Denton-based singer-songwriter Daniel Markham may have taken a three-year break from releasing music, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been working on his next big thing.
After the release of his 2020 album, Burnout, Markham got himself a Gibson SG guitar and a little Orange amplifier and started cranking out rock riffs at home. Coming off one of his heaviest records, Markham had the idea to try something new and “a little bit more sparkly.” That concept, and months of songwriting and strumming, eventually bore Markham’s 10th LP, Just Like A Dream, released on April 5.
Markham describes the album and its tracks in a lot of different ways, which isn't surprising given how wide-ranging the sounds on his previous albums have been: “an ode to the greats of the ‘80s and ‘90s,” “Stone Temple Pilots when they were weird,” “if David Lynch had a band that sounded like Tom Petty.” But more than any genre-mixing description he could give, Markham says the process and final form of Just Like A Dream feel like waking up from something.
“I wrote it all in complete isolation, you know, just me and the computer,” Markham says. “So actually making it with everyone I did, getting back out there and recording everything, felt like waking up from that isolated time. It’s just like we were all getting back together and doing the things that we used to do and keep moving on from it all.”
The title for Markham’s album speaks for itself. It was made at his dream studio, Chase Park Transduction in Athens, Georgia, with his dream producer, David Barbe of Deerhunter and Drive-By Truckers acclaim. Markham spent seven days working with Barbe in Georgia (technically eight, if you count the day they spent waterskiing out on Lake Hartwell), and says the craziness of the whole process is what gave most of the album its dreamlike qualities that shine through his signature '90s grunge sound.
“It still blows my mind that I can talk about working with David Barbe out loud and have it all be true.” – Daniel Markham
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“It still blows my mind that I can talk about working with David Barbe out loud and have it all be true,” Markham says. “On paper, if you had told me I was going to do that five years ago, I’d be like, ‘Whatever, come on.’ [...] It really meant a lot after what had been a weird span of time.”
The recording of Just Like A Dream came after a “tumultuous 2021” for Markham. In addition to experiencing the universal adjustment back to society after COVID-19 pandemic isolation, Markham says lots of things happened that drove him back to music and to working on the album. One of the most impactful was the loss of a friend, which inspired "Standing In The Rain," one of three singles released off Just Like A Dream. In the song, Markham expresses thoughts of remorse and regret for having things left unsaid, with lyrics like, “It’s been so long since I heard you sing my favorite song/How did we get so far away?”
“Being able to play music again was like a victory,” Markham says. “Music is such a good way to release something, to get it out of your system. People, experiences, things like that, you can just turn it into a song and then they can live on that way.”
Markham recently celebrated the full 10-track LP at an album release event at Dan’s Silverleaf in Denton, the city he still calls home. At the concert and beyond, he hopes his songs resonate with listeners as much as they have with him over the past few years. By combining the style of his favorite music from his teenage years with the writing and stories from his adulthood, Markham imparts a unique and intimate piece of himself in Just Like A Dream, one he hopes people can continue to connect with.
Looking back at the years-long adventure that resulted in Just Like A Dream, Markham says he’s learned how to be better prepared for any situation, whether it’s related to music or whatever else life might throw at him. When good things come along, take them. And when they don’t, try to keep at least some fuel in the tank.
Today, Markham still has plenty left in his tank, with over 70 songs that are fully demoed on his computer. While Markham says he has plenty of material to work with for future projects, he’ll stick to staying focused on Just Like A Dream for now.
“And when I’m tired of doing that, I’ll start on another record,” Markham says. “The cycle continues.”
