ABOUT
Danz CM is a producer, composer, song-writer, graphic designer, and the founder of Channel 9 Records and Synth History.
Since 2010 she has been making music, formerly under the moniker of Computer Magic and currently under Danz CM.
Entirely self-taught in all of her endeavors; from music production and song-writing to running a record label and publishing magazines, Danz's motto is do-it-yourself.
She was born and raised in the Catskills in upstate New York (Woodridge, NY). Her mother a social worker, father a handyman and stepdad a mechanic, music and the arts had an unexplained magnetic appeal for Danz at an early age. As a teenager she would scavenge music forums online and collect vinyls from far away places via the internet, with money she'd make as a pizza counter person at Rock Hill's Pizza The Rock. She started a music blog at 15, teaching herself how to use Photoshop and how to build a simple website. At 16 she taught herself how to DJ and at 18 she moved to New York City to pursue this and go to college.
Wishing to attend a specialized school for graphic art and photography - the New York City College of Hunter was chosen as an affordable alternative. Danz worked restaurant jobs and in retail, simultaneously DJing, maintaining her music blog and attending school, but would eventually drop out. At the age of 21 she took a break from city life and moved in with her mom. After downloading Ableton, by chance she would discover she was able to make music entirely by ear and so a career in music began. She'd name herself Computer Magic, post her MP3s online via her blog and send her music out to other music blogs. She moved back to New York City and worked retail and restaurants again, but this time making music and playing shows on the side.
To date Danz has released twelve EPs, three studio albums in the USA, seven albums in Japan and a compilation album of b-sides and rarities. Her music catalog spans over 100+ songs as Computer Magic and as Danz CM, the majority of them self-produced and written entirely by her. Some of her musical influences include New Wave, Italo Disco, New Order, Giorgio Moroder, Broadcast, Gary Numan, Stereolab, Belle & Sebastian, Trent Reznor and Radiohead. If you were to ask one of Danz's friends what she listens to, they would probably say everything. In the past she had a radio show on New York's independant radio station, Newtown, she also made a list of her favorite records on Discogs.
Her visual aesthetics for music videos and art are heavily influenced by retro-futurism, inspired by sci-fi films like Barbarella, Logan's Run, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Ridley Scott's Alien. The aesthetic for her latest record, The Absurdity of Human Existence, was inspired by the 1970 Michelangelo Antonioni film Zabriskie Point - with album art by Shae Detar and music videos by her partner, director Matthew James Reilly. Danz derives inspiration from many things like films, trips to the Hayden Planetarium, reading books by authors like Philip K Dick, playing video games like Control (occasionally you can catch her on her Twitch channel), and spending time in vast open spaces in the natural world.
In 2015 Danz founded Channel 9 Records, where she releases limited edition vinyls and cassettes of her work. You can view the catalog of physical pressings here.
Her original songs have been featured on networks like HBO Max, Netflix, MTV, Showtime, IFC and the CW; and in commercials for brands like Lexus.
She has composed and scored for TV commercials and for film, for companies like Panasonic, Lenor, Body Mainte and Kewpie in Japan and most recently for the short films The Map directed by Gary Hustwit and While Mortals Sleep directed by Alex Fofonoff, the latter of which was featured at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.
In 2019 she founded Synth History, a media brand focusing on synths and musicians that use them. The brand encompasses a website, an independently published magazine with curated interviews, a viral Instagram account, and a limited narrative podcast series - (which Danz writes, sound designs and produces). For the Synth History magazine, Danz has interviewed artists like Pete Townshend, James Murphy, Rick Wakeman, Oneohtrix Point Never, Suzanne Ciani, Jean-Michel Jarre, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Trent Reznor, John Carpenter, Vince Clarke, Flying Lotus, A-Trak and others. As an avid music fan, she also curates the Synth History playlists.
She currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. For more information please contact mgmt[at]zdanz[dot]com.