November 13, 2024 • 47 mins
Ever wondered what it's like to make history at one of the most iconic venues in the world? Join us as Maddy O'Neal, a trailblazing DJ and producer, shares her exhilarating journey of being part of the first all-female lineup at Red Rocks. She gives us an inside look at her unforgettable performances at Burning Man, tackling challenges like playing multiple sets amidst a dust storm. Maddy opens up about maintaining her creativity and authenticity on tour and how these experiences have fueled her forthcoming album, "Vital Signs," which recently came out on October 8th. It's a candid conversation filled with inspiring stories and intense emotions behind her music.
Our chat with Maddy also explores her evolution in the music industry, where live performances and festival vibes have shaped her unique sound. Discover her approach to sound design, blending dirty, funky bass with organic, melodic elements, and learn how collaboration and risk-taking have been key to her success. As a female artist, Maddy shares invaluable advice for women navigating the music world, emphasizing the power of community and genuine connections. Her transition to a solo career hasn't been without its challenges, but Maddy's resilience and support network have been her guiding lights.
Maddy takes us through her creative journey during the pandemic, which became a time of honing her skills and overcoming imposter syndrome. Her career trajectory highlights the creative process amidst unexpected pauses. We discuss the importance of a robust live setup and how visuals play a crucial role in her performances, ensuring a seamless experience for her audience. This episode is a testament to the power of community, perseverance, and staying true to one's artistic vision, offering listeners valuable insights beyond the music itself.
Connect with The Danger Den:
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YouTube: @TheDangerDenCO
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Danger Foley (00:00):
Welcome to the Danger Den podcast.
I'm your host, Danger Foley,and the Danger Den is a home-
away- from- home for musiciansand artists to create, recharge
and share their experienceswhile touring through Denver,
Colorado.
In each episode, we'll go deepwith the humans behind the art
we love.
Today, I have the privilege ofsitting with the immensely
talented DJ and producer, MaddyO'Neal.
(00:21):
Maddy just released her thirdstudio album, Vital Signs, and
she's currently on her fall tour, so make sure to check out her
dates so you don't miss her.
Our conversation goes muchdeeper than music and I know
it's going to inspire you, sosit back, take a deep breath.
Thank you for being here.
Let's get dangerous.
(00:48):
Oh man, what a day.
Yeah, this is the firstofficial episode of the Danger
Den podcast.
I am here with Maddy O'Neill,one of the most inspiring, in my
opinion, female DJs andproducers in the industry, and I
get to sit with her as my firstguest.
Maddy O'Neal (01:10):
I am honored.
Thanks for having me.
It's been an epic day alreadyand what a beautiful space to be
able to celebrate.
Yeah, yeah, I'm just happy tobe here.
Danger Foley (01:20):
So, to give some context as to what the Danger
Den is, we have created aprivate home away from home for
musicians who are passingthrough Denver.
It's become so clear howdifficult it can be to take care
of yourself when you'retraveling music.
(01:46):
In my opinion, um, it's reallyimportant to keep the artists in
a place where they're able tocreate from a place of like that
authentic, you know, purpose.
So tell me about the lastcouple months you played on the
first female lineup in historyat Red Rocks yeah with rez, yeah
and then immediately went toplay Burning Man yep talk to me
about it.
Maddy O'Neal (02:05):
I think that was the craziest week of my entire
life.
Well, for sure was.
Um, yeah, made some history.
I played direct support forREZZ at Red Rocks and that was
my fourth time playing, but thefirst time I played a sold out
direct support show.
So I had like full volume, fullproduction and just like where
(02:29):
I'm at in my career.
I felt like I was so ready forthat moment.
Um.
So there was all thepreparation leading up to that
and if it wasn't for thatbooking, I was planning to go to
Burning Man for the full week.
Um, but that came through and Iwas like you know what, even if
I can only be there for threedays, I'm gonna make it happen.
(02:50):
It sounds a little crazy, butI'm just gonna not party after
Red Rocks and just go straightinto Burning Man.
Hot.
And then I played three setsthere, two on the first day when
I came in and I was just likeon a cloud, like coming from
that night.
So yeah, adrenaline is the hellof a drug.
Danger Foley (03:10):
It sure is.
And you got caught in the duststorm on the way out of Burning
Man.
Maddy O'Neal (03:16):
Yes.
Danger Foley (03:17):
So how long did it take you to get home?
Maddy O'Neal (03:20):
So we kind of I didn't really have like a clear
exit plan.
Danger Foley (03:24):
I was just kind of like winging it, so you didn't
need to be back for certain, butI wanted to get out before it
got really crazy.
Maddy O'Neal (03:31):
So I played two sets on Saturday and then one on
Sunday, which was actuallyhilarious because the dust storm
happened during the day and Iwas supposed to play it like 530
, like all the way across theplaya and I almost didn't go
because I was like I can't seetwo feet in front of my face and
(03:51):
I was like you know what?
I came all the way here gearedup and I like knew it was
directly across and I and I justlike pedaled by myself until I
like popped out of a cloudexactly where I was supposed to
be, literally exactly like rightin front of the camp that I was
supposed to play, and I waslike holy shit, like that is
(04:12):
some Burning Man, miraculousthings.
Yeah, I was just like all right, cool, and my bike died on the
way too, so I was like just likehuffing with my big tired bike.
Danger Foley (04:25):
Yeah yeah, it feels so much more difficult to
pedal an e-bike than it does aregular bike, it's like three
times the workout.
Maddy O'Neal (04:32):
It's so heavy.
Yeah, mine died too and Icouldn't see, so it was like a
fucking mission.
Danger Foley (04:37):
This will end at some point.
I'll be on the other side ofthis.
Maddy O'Neal (04:41):
But I ended up playing for like two and a half
hours.
They were just like keep going.
Danger Foley (04:44):
What was your set time allotted for?
Maddy O'Neal (04:46):
It was just an hour and it was just such a vibe
and I just yeah, so I'm glad Ididn't bail For real.
Danger Foley (04:53):
I was like you know what.
Maddy O'Neal (04:54):
I'm going to do it .
Danger Foley (04:59):
And yeah, looking back, that probably was one of
the most legendary weeks.
Maddy O'Neal (05:01):
Yeah, yeah, as you said for sure I came in with
some fresh serotonin foreverybody.
Danger Foley (05:04):
Yeah definitely yeah, the happiest girl on earth
vital signs yeah, it's yourthird album yeah,
congratulations yeah it's comingout October 8th yep.
First of all, how did you comeup with the title of the album?
Maddy O'Neal (05:17):
so I think I started writing this or like
knew it was an album at the verybeginning of this year, like in
January.
I had the craziest touringschedule ever last year I played
almost 100 shows and I was likehonestly kind of burnt out by
the end of the year and I was soready to just like lock myself
(05:38):
in the studio and like go backto the inspiration you know
filling my cup of like why?
I'm out there playing music, youknow.
So I really just like dove inand I knew it was time to write
my next full body of work.
I just felt it.
(05:58):
So that's when I startedwriting it, and I think it
wasn't until like halfwaythrough that I titled it.
But definitely the inspirationwas like we're living in such a
crazy time right now, like sooverstimulated and there's a lot
of anxious energy happeningfrom all angles, from all angles
(06:22):
and like I had to remind myselfeven coming off of the tour
that I did that like just likepause and like check in with
yourself and like like the vitalsigns, like just like check in
with your body, you know, andjust have those moments.
(06:42):
So that's kind of where theinspiration came from for the
title title and a lot of theinspiration for the music.
I really wanted to take it backto my roots and where I came
from, like the electro soulstuff like with the resurgence
of Pretty Lights and the familythat I kind of came up with I
was definitely feeling inspiredby that sound again came up with
(07:06):
.
I was definitely feelinginspired by that sound again.
I feel like I've evolved overthe years and kind of strayed
away from the more like samplingvinyl and the way that I got
into music a little bit, and soI wanted to kind of incorporate
the whole spectrum of what hasinspired me up until now.
So a lot of the collaborationsare people that have been around
for my whole journey, likeCherub and Prop Cause.
Danger Foley (07:31):
How do you always Three, six mafia yeah?
Maddy O'Neal (07:37):
Three, six mafia.
Ryan Nelli (07:38):
So You're wild, for that I know yeah.
Danger Foley (07:41):
I want to hear more about each of these.
Like was this as big of a dealfor you as a fan as it was from
a production standpoint?
Like did you grow up listeningto?
Maddy O'Neal (07:52):
Three 6.
Danger Foley (07:53):
Mafia and Cherub.
Maddy O'Neal (07:55):
Yeah, I mean, I didn't.
I didn't grow up listening toCherub.
Definitely Three, 6 Mafia.
Danger Foley (07:59):
Yeah.
Maddy O'Neal (08:01):
And I'm there.
Those two are kind of connected.
So in 2018, I think this was mybiggest tour I've ever done.
It was like two and a halfmonths on a bus with Cherub
Crazy, craziest tour I've everdone in my life.
And they were good friends withDJ Paul and, just like that
(08:21):
whole camp, they hadcollaborated together and they
connected me.
We met on tour and at the time Iwas just like I need to make
this collab happen, like it'sgot to be a very specific thing.
I'll know when I write the songthat I want to send to DJ Paul
and we talked about it like lastyear, but he was really busy.
(08:44):
And then I saw him at Bonnarooand he was like yo, year that he
was really busy.
And then I saw him at Bonnarooand he was like yo, is that
track still available?
And I was like no, it's alreadyout, but I can write another
one.
So I said this was like a trap,the trap anthem on the record.
And he wrote to it like thenext day when I sold, sent it to
him.
So he must have been elated,he's such a cool dude Like it
(09:07):
was an amazing experience, wow,and very full circle for sure.
Danger Foley (09:11):
It feels like you've had quite almost feels
like for lack of a better termlike divinely inspired path of,
like the way that it's gone downfor you.
Yeah, path of like the way thatit's gone down for you.
Maddy O'Neal (09:24):
Yeah, tell me about like, just like the
genesis of your career and thePretty Lights and how, like it
just feels so serendipitous,like it feels yeah, I mean, I
think part of my brand and who Iam as an artist is like I've
tried to be like as authentic aspossible throughout my whole
journey.
Because, like I've tried to belike as authentic as possible
(09:45):
throughout my whole journey,because like I've grown as a
person as my art has evolved andI really wanted to be authentic
and sharing that experience andI feel that from my fans like I
was in a duo project and then Istarted the solo thing and
people saw me go through thattransition and then they keep
following me and like seeing theglow up and the evolution and I
(10:08):
think that's a really coolthing for fans to be able to see
.
And like even the the rough shitthat I went through, you know,
like without being too exposingmy life too much, I wanted to be
real about it.
Um, and I hear that from myfans it's so cool to feel like
(10:28):
I've been a part of this withyou.
I think it's unique to Coloradotoo, in a sense, and the Pretty
Lights world because it's socommunity-based.
Yeah, I've had a very uniquejourney journey and it's been
like a slow burn.
I feel like things are allhappening right now in a really
(10:50):
crazy way, but that wholeprocess felt really special to
like know that there's peoplethat have been following me for
12 years.
Danger Foley (10:59):
It's like that's crazy Right, and with that comes
the growth as you were talkingabout with your music yeah um.
How has your music shifted inthe span of all these years?
Maddy O'Neal (11:13):
yeah, I mean I definitely get in, like I play a
lot of crossover festivals,which is cool that my music can
translate for sure and play,yeah, shows with not just
electronic artists, um, but alsolike the insomniacs of the
world and playing festivals likeLollapalooza, which is
(11:34):
definitely a crossover thing.
But I'm always inspired by,like, the position that I'm put
in.
You know, like who I'm playingbefore and after, and like even
staying at a festival for theday and kind of absorbing
different environments because Iplay a lot of different worlds.
So I think, subconsciously, alot of the experiences I've had
(11:56):
live have inspired the directionof my music.
Danger Foley (12:01):
Just the different energies.
Maddy O'Neal (12:03):
Yeah, yeah yeah, it's a lot like from that live
environment, um, but yeah, Idove much heavier into sound
design and trying to, you know,exist in the bass world, while
maintaining, like the beautifulorganic elements of what makes
(12:25):
my sound my sound, which I thinkI've finally found the right
way to do.
Danger Foley (12:32):
Do you know how to ?
Maddy O'Neal (12:32):
articulate it Well , I say like dirty, funky bass
music, but make it pretty, makeit pretty, you know.
You do say that yeah, so Idefinitely want to keep it
melodic and always incorporatesome organic elements that like
humanize it, but like I stillwant it to like smack you in the
face Totally.
Or like make you want to throwsome ass.
Danger Foley (12:55):
That's always the goal.
Maddy O'Neal (12:56):
Yeah.
Danger Foley (12:57):
Just if they're not throwing ass, then what's
the salt?
Maddy O'Neal (12:59):
for what is the point?
Danger Foley (13:00):
What is the salt for?
You know there's so manydifferent avenues that I want to
take this just based on thisalone.
But when you're talking aboutsound design and you're talking
about these collaborations, howdo you like to work with other
artists in terms of the sounddesign and in terms of how you
actually shape the track?
Maddy O'Neal (13:19):
Yeah, I mean, every collaboration is different
.
A lot of the collaborations onmy record were me starting an
idea and sending it to somebodyand letting them do their thing.
I like to give people a goodamount of creative freedom in a
collaboration and then send itback or get together and finish
it together, but I want someoneto feel like they can sprinkle
(13:43):
themselves in in the way thatthey want to.
otherwise it wouldn't be acollaboration you know, yeah, um
, I love working in person, butI do work with a lot of people
that don't live near me, and Ithink that's incredible that we
can yeah, what a time to bealive.
Yeah, we can do anythingremotely at any time.
So, yeah, it's fun just to haveno boundaries and to be
(14:09):
confident enough to reach out topeople like DJ Paul and, you
know, realizing that you'regoing to miss every opportunity
that you don't take.
So, like people are way moredown to work together than you
would think, you know, so justreaching out to people, and
taking your shot.
Danger Foley (14:28):
Would you say that that mindset is how you got to
be where you are?
Of just like just taking yes,every single chance 100?
Maddy O'Neal (14:39):
how?
How old were?
Danger Foley (14:40):
you when you first learned of that superpower,
because I really do think thatsuch a I, I live by the same
principle yeah um, and peoplelook at me and they're like god,
like you have balls, like you,you did what and and I'm in
complete agreeance Like it iscrazy how many amazing
(15:01):
opportunities people miss out onjust because they don't ask.
Maddy O'Neal (15:03):
They're like waiting for them to come to them
.
Right and it's like no yeah noone's coming to save you, closed
mouth does not get fed Exactly.
Danger Foley (15:11):
And so being a female in this industry and
having such influence over a lotof other females in the space,
like what would?
What advice would you givewomen that are trying to get
into the music industry, besidestaking every chance that you
(15:34):
can?
Maddy O'Neal (15:35):
I think a lot of it is back to, like, the
community aspect and really justlike reaching out to people,
like people are cooler and moreopen than you think and nobody
can do this by themselves.
You know there's so manyaspects of this and so many
things that need to align foryou to actually be successful
(15:57):
and make this a career, and alot of that is leaning on other
people and knowing what you wantand putting it out there and
making genuine connections and,you know, supporting each other
as a community, and that's onething that, like the Pretty
Lights world taught me early on.
It was all about the familythat was created.
(16:20):
Nelly, shout out, nelly, shoutout, nelly who hasn't even
officially been introduced yet.
Danger Foley (16:25):
This beautiful man in the corner, we call him a
cool sweet guy here in theDanger Den Cool sweet guy.
Cool sweet guy.
We call him a cool sweet guy,but this is Ryan Nellie.
He is the director-producer ofthis beautiful interview and
then in the corner.
If Beth wants to pop her headin the frame somewhere.
(16:47):
Wait no, right over here.
Right there, there it is there.
Maddy O'Neal (17:00):
It is Beth is the experiential producer of the
space and just the wizardWizardess Couldn't do anything
without these two.
Danger Foley (17:04):
So bring it back to the emotional piece of this
and the journey of it.
All of it all.
Talk to me about the not soshiny times of your career where
it might have been reallytempting to give up.
Maddy O'Neal (17:22):
I think, as any artist knows, there's plenty of
those moments.
It's such a roller coaster andyou really have to be all in
number one.
But yeah, I mean, I think thehardest thing that I had to
overcome was leaving my oldmusic project and starting over
as a solo artist in 2016.
Because I had put five yearsinto my old project and a lot of
(17:45):
work and a lot of you knowblood, sweat and tears already,
and then I was like, oh man, Igot to do that all over again.
But luckily I wasn't startingfrom zero.
I had all these people andrelationships that I had built
and everyone had my back andthey were like we're not going
to let you sit around and feelsorry for yourself, like you got
(18:09):
this, like here's a show.
Ryan Nelli (18:11):
No.
Maddy O'Neal (18:11):
Sadie O'Neal.
No Saddy O'Neal! She is dead.
But yeah, I mean, like thePretty Lights crew, including
yourself, um, just that,everybody.
Like Mikey Thunder, MichaelMenert, um, Phil, who's now my
manager, like people put thingson my books to inspire me.
(18:34):
Like, they were, like I was,like I don't want to play a show
until I have a full album'sworth of music.
I want to like come out showingpeople if they had any doubts
about me let them know shut thefuck up stay down, yeah,
Danger Foley (18:53):
stay down
Maddy O'Neal (18:54):
yeah without saying anything, right uh, but,
Danger Foley (18:58):
but make it pretty
Maddy O'Neal (18:58):
Yes, but make it pretty um, so luckily I had
really amazing support systemaround me for all of those
moments where you really want toquit and I just I never felt
alone in in doing that.
I always felt like there waswhere we were all looking out
for each other and you know,sometimes that's rare in this
(19:19):
industry.
Danger Foley (19:21):
I'd really I'd say that's a more unique story.
Maddy O'Neal (19:24):
Yeah for sure, and I've realized that over the
years, talking to other peopleand hearing their experiences,
and I'm like, wow, I had apretty special family,
especially in the early years,because I just felt like I was
like the baby of the crew.
You know, I mean dude, I mean,what can you say about watching
my journey?
Ryan Nelli (19:44):
Yeah, you were.
I mean, of course, I think Iwas 37 when I met you.
Maddy O'Neal (19:51):
Yeah, maybe 20.
Yeah, yeah, probably.
Ryan Nelli (19:53):
Yeah, I mean so you were the baby of the crew um.
My one of my best Michael,Menert, , was like kind of got
you on Super Best Records rightyep and so I think I met you at
Super Best Records debut, thatNew Year's party yeah, was that
at 1UP, 1UP?
Yeah, we put couches on thestage and we, just like we all,
lamped on stage together, youknow yeah, we would put couches
(20:14):
on the stage and yeah, we justmake it a vibe, but we just like
all stands like passing bottlesaround and smoking weed and you
know, and like it was like amafia of our own that's real bad
.
Maddy O'Neal (20:26):
I miss the type a little bit.
Ryan Nelli (20:28):
They're fun, man, yeah so I mean, I just got it
from la and I just met you thatday as my first, like week back
no way.
After six years being gone fromColorado.
So yeah, man, I saw it rightaway.
Michael was big uppi ng you andI saw what you guys were doing.
Um, obviously I feel like theMaddy O'Neal took on a whole new
like life, and yeah had i Itjust, I think that shot out of
(20:53):
the gate and it felt really goodimmediately.
And you, you, but you alsoworked really hard for a long
time and stayed true to yourwhat you were trying to do yeah,
um, and I didn't like expectanything right away.
Maddy O'Neal (21:05):
t knew it was going to take yeah me a minute
to figure it out and
Ryan Nelli (21:11):
There's no promises that you would, necessarily
we're gonna exactly, yeah butyou, just, you know, you're a
good example of someone thatjust stayed in it and it's like
one foot in front of the otherand you, you know you showed up
for yourself and people showedup for you, you know.
Maddy O'Neal (21:25):
Y eah.
Danger Foley (21:26):
Beautiful man yeah .
Ryan Nelli (21:28):
I'm warm right now.
Maddy O'Neal (21:31):
Don't make me cry, I just got fresh makeup.
Danger Foley (21:37):
But he told me um.
He was like I'm doing thislistening party at the Yacht C
lub.
He's like have you heard ofMaddy O'Neal?
and I was like I haven't.
And then I like listened to yourstuff and I was like this is
some like sick and dirty, likeLike this is like, yeah, it
makes you throw ass, yeah, itworks.
Maddy O'Neal (22:00):
I love the way that you said that.
Danger Foley (22:03):
I can confirm.
Maddy O'Neal (22:05):
It's like the lightest way to say it.
I love it,
Danger Foley (22:10):
yeah, no, it's It is such a big sound and
Maddy O'Neal (22:15):
I've been working on that.
Danger Foley (22:16):
I can't even imagine playing that in a big
venue.
What's been the best venue foryou to hear your music?
Maddy O'Neal (22:24):
Well, it's funny because I don't get to hear it
from the audience.
Red Rocks was insane, obviously.
One of my other favorite sets Idid this year was Electric
Forest.
I think I played for like thebiggest crowd I've ever played
for.
I was like it was 5pm onThursday and I was like are
(22:48):
people even here on Thursday?
And like cause it's been?
I haven't played for us since2018 and like people just like
filled in so quickly like assoon as I started I could not
see the end of the crowd and,yeah, that was like a very
unexpected moment banger setyeah, that sounds I was just
(23:10):
like holy shit like electricforest looked yeah so magical
it's.
It's one of the my favoritefestivals of all time.
Danger Foley (23:18):
I've never been
Maddy O'Neal (23:18):
and then I really, oh my god yeah but then I got
to do a house set on thehoneycomb yeah like the 360 in
the forest
Danger Foley (23:26):
with the disco balls hanging down right.
Is that what they are?
Maddy O'Neal (23:28):
I think they're like bubbles
Yeah, the bubbles um, yeah, thatwas.
That was a really insaneweekend and that was just the
summer yeah, I think it was inJune
Danger Foley (23:41):
was that a madhouse set?
Maddy O'Neal (23:43):
The the 360 was a madhouse set.
Yeah, which is perfect
Danger Foley (23:48):
Tell me about madhouse
Maddy O'Neal (23:50):
yeah, um, it's basically me DJing house music.
I didn't want to start a wholenew alias for my house project
because I've done that beforeand I didn't want to start over
with all the pages and socialmedia.
Yeah, that was part of it, butI think we did a good job of
(24:15):
like trying to differentiate thesets from each other enough so
that people like I don't wantpeople to come to a regular show
expecting me to play housemusic or vice versa.
So I wanted to be very carefulin how I branded that.
But I think that started overthe pandemic when I was live
(24:37):
streaming a lot and in my mainsets I was you know, I play I
try to play like 85% of my ownmusic and I knew that the same
people were tuning in over andover again and I was like, oh, I
don't want to just keep playingmy catalog.
So you know, know, we all had alot of time over the pandemic
(25:00):
and I fell in love some of uschose to spend it more wisely,
yeah well, I didn't produce alot, but I really dove into the
DJ aspect because I use Abletonfor my sets with like drum pads,
but I wasn't really as skilledon decks as I wanted to be, so I
used my PPP loan and I boughtthree thousands and then I like
(25:24):
really dove into house and likefell in love with it and like
realized it was there were somany more like sub genres and
any like every it went waydeeper than I thought.
You know, I kind of had likethis shitty mentality of like
from a producer perspective,like oh, it's just like the same
loop for both.
(25:45):
You know what I mean Like justlike being ignorant about it
until I really took the time todive in myself and found what
resonated with me.
Um, and yeah, it's so fun, andI'm about to start writing my
first house record, oh, or EP,which is very exciting.
Danger Foley (26:07):
That is so exciting yeah, where are you in
it?
Maddy O'Neal (26:09):
that's, it's not started it's not about to.
Yeah, I wanted to get thisrecord out and then kind of,
that's like the first thing thatI know that I'm gonna start on
in the next couple months, um,and so I've got some
collaborations and stuff tofinish first, but like, as far
as bigger projects go, that'skind of what I'm looking at and
(26:31):
we are collaborating on a housetrack yes, congratulations,
let's get a 10 inch record outfine, let's go
Danger Foley (26:38):
see our best records relaunch yeah, you heard
it here first, folks.
Yes, nelly super down MaddyO'Neal, that, I mean that sounds
fucking awesome.
Yeah, I'm really excited um, soyou're with your process yeah
you.
You talk about writing a track,then you talk about all of the
other pieces.
How long does it take you totypically write a house track?
Maddy O'Neal (27:01):
Well, you don't know yet but in terms of
actually no.
So me and Megan Hamilton,before the pandemic happened, we
were going to launch a ourhouse project called housewives
and we had like this wholevisual aspect.
We were like we're gonna smashvinyl and like sweep it up and
like we had all these fun ideasfor it, and then so she kind of
(27:24):
really got me into house music.
She was like dude, we have todo this, like it would be so fun
.
And then pandemic hit.
We even like had our logo andour branding ready to go and I
produced like four house tracksthat I never quite finished.
But then the pandemic happenedand our teams were like this is
(27:46):
a terrible time to start a newproject.
You know like there's nomomentum for shows.
You know everyone is likefreaking out, so we just like
put it on hold.
Maybe we'll launch it down theroad.
But when I'm on tour littlesamples or little things that
inspire me I'm always likeputting them in folders so that
(28:20):
when I go to sit down toactually write the record it's
not a blank canvas.
I'm like collecting ideas.
Danger Foley (28:25):
Totally.
Maddy O'Neal (28:26):
There's like a whole collecting piece of the
process before the writingactually starts.
Danger Foley (28:33):
First of all, let's talk about your setup.
What do you like to play with?
Maddy O'Neal (28:37):
For my main Maddy Live sets, which is what I
normally do when I'm playing mymusic in the bass world.
I use Ableton and two drum padMIDI controllers.
So I use an MPD-232 and aRoland SPDS.
The ancient one is still notbroken, protected at all costs.
(28:59):
Every time I bust it out peopleare like damn, that thing is
still around.
But I love doing it withAbleton because when I'm playing
so much of my own stuff, likewhen I finish a song, I always
look at like what I want to dolive or what I want to interact
with.
A lot of times it's percussionelements on the drum, yeah.
(29:23):
And then a lot of times it'slike the samples that I chopped
up, whether it's like vocalsamples or just like little you
know, the sparkly stuff, yeah,um, so yeah things that make it
pretty yes, yeah, um, but yeah,it's fun because I can I
pre-plan that when I finish thesong, knowing that I've been
(29:45):
doing it like that forever so.
I export the stems separatelyyou know, percussion stem, vocal
chops and then I put them ontomy drum pads and it's really fun
to do it that way and I loveCDJs and I'm glad that I could
do that on them also.
Yeah, but something about thatelement of playing live is
(30:08):
really special with Ableton,yeah yeah, and I could always do
that with CDJs too, and justlike have a drum pad on the side
, just for moments which I'vethought about.
But, yeah, I think it's likeit's a, it's a unique thing,
like I thought it was a negativething for a while.
(30:29):
Like that, if you were playingwith a bunch of people that used
CDJs, like you would be judged.
If you came up and you're likehere's my laptop.
Danger Foley (30:37):
You know what I mean.
Maddy O'Neal (30:39):
But the more I've stuck to my guns, it's actually
opened up opportunities for me,like being on the live stage
versus the DJ stage.
Like that's how I played ultra.
I would play it on the livestage because I had live
elements.
So, yeah, I think like alsotrusting yourself and what feels
good, like keep doing it Maddycame up to me one day.
Ryan Nelli (31:02):
We we ran into each other at some festival or
somewhere and she just like kindof sides sided up on me and she
was like, just so, you know, Ikind of feel like I figured out
djing.
She's like I think I finallycan say I'm a dj.
I think that was the exact wordoh, that is so mean I looked at
you.
Maddy O'Neal (31:19):
I was like, okay, okay, ma'am yeah, all right, I
was finally ready to yeah flexyeah, you said it very like,
flatly yeah and I just had Ilooked at you.
Ryan Nelli (31:28):
I said I believe you yeah she seemed like she and I
saw the the trajectory, I saidshe must be doing something
right, like I hadn't seen theshow in a second or something.
But yeah you know, and I waslike, okay, let me see what
she's doing.
And then, sure enough, I'veseen you work to cj 3000s.
Maddy O'Neal (31:43):
You can dj yeah, and I think being able to do
both, like the more I startedmixing outside of ableton, it
like it made me think about myproduction differently.
You know, like the intro outro.
You know like, just like the,the arrangements that I was
making and how they translatedlive it like really helped a lot
(32:04):
in that world too yeah, I think, and just DJing.
Ryan Nelli (32:07):
You're referencing music and in record box you see
the arrangement in a visual yesand you start queuing it up.
Yeah, and so not only is thesoftware analyzing it, but
you're analyzing it for sure andit teaches you about
arrangement.
It teaches you how to format.
It teaches you, yeah, you knowkind of what's and like the
tension zones and like yeah so,nelly, I want to actually hear
(32:31):
more from you about um.
Danger Foley (32:33):
when you first met Maddy and you saw that she was
going to fly with us, what doesthat look like in terms of what
made you think that?
Ryan Nelli (32:41):
I don't ever take anyone's success or trajectory
for granted or think they'regoing to make anything right
Like it's.
I understand the fragility ofthe path and what it takes, but
she never stopped.
There wasn't even a hiccup, youknow.
Maddy O'Neal (32:57):
The work ethic, I think.
Yeah, and a lot of peoplebelieved in me before I believed
in myself.
Yes, which is crazy, michael.
Ryan Nelli (33:06):
Mennert man.
You know, he's really one ofthe beautiful minds of the music
industry.
Maddy O'Neal (33:11):
He's a genius guy, and Mikey Thunder too.
Ryan Nelli (33:13):
Yeah, he's putting people on.
Yeah, these guys who, just like, rallied around you and kept
you close.
But it wasn't like you werepropped up through hype, it was
like you earned it through thenose and yeah, and that was like
a personal relationship thatwas hyping me up.
It wasn't like yeah, you had toshow up and play the shows.
I remember I went to your firstheadlining show at Cervantes
(33:35):
where you had the video rig andlike that was amazing, I was
like I think I was on a cane.
I was coming off an accident.
Maddy O'Neal (33:41):
It was the first time I left the house.
Ryan Nelli (33:44):
And I showed up.
I was like I'm going toactually get up from this like,
like in depressive state of youknow five surgeries I was in in
this motorcycle accident.
I totally forgot about thatyeah, but I popped out for her.
I was like damn Maddy, justlike stepped it up like 10
notches yeah, last stop amazing.
So, and and it's never stoppedit's just been this like I think
(34:07):
the last few years has been.
The graph has gone, yeah, yeahyeah, well, thank you.
Danger Foley (34:13):
And to talk more about that.
We're talking about the gritand the self talk and all of the
things that you need tosacrifice and work through what.
What has that been like for you?
Maddy O'Neal (34:27):
I realized early on that if you really want it,
you have to sacrifice everythingfor it.
You know, personalrelationships, a regular
lifestyle and like really beingable to step away from, like, a
(34:48):
social setting and saying no tothings to work.
Um, this isn't.
It's a lifestyle, not a careerLike every.
There's no off buttonnecessarily, um.
So I realized that right away.
But I think really when I honed,it was like I definitely went
(35:12):
through a pretty big party phase.
Um, and looking back on it,I've wasted a lot of time.
Luckily, the pandemic was kindof like a slap in the face to me
and it was like you're going toblow this If you continue.
Like you have such anopportunity that people would
kill for to be in your positionand to have the relationships
(35:33):
and the connections andeverything that I had, and I
wasn't working as hard as Icould have been, and so I like
took a step back.
I kind of like refocus my entirevision over the pandemic.
Even though I wasn't actuallymaking a lot of music, I really
took a lot of time to likevisualize where I wanted to be,
(35:53):
hone some other skills that Iwasn't necessarily where I
wanted to be on, like you know,diving into sound design and
mixing and DJing.
And yeah, and like now whereI'm, where I am, now I can
legitimately say I could not beworking any harder.
And like when I could finallysay that to myself is when I got
(36:17):
over the imposter syndrome thatI had because you felt like you
actually, yeah, I was like Ifucking couldn't give it anymore
.
Danger Foley (36:22):
I was like I literally couldn't be working
any harder, you know and toprobably hear the change in the
quality of what you were able toput out in terms of a
performance.
Maddy O'Neal (36:35):
The benefits of my work and like legitimately
feeling like I was always movingforward and getting better and
learning things constantly.
That was definitely a pivotalmoment for me.
I was like mature enough, I hadseen enough, I'd done the
partying, I knew what I wantedand I just kind of like made a
(36:57):
plan for myself and, yeah, it'sbeen very rewarding to know that
that works.
Danger Foley (37:04):
So what does it feel like when it actually
clicks and when you realize thatyou have a formula for
continuing to progress in yourcareer?
Maddy O'Neal (37:15):
It always feels good to feel like you're growing
.
I never want to feel stagnantand I think when you realize
that you are in charge of thatis pretty powerful, like there's
endless information out there.
There's so many differentthings that you can do to level
up and focus on and you know,it's ever evolving.
(37:38):
With, like technology andsocial media, like now we have
to be content creators and playa million different roles and I
think I was fighting.
A lot of people fight thesocial media thing and they're
like, like it's so awkward Idon't know how to like interact
and like once you realize it'snot going away, you have to find
a way to make things work foryou and to figure out how to,
(38:01):
how to connect with people in away that feels good too.
So I think that's a big part ofit.
Unfortunately, you know we wejust have to have that time
(38:21):
online and yeah, the ones thatthrive are the ones that adapt.
Danger Foley (38:26):
It's not necessarily that you get so good
at one thing, because then ifthat thing changes or is no
longer an option, right thenyou're totally fucked exactly um
you can't like hate on otherpeople either like have you
dealt with the negative, youknow, the trolling and things
like that on social media and um, yeah, how does, how does that
piece affect you?
Maddy O'Neal (38:47):
honestly, I don't have a ton of a ton of haters.
I think some people are comingout of the woodworks more so now
that I'm becoming moresuccessful but they're all like
random people that know nothingabout me or my project.
You know, it's like my ad willhit the wrong.
Go to the wrong side of theinternet.
Danger Foley (39:06):
They threw it over there just to cause a ruckus?
Yeah, just to see what wouldhappen.
Maddy O'Neal (39:09):
Yeah, but you know you have to brush it off like
the right people will find yeah,find, and I think that I have a
really strong relationship withmy fans because a lot of them
have been along the ride, andtrying to cultivate that
community outside of me is alsoa cool thing.
(39:32):
That to to try to do if you'rean up-and-coming artist is like
connect your fans with eachother, so it's not like you are
this entity.
You're creating a communitythat exists outside of your
presence and how do you do that?
um, do like I have like my madsquad, like Facebook group um,
(39:52):
now they have that on Instagramto like creating little
communities or having likemeetups at festivals so that you
know people can come do a meetand greet, but they also see who
else is interested in the samethings and a lot of you know
people make organic connectionsthat way.
So, yeah, there's a lot ofcreative ways to try and do that
(40:13):
and I think that's a cool thingto do.
Danger Foley (40:16):
Absolutely.
Have you heard of any storiesof people meeting through you or
through your music?
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,like shows.
Maddy O'Neal (40:25):
And I mean one of the biggest compliments that
I've gotten is like that thecrowds at my shows are awesome.
You know very big compliment.
Danger Foley (40:31):
Yeah, are awesome you know, that's a very big
compliment yeah because you knowthose are the people that
you're attracting.
Maddy O'Neal (40:36):
And it sucks when you go to a show and you really
like the music, but like thecrowd is just like awful or like
falling over this or that, andso, yeah, I'm proud of that
aspect as well.
Danger Foley (40:50):
Another big piece of the crowd's experience at a
show, and something that reallyimpacts the energy, is the
visuals.
Yeah, and you pay a lot ofattention to your visuals.
Tell me about what goes throughyour thought process when
you're yeah, I mean the biggerand bigger stages that I'm
playing.
Maddy O'Neal (41:10):
I realize that I do have control over the whole
audio-visual experience together.
It's really important to feellike that is on brand.
It took me a really long timeto find a graphic designer that
literally resonated with.
I was like your visuals feellike my music, you know, and so
(41:35):
what I've been doing for that islike anytime I finish a song or
a piece of art, I animate itand turn it into visuals so that
it's all like cohesive andflows into the live setting.
Danger Foley (41:48):
Amazing.
Maddy O'Neal (41:48):
Yeah.
Danger Foley (41:49):
And so this is all just a part of the conveyor
belt, of how it all works 100%and so, by the time the album is
finished, everything isbuttoned up and has a bow on it
yep, I have animation, showvisuals of all the singles, all
my album art and yeah it'slocked.
Yeah, locked in.
That is awesome.
(42:11):
I'm learning a lot right now,yeah, so want to talk about
October 8th.
Do you have any plans tocelebrate?
I mean, other than, yeah, thisis.
Maddy O'Neal (42:22):
I was going to do another like public album
release party, but I might justdo like a merch pop up and maybe
be like playing it casually,less of like a, because this is,
this is kind of like coversthat base of like celebrating
with my people.
Um, but I am working on.
This is a little further away,but I just booked my biggest
(42:44):
denver headline for next yearholy shit, congratulations very
exciting.
Um, amazing it's.
Yeah, it's a big deal.
I'm excited to announce that.
Danger Foley (42:53):
But not yet.
I'm excited.
Ryan Nelli (42:55):
That's a little teaser yeah, it's got to be the
mission stop we don't know, I'mnot gonna say I'm gonna call it
right here, right now that's ait's an interesting prediction
there.
See how it plays out so whereelse did the Ogden.
Maddy O'Neal (43:10):
There is a very specific trajectory in Colorado,
the lily pad jump, yes, totally.
Danger Foley (43:18):
It's a fun little pond to play in.
There's so many good venueshere.
What's your favorite inColorado in terms of whether
you've played it or have yet toplay it?
Maddy O'Neal (43:29):
Yeah, I mean, you can't touch red rock, so that's
that's not.
Danger Foley (43:33):
We won't include that?
Maddy O'Neal (43:35):
um cervantes definitely holds a special place
in my heart because all ofthose you know that's just like
the heart and soul of the denverscene, um, and I've had a lot
of amazing memories there andmet a lot of the people that are
now near and dear to me at thatvenue Friends with all the
staff and Scott Morrill.
Danger Foley (43:58):
Should we go doorbell?
Dutch Duncan.
Maddy O'Neal (44:00):
Oh, yeah, we should.
Danger Foley (44:01):
Actually I think he said he's out of town.
Oh damn it.
Okay, he was right next door.
Maddy O'Neal (44:05):
Yeah, but that's like.
I say that to anybody thatdoesn't know.
Denver I'm like Cervantes isthe cultural center of the
Denver music scene and willalways be, in my opinion.
Danger Foley (44:16):
So yeah, it's a very, very special place for
sure.
Yeah, so to bring it fullcircle, Vital Signs October 8th.
Is there anything else that youwant people to know going into
the album that would make it adifferent experience to listen
to?
Maddy O'Neal (44:33):
it.
I can confidently say it's mybest work, which is exciting.
It's 10 tracks.
It's in true form to me.
I cover a lot of bases, youknow.
There's a little drum and bass,some future bassy stuff.
There's the trap anthem with DJPaul.
There's a houseier song withCherub.
(44:53):
That's the fun part aboutwriting a record is I feel like
I have a little bit more freedomto expand and experiment
without, you know, catchingpeople off guard too much.
Yeah, I'm excited for people tohear it.
I've definitely been working onthis record feels big to me,
(45:15):
like sonically.
I've been working on my sounddesign and making things feel
like larger than life andthinking about them in a big
live setting.
So I'm really proud of how Iwas able to hone that on this
record too.
Danger Foley (45:33):
I cannot wait to listen to it.
I am so excited to hear all ofthe hard work and it's an honor
truly to have you here sharingyour listening party experience
with us.
Maddy O'Neal (45:46):
Yeah, it's been an honor already and I'm excited
to share the record with a lotof my favorite people and the
extended family that I'm meetingtoday.
Yeah, dog, Finally, Finally, Iknow.
Yeah, thanks for having me, andI think a lot of people are
scared of like celebrating theirwork or themselves, and you
(46:09):
even had to catch me with likepart of the invitation.
I was like I don't know if weshould put that second part of
you.
Know you gassing me up andyou're like I think we should
let yourself yeah.
So I think it's cool to be in aposition now that I don't I'm
not afraid to celebrate, like Iknow that I worked my ass off
and we should celebrate eachother and our accomplishments.
(46:31):
And like ass off and we shouldcelebrate each other and our
accomplishments and like not beafraid of that, because so much
of this happens behind thescenes you know by yourself, but
it's a such so much work goesinto making a full length album
and because of social media, youknow people are like on to the
next all the time.
So I think it's reallyimportant to pause and celebrate
those moments and thanks formaking it happen for me.
Danger Foley (46:54):
Couldn't agree more.
And yeah, let's go get back tocelebrating.
We have a dinner with some ofMaddy friends and then we will
be hosting her listening partythis evening.
So we are going to go get backto that.
Thank you so much for tuning in, Maddy.
Thank you again.
Thanks guys, ryan.
Thank you, Maddy thank youagain.
Ryan Nelli (47:10):
Thanks, guys Brilliant guys.
Maddy O'Neal (47:10):
Thank you, brilliant.
Danger Foley (47:12):
This is a phenomenal launching point.
Maddy O'Neal (47:15):
Holy shit, yeah, yeah, yeah, whoa.
Danger Foley (47:18):
Yes.
Maddy O'Neal (47:19):
Stick to those guns, stick to those guns, check
those vital signs.
Danger Foley (47:21):
Yes, listen to the album.
Welcome to the Danger Den podcast.
I'm your host, Danger Foley,and the Danger Den is a home-
away- from- home for musiciansand artists to create, recharge
and share their experienceswhile touring through Denver,
Colorado.
In each episode, we'll go deepwith the humans behind the art
we love.
Today, I have the privilege ofsitting with the immensely
talented DJ and producer, MaddyO'Neal.
(00:21):
Maddy just released her thirdstudio album, Vital Signs, and
she's currently on her fall tour, so make sure to check out her
dates so you don't miss her.
Our conversation goes muchdeeper than music and I know
it's going to inspire you, sosit back, take a deep breath.
Thank you for being here.
Let's get dangerous.
(00:48):
Oh man, what a day.
Yeah, this is the firstofficial episode of the Danger
Den podcast.
I am here with Maddy O'Neill,one of the most inspiring, in my
opinion, female DJs andproducers in the industry, and I
get to sit with her as my firstguest.
Maddy O'Neal (01:10):
I am honored.
Thanks for having me.
It's been an epic day alreadyand what a beautiful space to be
able to celebrate.
Yeah, yeah, I'm just happy tobe here.
Danger Foley (01:20):
So, to give some context as to what the Danger
Den is, we have created aprivate home away from home for
musicians who are passingthrough Denver.
It's become so clear howdifficult it can be to take care
of yourself when you'retraveling music.
(01:46):
In my opinion, um, it's reallyimportant to keep the artists in
a place where they're able tocreate from a place of like that
authentic, you know, purpose.
So tell me about the lastcouple months you played on the
first female lineup in historyat Red Rocks yeah with rez, yeah
and then immediately went toplay Burning Man yep talk to me
about it.
Maddy O'Neal (02:05):
I think that was the craziest week of my entire
life.
Well, for sure was.
Um, yeah, made some history.
I played direct support forREZZ at Red Rocks and that was
my fourth time playing, but thefirst time I played a sold out
direct support show.
So I had like full volume, fullproduction and just like where
(02:29):
I'm at in my career.
I felt like I was so ready forthat moment.
Um.
So there was all thepreparation leading up to that
and if it wasn't for thatbooking, I was planning to go to
Burning Man for the full week.
Um, but that came through and Iwas like you know what, even if
I can only be there for threedays, I'm gonna make it happen.
(02:50):
It sounds a little crazy, butI'm just gonna not party after
Red Rocks and just go straightinto Burning Man.
Hot.
And then I played three setsthere, two on the first day when
I came in and I was just likeon a cloud, like coming from
that night.
So yeah, adrenaline is the hellof a drug.
Danger Foley (03:10):
It sure is.
And you got caught in the duststorm on the way out of Burning
Man.
Maddy O'Neal (03:16):
Yes.
Danger Foley (03:17):
So how long did it take you to get home?
Maddy O'Neal (03:20):
So we kind of I didn't really have like a clear
exit plan.
Danger Foley (03:24):
I was just kind of like winging it, so you didn't
need to be back for certain, butI wanted to get out before it
got really crazy.
Maddy O'Neal (03:31):
So I played two sets on Saturday and then one on
Sunday, which was actuallyhilarious because the dust storm
happened during the day and Iwas supposed to play it like 530
, like all the way across theplaya and I almost didn't go
because I was like I can't seetwo feet in front of my face and
(03:51):
I was like you know what?
I came all the way here gearedup and I like knew it was
directly across and I and I justlike pedaled by myself until I
like popped out of a cloudexactly where I was supposed to
be, literally exactly like rightin front of the camp that I was
supposed to play, and I waslike holy shit, like that is
(04:12):
some Burning Man, miraculousthings.
Yeah, I was just like all right, cool, and my bike died on the
way too, so I was like just likehuffing with my big tired bike.
Danger Foley (04:25):
Yeah yeah, it feels so much more difficult to
pedal an e-bike than it does aregular bike, it's like three
times the workout.
Maddy O'Neal (04:32):
It's so heavy.
Yeah, mine died too and Icouldn't see, so it was like a
fucking mission.
Danger Foley (04:37):
This will end at some point.
I'll be on the other side ofthis.
Maddy O'Neal (04:41):
But I ended up playing for like two and a half
hours.
They were just like keep going.
Danger Foley (04:44):
What was your set time allotted for?
Maddy O'Neal (04:46):
It was just an hour and it was just such a vibe
and I just yeah, so I'm glad Ididn't bail For real.
Danger Foley (04:53):
I was like you know what.
Maddy O'Neal (04:54):
I'm going to do it .
Danger Foley (04:59):
And yeah, looking back, that probably was one of
the most legendary weeks.
Maddy O'Neal (05:01):
Yeah, yeah, as you said for sure I came in with
some fresh serotonin foreverybody.
Danger Foley (05:04):
Yeah definitely yeah, the happiest girl on earth
vital signs yeah, it's yourthird album yeah,
congratulations yeah it's comingout October 8th yep.
First of all, how did you comeup with the title of the album?
Maddy O'Neal (05:17):
so I think I started writing this or like
knew it was an album at the verybeginning of this year, like in
January.
I had the craziest touringschedule ever last year I played
almost 100 shows and I was likehonestly kind of burnt out by
the end of the year and I was soready to just like lock myself
(05:38):
in the studio and like go backto the inspiration you know
filling my cup of like why?
I'm out there playing music, youknow.
So I really just like dove inand I knew it was time to write
my next full body of work.
I just felt it.
(05:58):
So that's when I startedwriting it, and I think it
wasn't until like halfwaythrough that I titled it.
But definitely the inspirationwas like we're living in such a
crazy time right now, like sooverstimulated and there's a lot
of anxious energy happeningfrom all angles, from all angles
(06:22):
and like I had to remind myselfeven coming off of the tour
that I did that like just likepause and like check in with
yourself and like like the vitalsigns, like just like check in
with your body, you know, andjust have those moments.
(06:42):
So that's kind of where theinspiration came from for the
title title and a lot of theinspiration for the music.
I really wanted to take it backto my roots and where I came
from, like the electro soulstuff like with the resurgence
of Pretty Lights and the familythat I kind of came up with I
was definitely feeling inspiredby that sound again came up with
(07:06):
.
I was definitely feelinginspired by that sound again.
I feel like I've evolved overthe years and kind of strayed
away from the more like samplingvinyl and the way that I got
into music a little bit, and soI wanted to kind of incorporate
the whole spectrum of what hasinspired me up until now.
So a lot of the collaborationsare people that have been around
for my whole journey, likeCherub and Prop Cause.
Danger Foley (07:31):
How do you always Three, six mafia yeah?
Maddy O'Neal (07:37):
Three, six mafia.
Ryan Nelli (07:38):
So You're wild, for that I know yeah.
Danger Foley (07:41):
I want to hear more about each of these.
Like was this as big of a dealfor you as a fan as it was from
a production standpoint?
Like did you grow up listeningto?
Maddy O'Neal (07:52):
Three 6.
Danger Foley (07:53):
Mafia and Cherub.
Maddy O'Neal (07:55):
Yeah, I mean, I didn't.
I didn't grow up listening toCherub.
Definitely Three, 6 Mafia.
Danger Foley (07:59):
Yeah.
Maddy O'Neal (08:01):
And I'm there.
Those two are kind of connected.
So in 2018, I think this was mybiggest tour I've ever done.
It was like two and a halfmonths on a bus with Cherub
Crazy, craziest tour I've everdone in my life.
And they were good friends withDJ Paul and, just like that
(08:21):
whole camp, they hadcollaborated together and they
connected me.
We met on tour and at the time Iwas just like I need to make
this collab happen, like it'sgot to be a very specific thing.
I'll know when I write the songthat I want to send to DJ Paul
and we talked about it like lastyear, but he was really busy.
(08:44):
And then I saw him at Bonnarooand he was like yo, year that he
was really busy.
And then I saw him at Bonnarooand he was like yo, is that
track still available?
And I was like no, it's alreadyout, but I can write another
one.
So I said this was like a trap,the trap anthem on the record.
And he wrote to it like thenext day when I sold, sent it to
him.
So he must have been elated,he's such a cool dude Like it
(09:07):
was an amazing experience, wow,and very full circle for sure.
Danger Foley (09:11):
It feels like you've had quite almost feels
like for lack of a better termlike divinely inspired path of,
like the way that it's gone downfor you.
Yeah, path of like the way thatit's gone down for you.
Maddy O'Neal (09:24):
Yeah, tell me about like, just like the
genesis of your career and thePretty Lights and how, like it
just feels so serendipitous,like it feels yeah, I mean, I
think part of my brand and who Iam as an artist is like I've
tried to be like as authentic aspossible throughout my whole
journey.
Because, like I've tried to belike as authentic as possible
(09:45):
throughout my whole journey,because like I've grown as a
person as my art has evolved andI really wanted to be authentic
and sharing that experience andI feel that from my fans like I
was in a duo project and then Istarted the solo thing and
people saw me go through thattransition and then they keep
following me and like seeing theglow up and the evolution and I
(10:08):
think that's a really coolthing for fans to be able to see
.
And like even the the rough shitthat I went through, you know,
like without being too exposingmy life too much, I wanted to be
real about it.
Um, and I hear that from myfans it's so cool to feel like
(10:28):
I've been a part of this withyou.
I think it's unique to Coloradotoo, in a sense, and the Pretty
Lights world because it's socommunity-based.
Yeah, I've had a very uniquejourney journey and it's been
like a slow burn.
I feel like things are allhappening right now in a really
(10:50):
crazy way, but that wholeprocess felt really special to
like know that there's peoplethat have been following me for
12 years.
Danger Foley (10:59):
It's like that's crazy Right, and with that comes
the growth as you were talkingabout with your music yeah um.
How has your music shifted inthe span of all these years?
Maddy O'Neal (11:13):
yeah, I mean I definitely get in, like I play a
lot of crossover festivals,which is cool that my music can
translate for sure and play,yeah, shows with not just
electronic artists, um, but alsolike the insomniacs of the
world and playing festivals likeLollapalooza, which is
(11:34):
definitely a crossover thing.
But I'm always inspired by,like, the position that I'm put
in.
You know, like who I'm playingbefore and after, and like even
staying at a festival for theday and kind of absorbing
different environments because Iplay a lot of different worlds.
So I think, subconsciously, alot of the experiences I've had
(11:56):
live have inspired the directionof my music.
Danger Foley (12:01):
Just the different energies.
Maddy O'Neal (12:03):
Yeah, yeah yeah, it's a lot like from that live
environment, um, but yeah, Idove much heavier into sound
design and trying to, you know,exist in the bass world, while
maintaining, like the beautifulorganic elements of what makes
(12:25):
my sound my sound, which I thinkI've finally found the right
way to do.
Danger Foley (12:32):
Do you know how to ?
Maddy O'Neal (12:32):
articulate it Well , I say like dirty, funky bass
music, but make it pretty, makeit pretty, you know.
You do say that yeah, so Idefinitely want to keep it
melodic and always incorporatesome organic elements that like
humanize it, but like I stillwant it to like smack you in the
face Totally.
Or like make you want to throwsome ass.
Danger Foley (12:55):
That's always the goal.
Maddy O'Neal (12:56):
Yeah.
Danger Foley (12:57):
Just if they're not throwing ass, then what's
the salt?
Maddy O'Neal (12:59):
for what is the point?
Danger Foley (13:00):
What is the salt for?
You know there's so manydifferent avenues that I want to
take this just based on thisalone.
But when you're talking aboutsound design and you're talking
about these collaborations, howdo you like to work with other
artists in terms of the sounddesign and in terms of how you
actually shape the track?
Maddy O'Neal (13:19):
Yeah, I mean, every collaboration is different
.
A lot of the collaborations onmy record were me starting an
idea and sending it to somebodyand letting them do their thing.
I like to give people a goodamount of creative freedom in a
collaboration and then send itback or get together and finish
it together, but I want someoneto feel like they can sprinkle
(13:43):
themselves in in the way thatthey want to.
otherwise it wouldn't be acollaboration you know, yeah, um
, I love working in person, butI do work with a lot of people
that don't live near me, and Ithink that's incredible that we
can yeah, what a time to bealive.
Yeah, we can do anythingremotely at any time.
So, yeah, it's fun just to haveno boundaries and to be
(14:09):
confident enough to reach out topeople like DJ Paul and, you
know, realizing that you'regoing to miss every opportunity
that you don't take.
So, like people are way moredown to work together than you
would think, you know, so justreaching out to people, and
taking your shot.
Danger Foley (14:28):
Would you say that that mindset is how you got to
be where you are?
Of just like just taking yes,every single chance 100?
Maddy O'Neal (14:39):
how?
How old were?
Danger Foley (14:40):
you when you first learned of that superpower,
because I really do think thatsuch a I, I live by the same
principle yeah um, and peoplelook at me and they're like god,
like you have balls, like you,you did what and and I'm in
complete agreeance Like it iscrazy how many amazing
(15:01):
opportunities people miss out onjust because they don't ask.
Maddy O'Neal (15:03):
They're like waiting for them to come to them
.
Right and it's like no yeah noone's coming to save you, closed
mouth does not get fed Exactly.
Danger Foley (15:11):
And so being a female in this industry and
having such influence over a lotof other females in the space,
like what would?
What advice would you givewomen that are trying to get
into the music industry, besidestaking every chance that you
(15:34):
can?
Maddy O'Neal (15:35):
I think a lot of it is back to, like, the
community aspect and really justlike reaching out to people,
like people are cooler and moreopen than you think and nobody
can do this by themselves.
You know there's so manyaspects of this and so many
things that need to align foryou to actually be successful
(15:57):
and make this a career, and alot of that is leaning on other
people and knowing what you wantand putting it out there and
making genuine connections and,you know, supporting each other
as a community, and that's onething that, like the Pretty
Lights world taught me early on.
It was all about the familythat was created.
(16:20):
Nelly, shout out, nelly, shoutout, nelly who hasn't even
officially been introduced yet.
Danger Foley (16:25):
This beautiful man in the corner, we call him a
cool sweet guy here in theDanger Den Cool sweet guy.
Cool sweet guy.
We call him a cool sweet guy,but this is Ryan Nellie.
He is the director-producer ofthis beautiful interview and
then in the corner.
If Beth wants to pop her headin the frame somewhere.
(16:47):
Wait no, right over here.
Right there, there it is there.
Maddy O'Neal (17:00):
It is Beth is the experiential producer of the
space and just the wizardWizardess Couldn't do anything
without these two.
Danger Foley (17:04):
So bring it back to the emotional piece of this
and the journey of it.
All of it all.
Talk to me about the not soshiny times of your career where
it might have been reallytempting to give up.
Maddy O'Neal (17:22):
I think, as any artist knows, there's plenty of
those moments.
It's such a roller coaster andyou really have to be all in
number one.
But yeah, I mean, I think thehardest thing that I had to
overcome was leaving my oldmusic project and starting over
as a solo artist in 2016.
Because I had put five yearsinto my old project and a lot of
(17:45):
work and a lot of you knowblood, sweat and tears already,
and then I was like, oh man, Igot to do that all over again.
But luckily I wasn't startingfrom zero.
I had all these people andrelationships that I had built
and everyone had my back andthey were like we're not going
to let you sit around and feelsorry for yourself, like you got
(18:09):
this, like here's a show.
Ryan Nelli (18:11):
No.
Maddy O'Neal (18:11):
Sadie O'Neal.
No Saddy O'Neal! She is dead.
But yeah, I mean, like thePretty Lights crew, including
yourself, um, just that,everybody.
Like Mikey Thunder, MichaelMenert, um, Phil, who's now my
manager, like people put thingson my books to inspire me.
(18:34):
Like, they were, like I was,like I don't want to play a show
until I have a full album'sworth of music.
I want to like come out showingpeople if they had any doubts
about me let them know shut thefuck up stay down, yeah,
Danger Foley (18:53):
stay down
Maddy O'Neal (18:54):
yeah without saying anything, right uh, but,
Danger Foley (18:58):
but make it pretty
Maddy O'Neal (18:58):
Yes, but make it pretty um, so luckily I had
really amazing support systemaround me for all of those
moments where you really want toquit and I just I never felt
alone in in doing that.
I always felt like there waswhere we were all looking out
for each other and you know,sometimes that's rare in this
(19:19):
industry.
Danger Foley (19:21):
I'd really I'd say that's a more unique story.
Maddy O'Neal (19:24):
Yeah for sure, and I've realized that over the
years, talking to other peopleand hearing their experiences,
and I'm like, wow, I had apretty special family,
especially in the early years,because I just felt like I was
like the baby of the crew.
You know, I mean dude, I mean,what can you say about watching
my journey?
Ryan Nelli (19:44):
Yeah, you were.
I mean, of course, I think Iwas 37 when I met you.
Maddy O'Neal (19:51):
Yeah, maybe 20.
Yeah, yeah, probably.
Ryan Nelli (19:53):
Yeah, I mean so you were the baby of the crew um.
My one of my best Michael,Menert, , was like kind of got
you on Super Best Records rightyep and so I think I met you at
Super Best Records debut, thatNew Year's party yeah, was that
at 1UP, 1UP?
Yeah, we put couches on thestage and we, just like we all,
lamped on stage together, youknow yeah, we would put couches
(20:14):
on the stage and yeah, we justmake it a vibe, but we just like
all stands like passing bottlesaround and smoking weed and you
know, and like it was like amafia of our own that's real bad
.
Maddy O'Neal (20:26):
I miss the type a little bit.
Ryan Nelli (20:28):
They're fun, man, yeah so I mean, I just got it
from la and I just met you thatday as my first, like week back
no way.
After six years being gone fromColorado.
So yeah, man, I saw it rightaway.
Michael was big uppi ng you andI saw what you guys were doing.
Um, obviously I feel like theMaddy O'Neal took on a whole new
like life, and yeah had i Itjust, I think that shot out of
(20:53):
the gate and it felt really goodimmediately.
And you, you, but you alsoworked really hard for a long
time and stayed true to yourwhat you were trying to do yeah,
um, and I didn't like expectanything right away.
Maddy O'Neal (21:05):
t knew it was going to take yeah me a minute
to figure it out and
Ryan Nelli (21:11):
There's no promises that you would, necessarily
we're gonna exactly, yeah butyou, just, you know, you're a
good example of someone thatjust stayed in it and it's like
one foot in front of the otherand you, you know you showed up
for yourself and people showedup for you, you know.
Maddy O'Neal (21:25):
Y eah.
Danger Foley (21:26):
Beautiful man yeah .
Ryan Nelli (21:28):
I'm warm right now.
Maddy O'Neal (21:31):
Don't make me cry, I just got fresh makeup.
Danger Foley (21:37):
But he told me um.
He was like I'm doing thislistening party at the Yacht C
lub.
He's like have you heard ofMaddy O'Neal?
and I was like I haven't.
And then I like listened to yourstuff and I was like this is
some like sick and dirty, likeLike this is like, yeah, it
makes you throw ass, yeah, itworks.
Maddy O'Neal (22:00):
I love the way that you said that.
Danger Foley (22:03):
I can confirm.
Maddy O'Neal (22:05):
It's like the lightest way to say it.
I love it,
Danger Foley (22:10):
yeah, no, it's It is such a big sound and
Maddy O'Neal (22:15):
I've been working on that.
Danger Foley (22:16):
I can't even imagine playing that in a big
venue.
What's been the best venue foryou to hear your music?
Maddy O'Neal (22:24):
Well, it's funny because I don't get to hear it
from the audience.
Red Rocks was insane, obviously.
One of my other favorite sets Idid this year was Electric
Forest.
I think I played for like thebiggest crowd I've ever played
for.
I was like it was 5pm onThursday and I was like are
(22:48):
people even here on Thursday?
And like cause it's been?
I haven't played for us since2018 and like people just like
filled in so quickly like assoon as I started I could not
see the end of the crowd and,yeah, that was like a very
unexpected moment banger setyeah, that sounds I was just
(23:10):
like holy shit like electricforest looked yeah so magical
it's.
It's one of the my favoritefestivals of all time.
Danger Foley (23:18):
I've never been
Maddy O'Neal (23:18):
and then I really, oh my god yeah but then I got
to do a house set on thehoneycomb yeah like the 360 in
the forest
Danger Foley (23:26):
with the disco balls hanging down right.
Is that what they are?
Maddy O'Neal (23:28):
I think they're like bubbles
Yeah, the bubbles um, yeah, thatwas.
That was a really insaneweekend and that was just the
summer yeah, I think it was inJune
Danger Foley (23:41):
was that a madhouse set?
Maddy O'Neal (23:43):
The the 360 was a madhouse set.
Yeah, which is perfect
Danger Foley (23:48):
Tell me about madhouse
Maddy O'Neal (23:50):
yeah, um, it's basically me DJing house music.
I didn't want to start a wholenew alias for my house project
because I've done that beforeand I didn't want to start over
with all the pages and socialmedia.
Yeah, that was part of it, butI think we did a good job of
(24:15):
like trying to differentiate thesets from each other enough so
that people like I don't wantpeople to come to a regular show
expecting me to play housemusic or vice versa.
So I wanted to be very carefulin how I branded that.
But I think that started overthe pandemic when I was live
(24:37):
streaming a lot and in my mainsets I was you know, I play I
try to play like 85% of my ownmusic and I knew that the same
people were tuning in over andover again and I was like, oh, I
don't want to just keep playingmy catalog.
So you know, know, we all had alot of time over the pandemic
(25:00):
and I fell in love some of uschose to spend it more wisely,
yeah well, I didn't produce alot, but I really dove into the
DJ aspect because I use Abletonfor my sets with like drum pads,
but I wasn't really as skilledon decks as I wanted to be, so I
used my PPP loan and I boughtthree thousands and then I like
(25:24):
really dove into house and likefell in love with it and like
realized it was there were somany more like sub genres and
any like every it went waydeeper than I thought.
You know, I kind of had likethis shitty mentality of like
from a producer perspective,like oh, it's just like the same
loop for both.
(25:45):
You know what I mean Like justlike being ignorant about it
until I really took the time todive in myself and found what
resonated with me.
Um, and yeah, it's so fun, andI'm about to start writing my
first house record, oh, or EP,which is very exciting.
Danger Foley (26:07):
That is so exciting yeah, where are you in
it?
Maddy O'Neal (26:09):
that's, it's not started it's not about to.
Yeah, I wanted to get thisrecord out and then kind of,
that's like the first thing thatI know that I'm gonna start on
in the next couple months, um,and so I've got some
collaborations and stuff tofinish first, but like, as far
as bigger projects go, that'skind of what I'm looking at and
(26:31):
we are collaborating on a housetrack yes, congratulations,
let's get a 10 inch record outfine, let's go
Danger Foley (26:38):
see our best records relaunch yeah, you heard
it here first, folks.
Yes, nelly super down MaddyO'Neal, that, I mean that sounds
fucking awesome.
Yeah, I'm really excited um, soyou're with your process yeah
you.
You talk about writing a track,then you talk about all of the
other pieces.
How long does it take you totypically write a house track?
Maddy O'Neal (27:01):
Well, you don't know yet but in terms of
actually no.
So me and Megan Hamilton,before the pandemic happened, we
were going to launch a ourhouse project called housewives
and we had like this wholevisual aspect.
We were like we're gonna smashvinyl and like sweep it up and
like we had all these fun ideasfor it, and then so she kind of
(27:24):
really got me into house music.
She was like dude, we have todo this, like it would be so fun
.
And then pandemic hit.
We even like had our logo andour branding ready to go and I
produced like four house tracksthat I never quite finished.
But then the pandemic happenedand our teams were like this is
(27:46):
a terrible time to start a newproject.
You know like there's nomomentum for shows.
You know everyone is likefreaking out, so we just like
put it on hold.
Maybe we'll launch it down theroad.
But when I'm on tour littlesamples or little things that
inspire me I'm always likeputting them in folders so that
(28:20):
when I go to sit down toactually write the record it's
not a blank canvas.
I'm like collecting ideas.
Danger Foley (28:25):
Totally.
Maddy O'Neal (28:26):
There's like a whole collecting piece of the
process before the writingactually starts.
Danger Foley (28:33):
First of all, let's talk about your setup.
What do you like to play with?
Maddy O'Neal (28:37):
For my main Maddy Live sets, which is what I
normally do when I'm playing mymusic in the bass world.
I use Ableton and two drum padMIDI controllers.
So I use an MPD-232 and aRoland SPDS.
The ancient one is still notbroken, protected at all costs.
(28:59):
Every time I bust it out peopleare like damn, that thing is
still around.
But I love doing it withAbleton because when I'm playing
so much of my own stuff, likewhen I finish a song, I always
look at like what I want to dolive or what I want to interact
with.
A lot of times it's percussionelements on the drum, yeah.
(29:23):
And then a lot of times it'slike the samples that I chopped
up, whether it's like vocalsamples or just like little you
know, the sparkly stuff, yeah,um, so yeah things that make it
pretty yes, yeah, um, but yeah,it's fun because I can I
pre-plan that when I finish thesong, knowing that I've been
(29:45):
doing it like that forever so.
I export the stems separatelyyou know, percussion stem, vocal
chops and then I put them ontomy drum pads and it's really fun
to do it that way and I loveCDJs and I'm glad that I could
do that on them also.
Yeah, but something about thatelement of playing live is
(30:08):
really special with Ableton,yeah yeah, and I could always do
that with CDJs too, and justlike have a drum pad on the side
, just for moments which I'vethought about.
But, yeah, I think it's likeit's a, it's a unique thing,
like I thought it was a negativething for a while.
(30:29):
Like that, if you were playingwith a bunch of people that used
CDJs, like you would be judged.
If you came up and you're likehere's my laptop.
Danger Foley (30:37):
You know what I mean.
Maddy O'Neal (30:39):
But the more I've stuck to my guns, it's actually
opened up opportunities for me,like being on the live stage
versus the DJ stage.
Like that's how I played ultra.
I would play it on the livestage because I had live
elements.
So, yeah, I think like alsotrusting yourself and what feels
good, like keep doing it Maddycame up to me one day.
Ryan Nelli (31:02):
We we ran into each other at some festival or
somewhere and she just like kindof sides sided up on me and she
was like, just so, you know, Ikind of feel like I figured out
djing.
She's like I think I finallycan say I'm a dj.
I think that was the exact wordoh, that is so mean I looked at
you.
Maddy O'Neal (31:19):
I was like, okay, okay, ma'am yeah, all right, I
was finally ready to yeah flexyeah, you said it very like,
flatly yeah and I just had Ilooked at you.
Ryan Nelli (31:28):
I said I believe you yeah she seemed like she and I
saw the the trajectory, I saidshe must be doing something
right, like I hadn't seen theshow in a second or something.
But yeah you know, and I waslike, okay, let me see what
she's doing.
And then, sure enough, I'veseen you work to cj 3000s.
Maddy O'Neal (31:43):
You can dj yeah, and I think being able to do
both, like the more I startedmixing outside of ableton, it
like it made me think about myproduction differently.
You know, like the intro outro.
You know like, just like the,the arrangements that I was
making and how they translatedlive it like really helped a lot
(32:04):
in that world too yeah, I think, and just DJing.
Ryan Nelli (32:07):
You're referencing music and in record box you see
the arrangement in a visual yesand you start queuing it up.
Yeah, and so not only is thesoftware analyzing it, but
you're analyzing it for sure andit teaches you about
arrangement.
It teaches you how to format.
It teaches you, yeah, you knowkind of what's and like the
tension zones and like yeah so,nelly, I want to actually hear
(32:31):
more from you about um.
Danger Foley (32:33):
when you first met Maddy and you saw that she was
going to fly with us, what doesthat look like in terms of what
made you think that?
Ryan Nelli (32:41):
I don't ever take anyone's success or trajectory
for granted or think they'regoing to make anything right
Like it's.
I understand the fragility ofthe path and what it takes, but
she never stopped.
There wasn't even a hiccup, youknow.
Maddy O'Neal (32:57):
The work ethic, I think.
Yeah, and a lot of peoplebelieved in me before I believed
in myself.
Yes, which is crazy, michael.
Ryan Nelli (33:06):
Mennert man.
You know, he's really one ofthe beautiful minds of the music
industry.
Maddy O'Neal (33:11):
He's a genius guy, and Mikey Thunder too.
Ryan Nelli (33:13):
Yeah, he's putting people on.
Yeah, these guys who, just like, rallied around you and kept
you close.
But it wasn't like you werepropped up through hype, it was
like you earned it through thenose and yeah, and that was like
a personal relationship thatwas hyping me up.
It wasn't like yeah, you had toshow up and play the shows.
I remember I went to your firstheadlining show at Cervantes
(33:35):
where you had the video rig andlike that was amazing, I was
like I think I was on a cane.
I was coming off an accident.
Maddy O'Neal (33:41):
It was the first time I left the house.
Ryan Nelli (33:44):
And I showed up.
I was like I'm going toactually get up from this like,
like in depressive state of youknow five surgeries I was in in
this motorcycle accident.
I totally forgot about thatyeah, but I popped out for her.
I was like damn Maddy, justlike stepped it up like 10
notches yeah, last stop amazing.
So, and and it's never stoppedit's just been this like I think
(34:07):
the last few years has been.
The graph has gone, yeah, yeahyeah, well, thank you.
Danger Foley (34:13):
And to talk more about that.
We're talking about the gritand the self talk and all of the
things that you need tosacrifice and work through what.
What has that been like for you?
Maddy O'Neal (34:27):
I realized early on that if you really want it,
you have to sacrifice everythingfor it.
You know, personalrelationships, a regular
lifestyle and like really beingable to step away from, like, a
(34:48):
social setting and saying no tothings to work.
Um, this isn't.
It's a lifestyle, not a careerLike every.
There's no off buttonnecessarily, um.
So I realized that right away.
But I think really when I honed,it was like I definitely went
(35:12):
through a pretty big party phase.
Um, and looking back on it,I've wasted a lot of time.
Luckily, the pandemic was kindof like a slap in the face to me
and it was like you're going toblow this If you continue.
Like you have such anopportunity that people would
kill for to be in your positionand to have the relationships
(35:33):
and the connections andeverything that I had, and I
wasn't working as hard as Icould have been, and so I like
took a step back.
I kind of like refocus my entirevision over the pandemic.
Even though I wasn't actuallymaking a lot of music, I really
took a lot of time to likevisualize where I wanted to be,
(35:53):
hone some other skills that Iwasn't necessarily where I
wanted to be on, like you know,diving into sound design and
mixing and DJing.
And yeah, and like now whereI'm, where I am, now I can
legitimately say I could not beworking any harder.
And like when I could finallysay that to myself is when I got
(36:17):
over the imposter syndrome thatI had because you felt like you
actually, yeah, I was like Ifucking couldn't give it anymore
.
Danger Foley (36:22):
I was like I literally couldn't be working
any harder, you know and toprobably hear the change in the
quality of what you were able toput out in terms of a
performance.
Maddy O'Neal (36:35):
The benefits of my work and like legitimately
feeling like I was always movingforward and getting better and
learning things constantly.
That was definitely a pivotalmoment for me.
I was like mature enough, I hadseen enough, I'd done the
partying, I knew what I wantedand I just kind of like made a
(36:57):
plan for myself and, yeah, it'sbeen very rewarding to know that
that works.
Danger Foley (37:04):
So what does it feel like when it actually
clicks and when you realize thatyou have a formula for
continuing to progress in yourcareer?
Maddy O'Neal (37:15):
It always feels good to feel like you're growing
.
I never want to feel stagnantand I think when you realize
that you are in charge of thatis pretty powerful, like there's
endless information out there.
There's so many differentthings that you can do to level
up and focus on and you know,it's ever evolving.
(37:38):
With, like technology andsocial media, like now we have
to be content creators and playa million different roles and I
think I was fighting.
A lot of people fight thesocial media thing and they're
like, like it's so awkward Idon't know how to like interact
and like once you realize it'snot going away, you have to find
a way to make things work foryou and to figure out how to,
(38:01):
how to connect with people in away that feels good too.
So I think that's a big part ofit.
Unfortunately, you know we wejust have to have that time
(38:21):
online and yeah, the ones thatthrive are the ones that adapt.
Danger Foley (38:26):
It's not necessarily that you get so good
at one thing, because then ifthat thing changes or is no
longer an option, right thenyou're totally fucked exactly um
you can't like hate on otherpeople either like have you
dealt with the negative, youknow, the trolling and things
like that on social media and um, yeah, how does, how does that
piece affect you?
Maddy O'Neal (38:47):
honestly, I don't have a ton of a ton of haters.
I think some people are comingout of the woodworks more so now
that I'm becoming moresuccessful but they're all like
random people that know nothingabout me or my project.
You know, it's like my ad willhit the wrong.
Go to the wrong side of theinternet.
Danger Foley (39:06):
They threw it over there just to cause a ruckus?
Yeah, just to see what wouldhappen.
Maddy O'Neal (39:09):
Yeah, but you know you have to brush it off like
the right people will find yeah,find, and I think that I have a
really strong relationship withmy fans because a lot of them
have been along the ride, andtrying to cultivate that
community outside of me is alsoa cool thing.
(39:32):
That to to try to do if you'rean up-and-coming artist is like
connect your fans with eachother, so it's not like you are
this entity.
You're creating a communitythat exists outside of your
presence and how do you do that?
um, do like I have like my madsquad, like Facebook group um,
(39:52):
now they have that on Instagramto like creating little
communities or having likemeetups at festivals so that you
know people can come do a meetand greet, but they also see who
else is interested in the samethings and a lot of you know
people make organic connectionsthat way.
So, yeah, there's a lot ofcreative ways to try and do that
(40:13):
and I think that's a cool thingto do.
Danger Foley (40:16):
Absolutely.
Have you heard of any storiesof people meeting through you or
through your music?
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,like shows.
Maddy O'Neal (40:25):
And I mean one of the biggest compliments that
I've gotten is like that thecrowds at my shows are awesome.
You know very big compliment.
Danger Foley (40:31):
Yeah, are awesome you know, that's a very big
compliment yeah because you knowthose are the people that
you're attracting.
Maddy O'Neal (40:36):
And it sucks when you go to a show and you really
like the music, but like thecrowd is just like awful or like
falling over this or that, andso, yeah, I'm proud of that
aspect as well.
Danger Foley (40:50):
Another big piece of the crowd's experience at a
show, and something that reallyimpacts the energy, is the
visuals.
Yeah, and you pay a lot ofattention to your visuals.
Tell me about what goes throughyour thought process when
you're yeah, I mean the biggerand bigger stages that I'm
playing.
Maddy O'Neal (41:10):
I realize that I do have control over the whole
audio-visual experience together.
It's really important to feellike that is on brand.
It took me a really long timeto find a graphic designer that
literally resonated with.
I was like your visuals feellike my music, you know, and so
(41:35):
what I've been doing for that islike anytime I finish a song or
a piece of art, I animate itand turn it into visuals so that
it's all like cohesive andflows into the live setting.
Danger Foley (41:48):
Amazing.
Maddy O'Neal (41:48):
Yeah.
Danger Foley (41:49):
And so this is all just a part of the conveyor
belt, of how it all works 100%and so, by the time the album is
finished, everything isbuttoned up and has a bow on it
yep, I have animation, showvisuals of all the singles, all
my album art and yeah it'slocked.
Yeah, locked in.
That is awesome.
(42:11):
I'm learning a lot right now,yeah, so want to talk about
October 8th.
Do you have any plans tocelebrate?
I mean, other than, yeah, thisis.
Maddy O'Neal (42:22):
I was going to do another like public album
release party, but I might justdo like a merch pop up and maybe
be like playing it casually,less of like a, because this is,
this is kind of like coversthat base of like celebrating
with my people.
Um, but I am working on.
This is a little further away,but I just booked my biggest
(42:44):
denver headline for next yearholy shit, congratulations very
exciting.
Um, amazing it's.
Yeah, it's a big deal.
I'm excited to announce that.
Danger Foley (42:53):
But not yet.
I'm excited.
Ryan Nelli (42:55):
That's a little teaser yeah, it's got to be the
mission stop we don't know, I'mnot gonna say I'm gonna call it
right here, right now that's ait's an interesting prediction
there.
See how it plays out so whereelse did the Ogden.
Maddy O'Neal (43:10):
There is a very specific trajectory in Colorado,
the lily pad jump, yes, totally.
Danger Foley (43:18):
It's a fun little pond to play in.
There's so many good venueshere.
What's your favorite inColorado in terms of whether
you've played it or have yet toplay it?
Maddy O'Neal (43:29):
Yeah, I mean, you can't touch red rock, so that's
that's not.
Danger Foley (43:33):
We won't include that?
Maddy O'Neal (43:35):
um cervantes definitely holds a special place
in my heart because all ofthose you know that's just like
the heart and soul of the denverscene, um, and I've had a lot
of amazing memories there andmet a lot of the people that are
now near and dear to me at thatvenue Friends with all the
staff and Scott Morrill.
Danger Foley (43:58):
Should we go doorbell?
Dutch Duncan.
Maddy O'Neal (44:00):
Oh, yeah, we should.
Danger Foley (44:01):
Actually I think he said he's out of town.
Oh damn it.
Okay, he was right next door.
Maddy O'Neal (44:05):
Yeah, but that's like.
I say that to anybody thatdoesn't know.
Denver I'm like Cervantes isthe cultural center of the
Denver music scene and willalways be, in my opinion.
Danger Foley (44:16):
So yeah, it's a very, very special place for
sure.
Yeah, so to bring it fullcircle, Vital Signs October 8th.
Is there anything else that youwant people to know going into
the album that would make it adifferent experience to listen
to?
Maddy O'Neal (44:33):
it.
I can confidently say it's mybest work, which is exciting.
It's 10 tracks.
It's in true form to me.
I cover a lot of bases, youknow.
There's a little drum and bass,some future bassy stuff.
There's the trap anthem with DJPaul.
There's a houseier song withCherub.
(44:53):
That's the fun part aboutwriting a record is I feel like
I have a little bit more freedomto expand and experiment
without, you know, catchingpeople off guard too much.
Yeah, I'm excited for people tohear it.
I've definitely been working onthis record feels big to me,
(45:15):
like sonically.
I've been working on my sounddesign and making things feel
like larger than life andthinking about them in a big
live setting.
So I'm really proud of how Iwas able to hone that on this
record too.
Danger Foley (45:33):
I cannot wait to listen to it.
I am so excited to hear all ofthe hard work and it's an honor
truly to have you here sharingyour listening party experience
with us.
Maddy O'Neal (45:46):
Yeah, it's been an honor already and I'm excited
to share the record with a lotof my favorite people and the
extended family that I'm meetingtoday.
Yeah, dog, Finally, Finally, Iknow.
Yeah, thanks for having me, andI think a lot of people are
scared of like celebrating theirwork or themselves, and you
(46:09):
even had to catch me with likepart of the invitation.
I was like I don't know if weshould put that second part of
you.
Know you gassing me up andyou're like I think we should
let yourself yeah.
So I think it's cool to be in aposition now that I don't I'm
not afraid to celebrate, like Iknow that I worked my ass off
and we should celebrate eachother and our accomplishments.
(46:31):
And like ass off and we shouldcelebrate each other and our
accomplishments and like not beafraid of that, because so much
of this happens behind thescenes you know by yourself, but
it's a such so much work goesinto making a full length album
and because of social media, youknow people are like on to the
next all the time.
So I think it's reallyimportant to pause and celebrate
those moments and thanks formaking it happen for me.
Danger Foley (46:54):
Couldn't agree more.
And yeah, let's go get back tocelebrating.
We have a dinner with some ofMaddy friends and then we will
be hosting her listening partythis evening.
So we are going to go get backto that.
Thank you so much for tuning in, Maddy.
Thank you again.
Thanks guys, ryan.
Thank you, Maddy thank youagain.
Ryan Nelli (47:10):
Thanks, guys Brilliant guys.
Maddy O'Neal (47:10):
Thank you, brilliant.
Danger Foley (47:12):
This is a phenomenal launching point.
Maddy O'Neal (47:15):
Holy shit, yeah, yeah, yeah, whoa.
Danger Foley (47:18):
Yes.
Maddy O'Neal (47:19):
Stick to those guns, stick to those guns, check
those vital signs.
Danger Foley (47:21):
Yes, listen to the album.
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