Brooklyn Rocker Dad

Dan Zweben Podcast: 1st EP

2019-01-24T09:38:00.002-08:00

https://soundcloud.com/danzweben/episode-1-an-epiphany

Dan Zweben Podcast

Episode 1 - An Epiphany

On the first episode of this new podcast, Dan has an epiphany while walking through Brooklyn Heights that makes him decide to put out a casting call for a scientist. Listen & find out why Dan wants to speak with a scientist.

Dan Zweben is a singer & songwriter whose songs have been featured all over television including the shows: Smallville, October Road, Men In Trees, Ghost Whisperer and The Real World. Barack Obama's campaign used the song "Oregon" in an ad that ran through the primary and the election and The Super Bowl. Dan lives in Brooklyn with his wife & 2 daughters Dylan & Harper.

Music by Dan Zweben
Recorded on an iPhoneX

I Used To Live In "Minnesota" At Soundcloud......

2018-12-18T19:47:00.004-08:00

When I moved to Wisconsin in 7th grade I remember getting a tape cassette of The Replacements "Please To Meet Me".....& I met the Johns who already knew how to rock and knew about The Pixies and R.E.M. & U2 but The Replacements....Like us....We were from the Midwest....And we wore it with a badge of honor....Hey...Look where we came from....And then I ended up in Minneapolis at the U of M....I didn't get into Madison.....That was never meant to be....I was never meant to be like the rest of them......Here's my new song "Minnesota" from my new album "Minimalist" coming 2019......Have a great December & remember to live in the moment....

https://soundcloud.com/user-670928343/minnesota

Minnesota

I used to live in Minnesota
When I was young
Everyday was getting colder
I had no one to call
I made it through
I made it through

I used to live in an apartment
Near Loring Park
I used to put things in compartments
When things got dark you'd call
I made it through
I made it through
I made it through

I used to live near the college
When I was in school
I used to think I had such knowledge
I thought it was cool to fall
I made it through
I made it through
I made it through

Check Out Z's New Single "Running" At Soundcloud!

2018-12-05T10:11:00.003-08:00

https://soundcloud.com/user-670928343/running

Running

Now that I see it
Can I beat this?

I started running 2 the stage
I thought we turned another page
But it wasn't that
It was just another day

When will I feel it?
Will my mind admit it?

I started running 2 the stage
I thought we turned another page
But it wasn't that
It was just another day

Now that I'm kneeling
I've got a feeling

I started running 2 the stage
I thought we turned another page
But it wasn't that it was just another day

By Dan Zweben
Shorewood Songs (BMI)

Z's "Empathize" At Soundcloud!

2018-12-03T19:30:00.001-08:00

https://soundcloud.com/user-670928343/empathize

Empathize

I had a dream you had long hair
I had a morning I'd rather forget
I cannot take you with that long glare
But the day was better than you expect

I empathize
You hypnotize
I had your back
You ain't got that

But the day is better than you'd expect

I empathize
You hypnotize
I had your back
You ain't got that

Whatever happens

I empathize
You hypnotize
I had your back
You ain't got that

"I'm Going For A Run" At Soundcloud & #picsfromtheprocess

2018-12-02T20:32:00.001-08:00

https://soundcloud.com/user-670928343/going-for-a-run

Z's new single "Chill" At Soundcloud!

2018-11-29T09:35:00.000-08:00

https://soundcloud.com/user-670928343/chill

Chill

On a path that so few take
Pay no mind to what is fake
Trying to chill and not miss a beat
Put that song on on on repeat

I want 2 know
I want 2 go there with u
I want 2 show u what's true

On a run under endless sky
Humans weren't meant to stay inside
Feel the sand beneath your feet
Put that on on on repeat

I want 2 go there with u
I want 2 show u what's true

I want 2 show u what's true

I want 2 go there with u
I want 2 show u what's true
Go there with u
Go there with u

By Dan Zweben
Shorewood Songs (BMI)

Show less

What You’re Missing When You Walk With Your Phone

2018-11-22T08:19:00.001-08:00

I’ve been meaning to blog about this for awhile. When you walk and text or read an article on FB or look at at cat video on YT..you’re missing life. Because life is what is happening in front of you and I can’t tell you how many great experiences I’ve had through random occurrences that wouldn’t have happened had I been glued to my screen. Like in the 90’s when I ran into Adam Yauch, MCA! from Beastie Boys on his skateboard going into the music store on my block to check out pedals...I met him bc I wasn’t glued to a phone....bc we didn’t have phones...And this post isn’t about name dropping it’s about what is lost when our whole world is obsessed with a thing that distracts us from those around us...the stars, the nature...the animals...the universe...we need physical contact to relate to each other better...So after this post...I will take a walk...In a beautiful cold thanksgiving day...I listen to the birds who have not fled south. And listen to the sound of the boats and quiet conversations...And I will look at the sun. And will be grateful.

Z

Energy & I'm A Minimalist

2018-11-18T20:52:00.000-08:00

I like to run. I like to record and write music and play at the park with my daughters and play music for people and friends and relax and be with the people I love. I also like to write and share music and words and ideas and those expressions come out at night. Because artists are dreamers and we dream when we sleep. But we wait till it's late and everyone is asleep then our minds wander and search and ponder and read and write and create something new for no other reason but to do it....Because it feels right. It feels good. It feels like we are connecting to something big. Because we are looking for more than a news feed to connect us. We want real communication. Without distraction. True contentment is never reached when your checking your phone. But I see more folks ditching the screens and diving into books of literature. Anything to change our current mood.

(I'm a minimalist but I do use a Macbook to produce my lo fi records which I don't use a mic for, I record directly into the computer....But I don't take up any extra parking spaces and I have no budget so I don't spend money on my recordings anymore....It's like when you hear about those films that gross a million dollars but we're made for next to nothing....My records are made for nothing.....For reals.....

Here's a song I wrote not really related to all that but who cares:

Energy

You have the power
To try to change
Turn your energy
A new way
Cause every hour
Your thoughts consume
Remove negativity
From the room
Your feelings are bringing you down
Are you really in control
Feels like something went wrong
Turn your energy into a song
Turn that energy into a song

https://soundcloud.com/user-670928343/energy

Z's "Friend" at Soundcloud!

2018-11-16T05:43:00.002-08:00

(Art by Harper Zweben, 6)

This song came to me after I had to clear out my friend's list and take stock in who remained on it. And I'm not talking about social media. I'm talking about real friends. Because sometimes, you have to look around and see how the people around you are and how they treat you and if they treat you as an equal and if they appreciate you....Well, sometimes, you got to clean slate. Because life is too short...To not be surrounded by people who want to spend time with you regardless of what your going through or what you need. That is a true friend. And here's my new song....Friend:

https://soundcloud.com/user-670928343/friend

Friend

Friends will come and friends will go
No one cares if you make it home
Don't get too attached to a crew
They'll end up talking smack about you
They're saying, he's dark, he's vain
He's on a different plane
He's sad he's deep
He must be incomplete

I've been looking for some people
With a different view
Maybe it will happen tonight
Maybe it is you

Words and music by Dan Zweben
Shorewood Songs (BMI)

Art by Harper Zweben

An Open Letter

2018-11-12T21:10:00.004-08:00

The money has gone to his head
It’s made him forget about what he said
About who we are and what this means
But the money doesn’t make him free..

But I am free........

To be who I am and to be a man
But in this day and age of plans
There’s no room for mistakes
Where are the places to escape to?
Where are the hills where one can be?
Without another hidden fee?
Where is the truth that we seek?
Is it on this mountain peak?
It’s a relief to let go
Of someone you used to know

Z - I See You At SoundCloud

2018-10-29T21:23:00.002-07:00

I’m trying to live minimally...As a minimalist...And music doesn’t need to be so defined...it’s just a process...it’s just a journey...all things will pass...so you might as well enjoy the ride...Harrison...Garcia...My heroes are mostly gone...But I live on...Onward..And here’s a new song:

https://soundcloud.com/user-670928343/i-see-you

Update

2018-09-24T06:39:00.001-07:00

https://soundcloud.com/user-670928343/update

I find the process of writing and making music enjoyable. It's a very personal experience for me. Through the music, I'm looking to express myself in ways that I just can't in regular life. Small talk is not meant to inspire deeper and more real thoughts and feelings. It's about not making the other person uncomfortable....And there's not a lot you can talk about these days before people's opinions and close-minded minds get in the way of the conversation and you have to just move on...Because a lot people today believe exactly what they believe...And they're not looking to explore new worlds. They just want their TV and their meal and their job and I'm not judging that....I'm just saying....There must be something else.....I was watching a documentary on Daniel Johnston last night and I asked my daughter to draw something for the cover of this new song I wrote and recorded under the name "Z" (See link above)....

This is what she came up with:

Travel The World

2018-09-18T20:18:00.002-07:00

https://soundcloud.com/user-670928343/travel-the-world

(Art by Harper Zweben, 6 1/2)

This is my attempt at a motivational song. It was as if I was writing to a younger man, telling him...That everything would get better....And the journey, the struggle was just apart of the process and learning from the struggle and turning hardship into inspiration and art was something you can find in life.....I wanted to try to show them that the little things....Like friends...And music....And relationships....Would help....Get us through.....And the metaphor...Or not even a metaphor....To travel the world...To search from something unknown to you...To travel the world is a metaphor for life I guess....And if you keep travelling....Keep searching.....You will continue to excited about the future....Check out the track and lmk your thoughts.....
https://soundcloud.com/user-670928343/travel-the-world

Junun

2018-08-22T15:17:00.001-07:00

It’s a very calming record...Junun.... brings me back to the Middle East....it takes me away as if I'm not in the city but I'm on a kibbutz or in the desert riding a horse in Dehab....listening to Bedouin musicians play into the night under the stars sitting by the fire ...this is music that soothes the soul....don’t get me wrong...I love Radiohead...I've seen them live and I adore their records....But this to me for Greenwood is such a departure and so unexpected but I guess we just take Greenwood and Radiohead for granted....and now Junun....I play it for my daughters at night to relax them before bedtime...it’s almost as if the record is music made for meditating. I walk around listening it in the city and dance to myself on the subway and I imagine how people around me would react to the record...If we could all just stop put down our phones and dance and listen to this music.. and belly dancers would appear out of nowhere....and we could just smile...and appreciate the moment...for a moment...we could be one....

Man

2018-08-21T19:04:00.001-07:00

https://soundcloud.com/user-670928343/man

It's time to change the present
It's time to change the key
So put it on the table
With no hidden fee

The rich keep getting richer
There's no oversight
It's time to get together
It's time for us to fight

Oh man I just want to live
Oh man something's got to give
So few get a chance to play
Might as well stop obeying

Used to have reason
Used to have a dream
But this America
You get what you see

Oh man I just want to live
Something's got to give
So few get a chance to play.....

"Man"
Written by Dan Zweben
Shorewood Songs (BMI)

Escape

2018-08-21T08:49:00.000-07:00

I find running and exercising to be a personal and private thing...That’s why I don’t go to gyms....I like the space of the outdoors, where we as humans don’t spend enough time...But it’s starting to feel that way in regards to making music...writing songs is a very personal, intimate thang and when you throw in ego and clashing personalities it makes me want to just write and record on my own...it’s hard to find people these days to play music with...everyone seems to be counting their miles and planning their next escape...but writing a song or taking a run to the water, to the pier specifically...can be an escape...and escape that costs nothing and you don’t have to get stuck waiting for your luggage....

Z @ Soundcloud

2018-08-16T05:36:00.001-07:00

https://soundcloud.com/user-670928343

Is my new soundcloud page: "Z".....I'm producing, writing and recording everything on my own....I don't have time to get together with dudes every night looking for inspiration...I have inspiration....And this is my outlet...Unedited....I am the producer....I am the label...I am everything...And I'm not sure anyone is listening...But it doesn't matter....Music is therapy...Music is my outlet...It always has been....But when you put a pricetag on it....When it becomes your career....It often changes your relationship with music....I know all about that...But I'm at a different place in my life right now...A place, where my daughter needs my help with something to clean up so I have to wrap up this here blog post...But check out the new tunes....Even if they suck...I'm still doing it...It's about the journey, not the destination...Especially for most musicians, artists, songwriters in today's world...There is no destination....But whatever...We still have today....

("Artwork" for Z @ Soundcloud)

chicago & tinley park & the grateful dead: 1990

2018-08-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

jerry garcia to a 16 year old in the midwest who was looking for an escape represented everything: adventure...great songs....a community of like minded urban modern hippies....and the dead were different than kids...this isn't your 2018 dead...this is jerry....I always gravitated to jerry more...I guess you start to like bobby more as time goes on...but I always was a jerry guy....so me and my 2 best buds who also were looking for adventure from our drab suburban milwaukee existence.....got tickets to see the dead in chicago...and we went camping...which we told our parents we were doing and the first night we camped....dude....what 16 year old kids today are going camping in the woods.??? we were living testament to jerry's dream....it makes me want to cry....so the second night we packed our things and drove to chicago...and as we entered tinley park the band played china cat into rider into fade away...the acid kicked in & the world opened up....& to see jerry right there...this was our temple...this was our religion...this was what life could be....it's hard to explain that people today...it wasn't about snapchating anything or facebook or instagram...it was about living in the moment within a community where you felt like you were understood...by people who were open to the possibilities and weren't afraid to go there...it was a different time...and that night....the rain came down but it was like it was meant to be...and we had nowhere to stay....and we drove all night through the storm back to milwaukee....back to my basement....we told my folks we got rained out camping and decided to come back early.....we were still tripping....not sure how we got home....a few months ago....I went to a q & a with the director of the documentary "long strange trip"....and I got a chance to meet amir and talk to him about the impact jerry and the dead had on me...and he understood....of course he did....he spent years trying to get permission from the band to make the film....so tell alexa to create a grateful dead station on spotify and pour yourself a glass of wine & pretend your in chicago in 1990 with me, mike & dave.....

happy tuesday,

cause for hope

2018-07-20T19:56:00.003-07:00

a bartender at a bar I frequent because my HS buddy bartends there said this tonight ..She said this tonight about the weather..yes, the weather...when the weather was this good...she said it made her feel happy to be alive.....that’s cause for hope right there....I’m trying to spend more time and get closer to nature...my daughter didn’t want me to go out tonight...so I stayed with her until she fell asleep...and then I walked through Gowanus to get to the bar....it was a perfect night...to be close to nature,cause for hope..a run early in the morning when it’s just me and the birds down by the water and the city has yet to caffeinate....cause for concern? cause for hope....the more we focus on the good in people...the more we compliment...the more we give...the more we get...

I Was There......

2018-06-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

I was there
when Luna made "Pup Tent" at RPM Studios
I was the "receptionist"
Bob would go to Hawaii for 6 months out of the year
I was there
I was there when http://www.sleater-kinney.com opened for Luscious Jackson at Coney Island High
On Saint Marks
I was there when MCA was skateboarding on my block on 3rd next to the home of the Hell's Angels...
I was there....
I was there when Elliott Smith performed at the Silverlake Junction in Silverlake.....and he could barely remember the words.....
R.I.P. Elliott
I was there.....
I was there when Dylan was born....
I was there when Harper was born....
I was there.....
I was there when The Pope made his first visit to Toronto....
I was riding bikes with my friend Benji Hayward....
I was there.....
I was there in 1990 at Tinley Park when Jerry Garcia and The Grateful Dead opened my mind up to the possibilities of the world and what music could be a provide a community....an escape from what Jerry called "Lame America".....I was there......

the breeders at terminal 5

2018-05-02T07:18:00.002-07:00

the breeders just came to NYC this week....they had business to take care of.....bring back the rock....and kim has a voice like an angel....it's no wonder steve albini is obsessed with that voice..and her...on a recent marc maron podcast she was fascinating...mesmerizing...and they played new stuff...and it was great....and the kids were dancing.....and they played gigantic and I thought about frank black and what he would have thought but I got back in the moment and danced and sang along...and they played stuff off pod and last splash and it was blast and I'm listening to the new record as I write this and it's a proper follow up to pod and last splash and I'm thinking about kim....

"Die For" Live from the Jalopy Theatre!

2018-04-11T06:27:00.002-07:00

https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/danzweben3

Every year the "art" parents get together at my kids school and put on a performance, a benefit for the school and a chance for us to connect and socialize and let loose.....It's a great night....This year I was fortunate to be accompanied by Josh Fagin and Darren Gordon which was awesome. It's good to get back out in front of an audience and play these songs that are apart of my life and share them with new friends and old ones as well. Next year, it looks like I'll be co-chairing the event :)

PS. Minnie Driver commented on my Instagram page :)

#itwasagoodweek #thelittlethings #goodwillhunting

7 Reasons Why I'm Grateful

2018-03-19T09:08:00.000-07:00

1. My family. My daughters. My wife.
2. A hot shower listening to The Stone Roses at 7 on Alexa.
2. New friends. Through my daughter I've become friends with a former rock star turned rock journalist. Yesterday, we took our daughters ice skating in Prospect Park but first took the long journey/walk through the park by the river.....Sometimes....Well...All the time....It's all about the journey. And we made it to the ice skating rink. And the DJ played 5 classics in a row. And my friend was happy. Which made me happy. Because, sometimes...a sunny day with new friends is all you need...And you need to find people to identify with in this life....You need to find people with common interest....Because you can't deny the things you find interesting....You can't pretend to be something you're not...And the sun was out. And it was amazing to spend one on one time with my daughter......What a good call my friend made....It really brightened up our day....
3. Spring
4. Brooklyn
5. Mexico (One day we'll get back to Akumal. Shout out to Fabian. )
6. The Stooges/Iggy Pop
7. Mondays

The List (Pilot)

2018-03-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

https://vimeo.com/255480918/efdd70dfb6

In 2018 I started the Brooklyn based production company The Gowanus Brothers with my friend director Nectarios Leonidas. The first pilot we created is called 'The List" with Nick Palance. I met Nick at a party in the East Village through musician friends and from the moment we met, we clicked. We started developing this show idea a few months back and we shot it on my new iPhone 10. And if there's anything I learned from reading Mark Manson's new book, it's that I learned at least one thing. We all have nothing to lose so you might as well just go for broke. I'm not afraid of rejection. Accepting rejection is hard. But it is the only way you are going to get anywhere in life. Our time here is not infinite. What we make matter in our life consumes us and we tend to worry about things that don't really matter. Like financial gain. And cars. And material things. And a superficial lifestyle. This show will get into that. The List is a way for one to hold themselves accountable. In doing this show we hope to put some positive influence into the world. A way for us to connect on things that matter. And "The List" will not lie to you. It will be true because it will force you to decide what matters. I'm in the process now of pitching the show to TV and brands that are searching for positive/transformative/entertaining content. But in order to do that. In this day and age. I'm putting it out there. In the universe. For the world to digest. Because it's something I'm proud of. And Nick is a guy I think you should all know. One day hopefully. Have a great Monday.

Dan

Silent Shuffle's "Happens" Demo at Soundcloud

2018-02-27T19:30:00.001-08:00

https://soundcloud.com/silent-shuffle/happens-demo

(Cover art by Dylan Zweben)

it's a demo....that's what we used to make to try to get record deals with record labels like Atlantic and big names....names that were bigger than the bands......and like Zappa said....As soon as "The Man" took over the music business....As soon as "The Man" decided he knew what people wanted and his taste was more important to marinate than realizing that hin another time...in another town...in this town but another time....missing you around....all that we can do....is keep on pushing through....everything happens for a reason......it's true.......I'm listening to the song while I write this blog watching the news thinking about how to not care about the little things at least that's what this self help book is telling me....and to not give a care about the little things and to focus on the important things in life and not pretend that everything is good and everything is perfect because it is not and to wear my flaws on my sleeve and I try to do that but it is too real for people to stop and hug in the middle of the sidewalk we should all be hugging and cuddling and holding on to life for our dear lives....