Jazzy electronic music meets man's best friend
Dan Giffin is the unlikely example of a "starving artist" success story, with the help of his dog Wiggles. Growing in a small town and being raised by a single mother, he eventually became a full-time music producer working behind the scenes with Grammy artists. And he claims much of his music success comes from his #1 supporter, his dog Sandy, also known as Wiggles. After many years of late nights working hard behind the scenes on his own music with his faithful companion Sandy, Dan dedicates his most proud work to his former best friend under his new jazz-electronic band called PHILIA, based in Indianapolis, IN.
Dan's dog Sandy was rescued as a puppy after being stranded during Hurricane Katrina. She was adopted only months after Dan's father unexpectedly passed away, soon after his dad bought Dan a drum set. Throughout high school and college, Sandy was loyal to Dan's side through every musical endeavor, family hardship, and life struggle. From late night band practices, to outdoor concerts, and everything in-between, Dan credits Sandy as his greatest supporter through it all. "Sandy practically raised me. I spent 80% of my time home alone working on music because my mom was always working to pay the bills. It's sounds ridiculous, but I can't tell you how many times I actually paused while working on a track and looked at Sandy asking if she liked the music i was working on. She literally would either wag, or just stare at me like it was terrible. Honestly, she was always right every time, and she had the best taste of anyone i know. (Dan laughs)"
Fast forward 4 years after graduating College and moving to New York City to pursue music, Dan invested a heavy amount of time learning one of today's fastest growing professional music software, Ableton Live. "It's by far the most versatile music software on the market. People use it from the studio to the stage for DJing, recording, producing tracks on a laptop, mixing, and can even control lighting for shows. It does anything you can imagine, and learning it as opened doors for me to work with artists like Mac Miller, The Band Perry, and others helping their workflow in the studio and for live performance", Dan says. It's opened a new creative workflow for writing music with my band PHILIA.
PHILIA started as a solo project, and eventually evolved into a 3 piece group with drums, DJing, saxophone, and bass guitar. Dan claims, "I love infusing real instruments into electronic dance music. It creates a new type of energy, reaching a wider audience of people. People love to dance. I want my music to create an atmosphere that moves people, while taking them on a journey. When it comes to production in the studio, I often record samples using my phone and put them into songs. People may not recognize the sound design I use, like recording dog Sandy barking and layering it with a synth, or sampling a rubber ducky with some percussion. But it adds a whole new original vibe subconsciously to the listener."
Dan's dog sandy passed away in late 2018, which was devastating for him. He says, "Anyone that has owned a dog growing up for most of their life has probably experienced what unconditional love looks like. That's why I poured my heart and best efforts into the new PHILIA song Wiggles, in memory of the best friend I ever had, Sandy."
Wiggles is scheduled to be released on August 1st, 2019. You can join the PHILIA email list to stay updated with the new release of Wiggles, and upcoming shows.
​
STAY CONNECTED WITH PHILIA & JOIN EMAIL LIST
​
​
​