A stranger to attention but not to controversy, Danger Mouse revels in hoodwinking the public – although there are some things he just won't, and can't, talk about, writes TONY CLAYTON-LEA
DANGER MOUSE you might know, but Brian Burton – well, who is he when he's home alone? From White Plains, New Jersey, the 33-year-old is one of the most successful yet thoroughly anonymous (anonymouse?) producers and artists in contemporary pop music. Part diligent musician, part situationist prankster, part multimillion-selling pop star, Burton has been nominated for 11 Grammy awards, has been responsible for one of the most commercially successful hit singles of the past 10 years (Gnarls Barkley's Crazy), and listed as one of Esquire's most influential people of the 21st century, yet he remains unrecognisable to most of us.
Burton receives the critical acclaim for his achievements with the insouciance of a guy who knows he’s good at what he’s good at, and with the egoless demeanour of the well adjusted. Put this down to, perhaps, his early years in Athens, Georgia, as a struggling musician, and his innate shyness, which led him to perform, in his nascent period as a performer, in a mouse outfit. Living in London in the early 2000s, also, was a leveller in terms of life experience. While residing in New Cross, in the south of the city, he combined working in a bar with creating demos.
It was, he recalls, "a difficult time for me, tough. It was hard being broke in London, and I didn't know anyone when I came here." A collaboration with the hip-hop artist Jemini followed in 2003, but Burton would have to chip away for two more years before he gained anything beyond nominal rising-star status. Notoriety and approval arrived quickly enough, however, with the advent of The Grey Album, which sampled unauthorised extracts from The Beatles' The Beatles(aka The White Album) with stripped-down versions of Jay-Z's The Black Album. Burton refuses point blank to discuss such a controversial (and very good) mixture of pop tradition and hip-hop innovation. "It was ages ago," he says quickly, cutting off any further points of reference, and underpinning his precoccupation with the here and now.
Another thing he won’t, or can’t, talk about is the Paris Hilton prank he collaborated on with the renowned graffiti artist Banksy. “I hate to disappoint you, man, but I can’t really talk about that. I wish I could; if we were hanging out, I’m sure I’d tell you over a drink.”
WHICH LEAVES HIS latest collaborative work, another album doused in delay and controversy, but which after a year or so is finally seeing the light of day. Dark Night of the Soul, written by Burton with Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse, is released next week, following a legal dispute – now resolved – with EMI over distribution and the availability of images created by the film director David Lynch.
“Yes, it would have been great if it had happened differently, but it didn’t. I’m just glad it’s out. I know that it could have been worse. I had to make a decision whether or not to go with the visual side on its own. I didn’t want the visuals to be compromised at all, because it’s not something I’d have been okay with being put off indefinitely, whereas I had no control with the music.”
Another issue Burton had to face was the death, by suicide, of Linkous in March. “Well, obviously, we were very close friends. But the context for the album hasn’t changed at all, so it’s been a lot easier to talk about; and the music still has an incredibly forceful and positive context for me.” Which seems to be a constant in the quickly evolving creative sphere of Burton, who in his personal life chooses not to have many attachments. “I don’t have a wife, nor kids; I’m pretty much on my own wherever I go or wherever I live, whatever I do. That makes it a lot easier to be spontaneous, and that’s just the way I like it.”
Yet the irony is that for someone who is regarded as a background, behind-the-scenes artist, he certainly aligns himself with attention-gaining projects. Part of the appeal, he says, is hoodwinking the public.
“It’s hard to be creative when you’re under the eye of the public – I’ve watched some artists struggle with it. It’s something I didn’t really want to worry about, but it suits my personality fine to do what I do. I like to keep control over my life, and for the most part that’s working.
“In relation to live work, I don’t hate it, but I’m not, I think, a natural performer or entertainer. Some people are made to be on stage and to love it.” But, clearly, not Burton. All he wants to do is to create and to collaborate with people, and if he gets up corporate noses then all the better.
“That was my initial ambition, something of a creative philosophy, to be honest,” he says. “Some may say that I’ve worked with too many people, but I’m actually very picky [about] who I work with and what I do. But I never looked at what I knew I wanted to do as something traditional. I couldn’t have imagined being in one band for a number of years. That’s not what I’m made of.”
THE GREY ALBUM
Released in 2004, this mash-up album couples a capella versions of Jay-Z's The Black Albumwith unauthorised samples from The Beatles(aka The White Album.The result was critical approval (Best Album 2004 in Entertainment Weekly) and corporate condemnation (EMI, copyright holders of the Beatlesalbum, ordered Danger Mouse and retailers to cease distribution). On February 24th more than 170 websites hosted the album for download — more than 100,000 copies were snapped up.
Where to find itWe couldn't possibly tell you.
Danger Mouse's top 5 moments
GNARLS BARKLEY
Danger Mouse and hip-hop artist Cee-Lo Green made music history in 2006 with the release of Crazy, which was the UK's first number-one song based on download sales alone.
Where to find itgnarlsbarkley.com.
PARIS HILTON
In 2006 Danger Mouse and the high-end graffiti artist Banksy collaborated on remixing and visually reconfiguring up to 500 copies of the pop heiress's debut album, Paris. The pair then surreptitiously placed them in branches of HMV and Virgin music shops throughout the UK. Reworded song titles included Why Am I Famous?, What Have I Done?and What Am I For?
Where to find itYou can download the remix album from various websites.
GORILLAZ
Demon Days,the second studio album from this British band (fronted by Damon Albarn), was released in 2005, and garnered Danger Mouse a Grammy nomination for producer of the year.
“A contemporary pop milestone,” according to Mojo.
Where to find itgorillaz.com.
BROKEN BELLS
After meeting up at Denmark’s Roskilde Festival, Danger Mouse and James Mercer (from Portland indie rock band The Shins) collaborated on their critically well-received debut album, which was released in March.
Where to find itbrokenbells.com.
Dark Night of the Soul
is released by EMI on July 9th
