Sean Julian Danielsen (born February 14, 1982) is an American musician and artistic painter, best known as the guitarist and lead vocalist of American rock bands

Smile Empty Soul Smile Empty Soul is an American Rock music, rock band, originally from Santa Clarita, California, Santa Clarita, California, United States. It was started in 1998 by Sean Danielsen (vocals and guitar), Ryan Martin (bass), and Derek Gledhill (dru ...

and

World Fire Brigade World Fire Brigade is an American rock ensemble formed in 2009 by Sean Danielsen of Smile Empty Soul and Brett Scallions of American rock band Fuel. History Originally synthesized as a partnership to prepare hard rock tunes for other musician ...

. In addition to creating one studio album and three independent

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

albums, Danielsen has also collaborated on Noise Refinery ( West One Music) compilation album ''Anger Management ''with former

He Is Legend He Is Legend is an American alternative metal band from Wilmington, North Carolina. It was founded in 2003 by high school friends. The band's current lineup is frontman Schuylar Croom, guitarist Adam Tanbouz, bassist Matty Williams, and drummer ...

rhythm guitarist Mitchell Ray Marlow.

History

Early years

As the son of Jerry Danielsen, recording artist and owner of Busy Signal Studios, Danielsen was born in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In the three years leading up to his tenth birthday, Danielsen lived in the midst of a desolate

summer camp A summer camp, also known as a sleepaway camp or residential camp, is a supervised overnight program for children conducted during the summer vacation from school in many countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer residential camps ...

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

. After performing in his first rock band at age 11, Danielsen moved to California midway through his teens to live with his father.

Music career

Smile Empty Soul

Shortly after moving across the country, Danielsen met

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

Derek Gledhill and bassist Ryan Martin while attending neighboring high schools in

Santa Clarita, California Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-most populous city in Los Angeles County, the 17th-most popul ...

. It was through this partnership in 1998 that alternative rock band

was formed. Shortly after releasing their gold certified eponymous album in early 2003, Danielsen performed on and helped compose "My Father's Daughter", which was released as a track on American rock vocalist Nina Storey's fifth studio album ''24 Off the Board''.

World Fire Brigade

In 2009, Danielsen formed rock band

with

Brett Scallions Brett Allen Scallions (born December 21, 1971) is an American singer and musician. He is best known for being one of the founding members and the original lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the alternative rock band Fuel from 1993 to 2006 an ...

of American rock band

Fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work (physics), work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chem ...

. After working with former

Shinedown Shinedown is an American rock band from Jacksonville, Florida, formed by singer Brent Smith in 2001 after the dissolution of his previous band, Dreve. Smith, still under contract with record label Atlantic Records, recruited the band's original ...

bassist

Brad Stewart Brad Stewart (born November 19, 1974) is an American bassist, best known for his work with hard rock bands Shinedown and Fuel. He now plays in Saliva, Society Red, and Burn Season. Career Shinedown Stewart was the second member to join Shinedo ...

, the band recruited

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Eddie Wohl Eddie Wohl is an American composer, music producer, and mixing engineer. As an artist, he was signed to Epic, Elektra and Mercury/Island, and had a production deal with Roadrunner Records. Growing up on the East Coast, Wohl was in his first ban ...

to play keyboard for the band. On August 28, 2012, debut album ''

Spreading My Wings '' Spreading My Wings ''is the debut studio album from American rock band World Fire Brigade. The album, starring percussionist Ken Schalk of Candiria, in addition to Andy Andersson, Mike McCready and Rob Caggiano on guitar The guitar is a st ...

'', featuring

Candiria Candiria is an American band from Brooklyn, New York, mixing progressive metal, metalcore, jazz fusion and hip hop. They are part of the precursors of the mathcore genre with bands like Deadguy or Lethargy.Kevin Stewart-Panko, "The Decade in N ...

percussionist Ken Schalk, in addition to guitarists

Mike McCready Michael David McCready (born April 5, 1966) is an American musician known for being a founding member and lead guitarist of Pearl Jam. McCready was also a member of the side project bands Flight to Mars, Temple of the Dog, Mad Season (band), Ma ...

and

Rob Caggiano Robert Caggiano (born November 7, 1974) is an American guitarist and record producer. Caggiano is known as the lead guitarist of the Danish rock band Volbeat from 2013 to 2023 and of thrash metal band Anthrax from 2001–2005 and 2007–2013. ...

was released via FrostByte Media.

Solo career

='' Enjoy the Process ''

= On 16 April 2013, Danielsen released his first solo album, '' Enjoy the Process''. The EP, produced by Eddie Wohl, featured six acoustic tracks. The songs used on the album were described by the singer as delicate, low key songs that are best accompanied by light guitar and diverge from tunes typically performed by his first major label band. After publishing the EP, PureGrainAudio.com released a free copy of "The Breaks", the first song on the album.

='' Anger Management ''

= Between the publishing of his first two albums, he worked with former

guitarist Mitchell Ray Marlow on "Away" and "Best in You", two songs featured on'' Anger Management'', a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

released on February 27, 2014, by West One Music.

='' Food Chain ''(EP)

= Danielsen's second solo album, entitled ''

Food Chain A food chain is a linear network of links in a food web, often starting with an autotroph (such as grass or algae), also called a producer, and typically ending at an apex predator (such as grizzly bears or killer whales), detritivore (such as ...

'', featured a full band and was recorded in Babylon Studios in

Van Nuys Van Nuys ( ) is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1 ...

, California. Released in November 2014, the album gave Danielsen more flexibility in the music he was able to play. During late 2014 and early 2015, the vocalist toured the United States in support of his second EP. In September 2015, Danielsen stated that he plans to publish his next solo EP in late 2016.

='' Product of Isolation ''

= In October 2016, Danielsen posted on his

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

page, that in January 2017, he planned to release '' Product of Isolation'', his first full-length solo

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

. Early the following month, the singer announced that 13 January 2017 is the planned release date for that work.

='' Mind Control to Steal the Soul ''

= In March 2017, the guitarist announced that he plans to release '' Mind Control to Steal the Soul'', his third solo EP, some time in July of that year. The following month, Danielsen announced the release date as well as potential song titles.

='' The Best of Sean Danielsen Solo ''

= In February 2019, the singer released a compilation album entitled'' The Best of Sean Danielsen Solo'', with'' The Best of Sean Danielsen Solo Material, Vol. 2'' arriving two months later.

Discography

Solo career

* '' Enjoy the Process'' (2013) * ''

'' (2014) * '' Product of Isolation'' (2017) * '' Mind Control to Steal the Soul'' (2017) *'' The Best of Sean Danielsen Solo Material ''(2019) *'' The Best of Sean Danielsen Solo Material, Vol. 2 ''(2019)

World Fire Brigade

* ''

'' (2012)

Contributions

* "My Father's Daughter",'' 24 Off the Board'', Nina Storey (Nina Storey Music, 2003) * "Looking",'' Deaf Ears'', Jerry Danielsen featuring Jake Kilmer (Busy Signal Studios, 2009) * "Best in You",'' Anger Management ''( West One Music, 2014) * "Away",'' Anger Management ''(West One Music, 2014) * "You Must Like Suffering",'' The Darkest of Angels'',

Dead by Wednesday Dead by Wednesday (DBW) is an American heavy metal band from New Haven, Connecticut, formed in 2006.EMP Label Group EMP Label Group, also known as Ellefson Music Productions, is an American record label formed in October 2015, which was founded by former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson. History In October 2015 it was announced that Ellefson had launched a re ...

, 2016)

Smile Empty Soul

Albums

* ''

'' (2003) * ''

Anxiety Anxiety is an emotion characterised by an unpleasant state of inner wikt:turmoil, turmoil and includes feelings of dread over Anticipation, anticipated events. Anxiety is different from fear in that fear is defined as the emotional response ...

'' (2005) * ''

Vultures A vulture is a bird of prey that scavenges on carrion. There are 23 extant species of vulture (including condors). Old World vultures include 16 living species native to Europe, Africa, and Asia; New World vultures are restricted to North and ...

'' (2006) * ''

Consciousness Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...

'' (2009) * '' 3's'' (2012) * ''

Chemicals A chemical substance is a unique form of matter with constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Chemical substances may take the form of a single element or chemical compounds. If two or more chemical substances can be combin ...

'' (2013) * '' Rarities'' (2017) * '' Oblivion'' (2018) * ''The Acoustic Sessions, volumes 1 and 2'' (2020) *'' Black Pilled ''(2021) * ''Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse'' (2023)

Extended play albums

* '' Hecklers Veto'' (1999) * ''

B-Sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

'' (2008) * ''

Shapeshifter In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shapeshifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through unnatural means. The idea of shapeshifting is found in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism, as well as the oldest exist ...

'' (2016) * ''

Sheep Sheep (: sheep) or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are a domesticated, ruminant mammal typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to d ...

'' (2019) *2020 (2020) *''Soft Songs for the Quarantined Mind'' (2021) *''The Loss of Everything'' (2022) *''Swan Song'' (2025)

Contributions

* "Finding Myself" – Featured on '' The Punisher: The Album'' (2004) * "Who I Am" – Featured on '' Music from and Inspired by Spider-Man 2'' (2004)

Personal life

In July 2013, he began selling his own paintings via

. In June 2016, he married his long time partner, that he had been in a relationship with since 2005. For his entire music career, he has used Schecter electric and acoustic guitars. He also cited

Jerry Cantrell Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. (born March 18, 1966) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the founder, lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and main songwriter of the rock band Alice in Chains. The band rose to internatio ...

and

Kim Thayil Kim Anand Thayil (born September 4, 1960)Kim Thayil Biography
Unofficial SG Homepage.

as his favorite guitarists. Sean recently has switched from Schecter to

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

and no longer uses Schecter. Sean is an official artist of Dean as per Dean's official website.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Danielsen, Sean American rock guitarists American male guitarists American male singer-songwriters American rock singers American rock songwriters Alternative metal singers Nu metal singers Singers from Los Angeles 1982 births Living people Guitarists from Los Angeles 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male singers Singer-songwriters from California