Dan Waldemar Bryk (born September 23, 1970) is a Canadian-born singer-songwriter and recording artist. Originally from

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Bryk is currently based in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. A songwriter and keyboard player, Bryk has released five full-length albums and a handful of singles, EPs and tracks on compilations.

Early life and musical beginnings

Dan Bryk grew up in suburban

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

, Ontario, where he attended several

Public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

and

Catholic schools Catholic schools are parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school system. In 201 ...

and Queensway Cathedral School, a Pentecostal evangelical private school. His parents separated and reconciled during his late childhood. At Age 8, Bryk briefly received piano lessons from Earl Mlotek at the Toronto Royal Conservatory of Music but dropped out due to hyperactivity and unwillingness to practice. Dan explored songwriting and wrote a few primitive songs throughout grade school, while playing flute in his grade school band and singing in school and church choirs. While attending St. Martin's High School, Bryk joined the school's 8-track recording studio where he helped establish a recording club and recorded his own music under the pseudonymous band name The Cunning Linguists. He released a number of cassette albums under this name, submitting them to Toronto campus radio stations, selling tapes to his schoolmates, and consigning them to Toronto independent record stores with little fanfare. While the "Linguists" were essentially a studio project consisting of Bryk and occasional collaborator Mike Feraco, he gave an edgy solo debut performance (using MIDI sequencing and drum machine programming) at St. Martin's 1988 Battle of The Bands that was notably

censored Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

by Mississauga Cable 10 community access television. Bryk graduated from St. Martin's in 1989. Bryk then attended the

University of Guelph The University of Guelph (abbreviated U of G) is a comprehensive Public university, public research university in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1964 after the amalgamation of Ontario Agricultural College (1874), the MacDonald I ...

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

, Ontario, initially majoring in English literature, but changing to fine art with a focus on photography and extended media practice. While he did not enroll in any music performance courses at Guelph, Bryk hungrily devoured jazz and popular music history classes under Prof. Howard Spring, and spent much of his time honing his craft as a songwriter in the music department's piano booths. A semester spent studying in London, England in 1992, absorbing the bustling Camden music scene only intensified Bryk's focus on becoming a singer-songwriter. Upon returning to Guelph, Bryk dropped to part-time status and began working as a

graphic artist A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming l ...

at a Mississauga design firm, all the while writing and demoing his compositions and developing his idiosyncratic, self-taught piano playing style.

Canada

Bryk moved from the suburbs to downtown

in 1994 and joined the

Queen Street West Queen Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original eas ...

music scene with the release of his largely self-performed debut CD ''Dan Bryk, Asshole''. The CD received airplay from

CBC Radio 2 CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

, CFNY's Indie Hour and nationwide college and community radio, and Dan was reviewed or interviewed in a variety of national press including

Eye Weekly ''Eye Weekly'' was a free weekly newspaper published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was owned by Torstar, the parent company of the ''Toronto Star'', and was published by their Star Media Group until its final issue on May 5, 2011. The followin ...

, National Chart and

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

, most notably making

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

music critic Peter Howell's ''Picks for '96'' feature. Through the intercession of then-manager Ted Burley, Bryk assembled an accomplished band of Toronto scene veterans to gig and record a follow-up: guitarist/producer

Kurt Swinghammer Kurt Swinghammer is a Canadian singer-songwriter and visual artist based in Toronto."Canadian pop finds its own way to rock". ''Toronto Star'', 30 June 1989. He has released 13 full-length albums of original songs and as a session musician appea ...

, bassist Maury Lafoy (also of The Supers and Sarah Harmer's and

Jann Arden Jann Arden (born Jann Arden Anne Richards; March 27, 1962) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, author and actress. She is best known for her signature ballads, " Could I Be Your Girl" and " Insensitive", which is her biggest hit to date, as well ...

's backing bands), Supers/

Charlie Major Charles Bernard Major (born December 31, 1954) is a Canadian country music artist. He has recorded seven studio albums and released more than twenty singles. In 2019 he was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. Musical career ...

drummer Jeff Macpherson (and briefly, singer-songwriter/drummer

Howie Beck Howie Beck is a Canadians, Canadian musician, mixer and producer based in Toronto, Ontario. He has been nominated for three Juno Awards in Canada on three occasions for Adult Alternative Album, Engineer of the Year and Producer of the Year (2017). ...

). During this period, Bryk was also an occasional participant in Toronto's Serial Diners. Asked to record a

RealTime Real-time, realtime, or real time may refer to: Computing * Real-time computing, hardware and software systems subject to a specified time constraint * Real-time clock, a computer clock that keeps track of the current time * Real-time Control Syst ...

'' session in 1997, the resulting tapes helped Bryk sign to NYC's Scratchie Records after a post-gig meeting with label co-owner

Adam Schlesinger Adam Lyons Schlesinger (October 31, 1967 – April 1, 2020) was an American musician, songwriter, composer, and record producer. He was a founding member of the bands Fountains of Wayne, Ivy, and Tinted Windows, and was also a member of the ban ...

and

Fountains of Wayne Fountains of Wayne is an American Rock music, rock band that formed in New York City in 1995. The band included founding members Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger, Jody Porter, and Brian Young (drummer), Brian Young. They released six album ...

bandmate Chris Collingwood. Bryk then travelled to NYC for some additional recording with Schlesinger and his

Ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to Western Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern ...

bandmate Andy Chase and final album mixing with Jim Rondinelli (Sloan, Matthew Sweet, Wilco). Originally intended for release by Scratchie through joint venture partner

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

, Bryk's Scratchie/Mercury debut was delayed, then ultimately abandoned due to corporate restructuring following a merger with

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

. Once again independent of major label distribution, Scratchie released Bryk's Lovers Leap CD in October 2000, and it received a positive review from

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

and meagre sales. ''Lovers Leap'' (which charted in

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

) featured cameos from the odd assortment of Canadian musicians Bryk had befriended via ''Asshole'': Danny Michel,

, Chris Warren, Kyp Harness,

Jacksoul Jacksoul, sometimes stylized as jackSOUL, was a Canadian soul and R&B music group formed in 1992 in Toronto. The band was fronted by singer Haydain Neale and was a multi-recipient of the Juno Award. Biography In 1994, jacksoul independently re ...

frontman (and Guelph college roommate)

Haydain Neale Haydain Neale (September 3, 1970 – November 22, 2009) was a Canadian singer-songwriter from Hamilton, Ontario. He was best known as the lead singer of Juno Award-winning band jacksoul. Neale also served on the faculty of the Humber College Su ...

, outsider chanteuse Kathleen Yearwood and a cappella harmonists Moxy Früvous. Bryk was pictured shirtless on the back cover of Toronto third wave Ska band King Apparatus' Hospital Waiting Room EP after that band's Mitch Girio played on "Dan Bryk, Now" and "Dan Bryk, Asshole." Oft-regarded as a songwriter's songwriter, Bryk was the recipient of an

Ontario Arts Council The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is a publicly funded Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. Based in Toronto, OAC was founded in 1963 by O ...

Popular Songwriting grant in 2002. Bryk toured to support ''Lovers Leap'' throughout Canada and the US, and also toured Japan in 2001 with

Stephen Malkmus Stephen Joseph Malkmus ( ; born May 30, 1966) is an American musician best known as the primary songwriter, lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Pavement. He currently performs with Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Pavement, The ...

for Lovers Leap's release by

Avex Trax is a record label owned by Japanese entertainment conglomerate Avex Inc. The label was launched in September 1990, and was the first label by the Group. History Two years after Max Matsuura began a career distributing studio albums from othe ...

Japan (where the singles ''I love you goodbye'' and ''She Doesn't Mean A Thing To Me Tonight'' were minor radio hits). A promotional video for ''She Doesn't Mean A Thing'' (reprised from 'Dan Bryk, Asshole') received light rotation on

Muchmusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

and wide video play in Japan. Bryk's music has been

mashed Mashed may refer to: * Mashed, that created from mash ingredients * Mashed, the result of a mashing * Mashed, the result of a mashup (music) * Mashed, a UK-based animation YouTube channel that parodies video games, anime and pop culture, owned by ...

and

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

ed by The Kendall Mintcake and DJ Morgan David respectively, and ''She Doesn't Mean A Thing'' was featured in the soundtrack of the 2006 indie feature film Bums (film), Bums.

United States

Bryk moved to

Durham, NC Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County and Wake County. With a population of 283,506 in the 2020 census, Durham is the four ...

in 2003 with his life partner Erin McGinn, settling in neighbouring

Raleigh Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...

. Immigration issues and further label wrangling (Bryk was dropped by Scratchie in 2004 after the latter's acquisition by New Line Records) kept him from touring or releasing new material until 2006, when Florida indie label Pop-Up Records released the tracks "We Don't Care" and "BecaRebecca" as part of their ongoing Singles Club. Bryk's third full-length CD Dan Bryk Christmas Record was released by the Urban Myth Recording Collective in November 2006. Christmas Record received enthusiastic reviews (including a 4-star review from indie tastemaker ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'') and regional

college radio Campus radio (also known as college radio, university radio or student radio) is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively created or produced ...

airplay. Bryk's local hit ''Love Me For Christmas'' inspired the creation of Have A Holly Raleigh Christmas, a benefit project to raise funds for Raleigh high school band instruments that also featured Raleigh indie rock notables

The Rosebuds The Rosebuds were an American indie rock band from Raleigh, North Carolina, that recorded and performed from 2001 to 2014. (Not to be confused with the vocal group of the same name who recorded for George Goldner's Gee Records in the 1950s.) I ...

Schooner A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...

and Nathan Asher. Under the pseudonym Tha Commissioners, Bryk released the song ''Cherry Berry'', an ode to North Carolina Secretary of Labor Cherie K. Berry. He gave the song anonymously to the college radio station WKNC, and it quickly became a local hit. For a time, Bryk avoided being associated with the song, and only admitted to recording it when his anonymous e-mails about the song were found to originate from his home computer. The song would later appear as a hidden track on the ''Discount Store'' EP. An occasional sideman and producer, Bryk has also toured and recorded with Down By Avalon, Nova Social, The Bicycles, The American Flag, and singer-songwriters

Django Haskins Djángo Haskins (born November 19, 1973) is a North American singer-songwriter. He is named after jazz musician Django Reinhardt. Originally from Florida, Haskins now resides in North Carolina where he is the frontman of pop-noir musical group ...

and Spookey Ruben. As a founding member of the Urban Myth Recording Collective, Bryk has collaborated on and/or enabled the commercial release of recordings by Chris Warren, Luke Jackson, Chris Staig, Corey Landis, Lee Feldman, Down By Avalon, Bull City, Nova Social and Amy Allison. Bryk is allegedly the inspiration for and subject of David Celia's song "Cactus" and "Stubborn Man" by The Old Ceremony. Bryk married McGinn in 2008, relocating to New York City in Spring 2009. His long-delayed album ''Pop Psychology'' was soft-released in the Fall of 2009 by Urban Myth to an encouraging critical response including several "Best of 2009" lists but Bryk went into hiatus soon after the birth of his child Henry and the record languished in obscurity. As a member and organizer of the NYC Dads Group he has become a public advocate for his new role as stay-at-home dad. Bryk scored and contributed original songs to the soundtrack of the as-yet-unreleased 2011 indie short RIPE. On Valentine's Day 2012, Bryk released ''Live at Bread & Circus'', a nine-song album of a 2009 concert in Toronto, as a free download. Bryk relocated to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 2013. In August 2013 he publicly announced an expanded reissue of his best-known recording Lovers Leap and another recording possibly titled Lies of Girls and Women. At the end of 2013, Bryk moved to Washington, DC. He later moved back to Durham, NC towards the end of 2016.

Discography

Radio interviews

Interview with Matthew Revell of WCR-FM Wolverhampton, England
''June 13, 2008''
Interview and performance of "Discount Store" with Sook-Yin Lee of CBC Radio 2 "Definitely Not The Opera"
''September 15, 2007''
Interview with Shelagh Rogers of CBC Radio 1 "Sounds Like Canada"
''September 3, 2007''
Interview with Bob Langford of WPTF News Talk 680, Raleigh NC
''July 21, 2007''
Interview with Pseu Braun of WFMU, Jersey City NJ
''February 16, 2007''
Interview with Steve Salevan of WKNC, Raleigh NC
''October 20, 2006''
Interview with Pseu Braun of WFMU, Jersey City NJ
''January 19, 2001''

References

Uncited Articles

*Robert Wilonsky, Bang To Hype, ''Dallas Observer'', March 21, 2002. Major subject of article about SXSW, state of music business. *Ross M. Miller, The Political Economy of Pop, ''Miller Risk Advisors'', August 8, 2005. Citation. *John Sakamoto, The Anti-Hit List, ''The Toronto Star'', December 16, 2006. Review. *Dan Bry

*Dan Bry

External links

Official Artist Website
*
Urban Myth Recording Collective
(Bryk is a founding member)
Avex Biography (Japanese language)

reverbnation site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryk, Dan 1970 births Living people Canadian indie pop musicians Canadian rock singers Canadian pop singers Canadian pop pianists Canadian indie rock musicians Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States Musicians from Mississauga Writers from Mississauga Canadian male pianists 21st-century Canadian pianists 21st-century Canadian male singers Canadian male singer-songwriters 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters