SOB’s 4 yrs ago), Lemar, Snow, Canibus, The Transitions, Tiffany Evans, and a bunch of newer acts that you’ll hear about soon. I remember introducing Jeannie Ortega on that other sister a year and a half ago and her record just came out on Hollywood records. I will let you guys get a copy of a song I recorded with Fatman Scoop of Hot 97, which was a remake of Lionel Ritchie’s All Night Long.
Have you had a chance to give any up-coming artist any advice?
DP: My advice is, you have more chances winning the lotto. This is not to discourage anyone but to make you be aware that you got to go beyond yourself to make it. The music game is not a game.
What is the secret of your success?
DP: You know what’s funny; I don’t even consider myself successful yet. I want so much more that I feel like I’m not even close yet. I still have long ways to go. I’ll start to feel more successful when I get my first Grammy Award. My music partner now has 2 Grammies. So in a sense, I’m the little guy who’s just climbing up.
When you look back, do you see periods in your life where you were hopeless…you were not happy with yourself?
DP: Oh the nights when I was on my knees crying out to God for help… Yes of course. It’s a long hard road. Life is a long hard road. I just always look at myself in the mirror and think back to when I got on that plane from Haiti and I remember all the people that were so against what I wanted for myself and that revives my hunger to succeed.
Do you still keep in touch with your teenage buddies?
DP: I never really had many friends especially guys. I have 4 friends that I’ve been in touch with forever.
If you can change one thing about the Haitian music industry…what would it be?
DP: The lack of performance royalties.
One thing that is lacking in New York for the Haitian Music Industry is a Night Spot…a decent Haitian owned venue…Have you ever thought of opening a Haitian night club…probably in the City?
DP: I’m not into clubs. I go to them only when the people I’m with really want to go there. I’m a lounge type of guy. I don’t want to deal with that business anyway because I saw how my ex-girl and her brother had to go through so much to keep that place running.
Who are your favorite designers?
DP: I like anything that’s nice. I own $9 gap t-shirts to $4000 Gucci shoes. I don’t think the price of something or the nametag on it makes it what it is. It’s all about taste and style.
What are your favorite hangout spots in the city?
DP: Soho House Rooftop, The Grand Havana Cigar room. (No I don’t smoke) Bungalow 8, Marquee, One Park Place, Vento, Bryant Park Hotel Lounge, Gansevoort Rooftop and 777
What’s your favorite cereal?
DP: I love special K… the plain one
What about all rumors, criticism, speculations about you on the Internet…Does that bother you?
DP: To a certain extent. It bothers me that people would try to make me look like someone that I’m not in my Haitian community but at the end of the day, I’m not pulling my hair over it. (I am bald). Lol
What can we expect from you in the near future?
DP: I’ve learned to keep my mouth shut about things until it happens. All I can say is you’ll know about it as it happens.
What do you want to accomplish most in life?
DP: I want to be a good person and an inspiration to others. I want to someday come to peace with a lot of things in my life and just be free of all things. I think having a family will be the ultimate accomplishment for me.
Tell us something about you that Opa’s members would not expect?
DP: I sometimes cook myself some mayi with poids noir… That’s the healthiest and most filling meal in Haitian cuisine. And my foreign girlfriends always love it. Lol
If you were to write a theme song for Opa, what would it be called?
DP: “I feel the love”
If you had to write a song to send to God…can you tell us what the first verse would be?
DP: God, I’m convinced that I won’t even come close to the gates of heaven but please let me have a peak. I want to do the right things but it’s so much easier to do wrong. I am a disgrace in your eyes and I don’t even deserve to be speaking to you but by your loving grace, I believe there is still hope for me. I ask you to guide me and protect me as you have done since the day I was born. I thank you for all you’ve done and I will praise you until my dying breath.
Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to us.
DP: Thank You.
