Freshman Daniel Landers has spent his life performing so it was only natural when he decided to continue studying music at UM. He has achieved international pop star status and performed all over the world. We talked to us about everything from his first experiences performing to being on the X Factor overseas.
Q: How long have you been singing?
A: I’ve been singing basically since I was talking. I started on kids educational and musical TV show on PBS.
Q: Can you tell me about the music that you are interested in?
A: I write my own music, with genres ranging from pop/rock, rock/electronica and dance. Anything that encompasses pop and rock, basically.
Q: Who are some of your biggest musical influences?
A: My biggest musical influences are Bon Jovi, Heart, Katy Perry, and Bruce Springsteen. They’re all pretty different, but I admire them all equally.
Q: What are some of the events that you have perfomed at?
A: I competed on X Factor in The Netherlands during the second half of my senior year, which was pretty cool. But the biggest venue I’ve performed at was the Silvestre Stadl in Austria. It’s like New Year’s Rockin Eve but over seas. There was a live audience of 10,000 people, and it aired on TV for just about 9,000,000 viewers, which was pretty nerve wracking since I had to sing in German.
Q: What has been your biggest accomplishment as an artist?
A: I’d say doing X Factor. I learned a lot of Dutch really quickly though commuting to Holland, and I came in the top 3 boys, and then withdrew so I could attend college and finish high school. I’m really glad I did, or I wouldn’t be here.
Q: What are some of your favorite classes at UM?
A: I really like my private lessons. I never had a voice lesson, or a seriously assigned “mentor,” and at Frost, I have one as a class. It’s really cool, and personalized.
Q: What are your ambitions for the future?
A: Whatever I do in the future, I intend to give it my all, and do it with a smile. Nothing is worth fighting for if you’re unpleasant.
Q: What are you looking forward to that is coming up?
A: There is a lot of stuff actually! I can’t mention a lot of it due to the uncertainty, but earl ynext year I’m performing with some big artists at Duke for a music festival. I’m stoked for that because my twin brother goes there, and of course, we beat them at homecoming this year.
Q: How can people keep updated on what you are working on?
A: People can reach me through ww.facebook.com/DanielLandersMusic and www.twitter.com/Daniel_Landers. I try to keep it interesting to the best of my abilities on those social networking sites. Most of my stuff is on www.youtube.com/DanielLandersVideos.