Dan - Keys and Synthesizers

Full Name: Daniel Anthony Shyles

Date of Birth: August 8th, 1988

Position: Keyboards, Samples, Graphic Design

Hometown: Glenmoore, PA

Equipment: Yamaha S-80, Ensoniq - SQ1, Peavey Amps (KB series), FL Studio 9.0

Musical Background:

 At six years old I began imitating my sister on our upright baldwin at home. As she was taking lessons at the time, I became ravenously interested and wanted to play  just like her. I began classical training with various college students from the surrounding area learning the basics: scales, arpeggios, reading score, chord structure, time & key signiture... the works. As I excelled, I needed to expand my learning. At 10 years old I began lessons with Dr. Robert Bedford, professor of piano performance at West Chester University. Though reluctant at first to take someone so young, after asking me to prepare a few pieces of Mozart and Bach, he took me in... his only student under 18 years.

After eight years of private study, and countless recitals and pieces including Beethoven, Chopin, Hayden, Liszt, Korsakov, etc. I attended West Chester University School of Music, continuing my studies with Dr. Bedford, and expanding my horizons, throwing myself completely into a music based curriculum. My first semester I became the first freshman to perform Liszt's 13th Hungarian Rhapsody at West Chester.

That same semester, I met Tim, who would later be known as Zasz, someone I had heard a lot about, but had never had the opportunity to actually encounter. A mutual friend told me he was looking for someone to play keys in his new project. Based on what I'd heard about him, I gave it a shot. He only had ten songs finished at the time, but when I listened I couldn't help but think that I had never heard anything like it before. I have a very wide taste in music... from progressive to metal to electronica to classical, and the music that I heard was like all of those and none of those simultaneously. Very weird. After listening I told him I was in. Since then, it's been a ride like no other.

I can't wait to see what's next.

Favorite Music: Radiohead, The Mars Volta, Opeth, The Notwist, Aphex Twin, Bloc Party, The Sounds, Beck, The Sound of Animals Fighting, Circa Survive, Ben Folds, Between the Buried and Me, Catch 22, Coheed, Daft Punk, The Postal Service, Deftones, DJ Logic, He Is Legend, Incubus, Jurassic 5, Mindless Self Indulgence, Necrophagist, Of Montreal, Ratatat, RJD2, Sublime...

Facebook: Dan Shyles