When I heard that Dan Schwartz of Good Old War would be releasing a solo album this year, I thought, how cool would it be to sit down and talk music with one of my favorite guitarists?

Well, it turns out I would find out the answer. And it was awesome.

I met up with Dan — who’s now going by Danny Black for the album — in a Manayunk Starbucks to talk about all things surrounding “Adventure Soundtrack,” which drops on February 24th with Nettwerk Music Group, who also produces Good Old War.

It's safe to say that Dan's a busy guy. From playing with Good Old War to backing Anthony Green on all of his solo albums, that doesn’t leave much room to release a record of his own. So how did he manage his time?

“I found myself with a minute to do something by myself. The other guys of Good Old War went into the studio with Anthony Green last winter, and he decided ‘Pixie Queen’ was just going to be a very guitar-free album. I’ve played so much on all of his records, so I totally understand that he wanted to try something new.”

If you remember, we were at Green’s show in Union Transfer back in October. Check that out here.

“I found myself thinking, since Anthony wanted to do a guitar-free album, I figured I’m gonna do a record that’s only guitar since now I had the time. So I holed up in my dad’s empty house at the shore in the middle of the winter and set up my recording gear. I’d just wake up in the morning and write something and practice it all day, record it, listen to it, record it. It was like two days per song, then I’d play with it for a while. But I didn’t really do too much to the songs, I really made it live, because I don’t like how everything gets so big and over-produced, and I don’t believe anything that I hear so much anymore. You know, you see a band and you think, ‘oh my god, they can actually do it,’ and that should be a no brainer. So for me, I wanted to make a record that was clearly a guy sitting in his room with a guitar. So that was my entire approach, there was no intellectual, overall meaning, but it’s also definitely inspired by the fact that we’ve been touring for almost ten years straight. That’s just what we do. So I’m always looking for music to be the background of that.”

“Adventure Soundtrack” is a completely instrumental album, and we were lucky enough to get to preview it all week leading up to our interview. These songs have such an intricate and beautiful sound, and for anyone who has seen Dan play live, then you know it’s all authentic. This album makes me feel all things summer and driving and late nights by a fire with people to love. It really is the soundtrack for the perfect day.

“I’ve never done anything like this. I like soundtracks, so I wanted to do something like this. I wanted to make music for a movie that didn’t exist. There’s also a lot of things that you can’t do with the standard verse-chorus-verse set up of a Good Old War song. I needed an outlet that let me do something totally unique to what I usually do. It was really just a labor of love because I didn’t think anything would ever actually come of it. But when you write for a band and you have lyrics, you have to say something very specific. I thought of this as like a ‘choose your own adventure’ because for me, I’m just obsessed with outside activity. Rock climbing, traveling, hiking — we live in a van. We’re always out on the road. So there’s no way that doesn’t inspire me. Most of the songs I write are written in the van at night.”

Good Old War is already back in the studio again for some releases in 2017, following their 2015 release "Broken Into Better Shape," but for “Adventure Soundtrack,” Dan went solo during production.

"I did like 99% of the recording in Jersey, then Good Old War got back to work and we started touring again. There was never a time when I thought ‘I need to get away from that,’ because I love playing with Anthony and the other guys. But I did almost all of this by myself, and when I ran out of time at the shore I just set up shop in whatever house I was staying in at the time.”

But how did he do it? How is the transition from writing with people to writing by yourself? Collaboration is what makes Good Old War Good Old War, but after listening to “Adventure Soundtrack,” I realized that there was a part of Dan’s unique style that was waiting to be heard, and now he had the perfect outlet.

“When I write with Good Old War, especially now, Keith and I have become very much a team. We’re making new music now, and every single song is a collaboration. There isn’t a song that both of us doesn’t have our hands on. We do everything together, and it’s made everything a lot better. In the beginning, he’d write a song and then I’d write a song and we’d record. But now with my own work, I get to stop short of having to write lyrics. So these songs can be about whatever I want without having to tell anybody. They’re about whatever anyone takes from them. That process of writing with Good Old War is such a pleasure, but when I don’t have to worry about a big chorus or a catchy line, I don’t feel like I have to second guess myself. Instrumental music is all internal. I pick up the guitar and honestly something just always happens as long as I play long enough. It’s just a habit more than anything else. That’s just how music is for me. I get up and it’s just part of my day. I’m so lucky that I get to do that.”

Dan describes this record better than anyone else, so if you’re in the area, you should know that he’s got a release show planned for March 3rd.

“It’s going to be an adventure,” he says. “It’s going to be an event for all the senses. Since I’ll be the only one playing, I wanted something more than just a small show with one guy on stage. I’m going to play the whole album, but I also took parts from my favorite songs and cut them out of the tracks to loop around, it’ll be unique. There’s going to be film involved, too. And I’ve never stood up in front of people by myself, so this is going to be a totally new thing for me. I really want this to be an experience for people.”

I know I plan on stopping by and stepping into Danny Black’s adventure. You can stream two tracks off the album before it releases, “Cascade,” and "First Light, Pt 2" on Spotify now, and be sure to pick up “Adventure Soundtrack” when it drops on February 24th!

Take a Trip With Danny Black's "Adventure Soundtrack"

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