Dan Bryk

Dan Bryk grew up in suburban Mississauga, Ontario, where he attended several Public and Catholic schools 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.{{cite web|last=Lapointe|first=Andrew|title=Living on a Lover's Leap: An Interview with Canadian Singer/Songwriter Dan Bryk|url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/byrk-dan-020729|publisher=PopMatters|accessdate=December 13, 2012|date=July 2, 2002}} 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 by Mississauga Cable 10 community access television. Bryk graduated from St. Martin's in 1989.

Bryk then attended the University of Guelph in Guelph, 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 at a Mississauga design firm, all the while writing and demoing his compositions and developing his idiosyncratic, self-taught piano playing style.

Bryk moved from the suburbs to downtown Toronto in 1994 and joined the Queen Street West music scene with the release of his largely self-performed debut CD Dan Bryk, Asshole. The CD received airplay from CBC Radio 2, 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, National Chart and Exclaim!, most notably making Toronto Star 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, bassist Maury Lafoy (also of The Supers and Sarah Harmer's and Jann Arden's backing bands), Supers/Charlie Major drummer Jeff Macpherson (and briefly, singer-songwriter/drummer Howie Beck).{{cite web|last=Hughes|first=Kim|title=Cover Story|url=http://www.nowtoronto.com/art/story.cfm?content=124629|publisher=NOW Magazine (Toronto)|accessdate=December 13, 2012|date=September 2, 2000}} During this period, Bryk was also an occasional participant in Toronto's Serial Diners.

Asked to record a CBC Radio 2 RealTime 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 and Fountains of Wayne bandmate Chris Collingwood. Bryk then travelled to NYC for some additional recording with Schlesinger and his Ivy 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, Bryk's Scratchie/Mercury debut was delayed, then ultimately abandoned due to corporate restructuring following a merger with Universal Music.{{cite web|last=Liss|first=Sarah|title=T.O. Music Notes: August 2, Dan Bryk|url=http://www.nowtoronto.com/music/story.cfm?content=133127|publisher=NOW Magazine (Toronto)|accessdate=December 13, 2012|date=August 8, 2002}}{{cite magazine|last=McCormick|first=Moira|date=December 4, 1999|title=Scratchie Records Is Back In The Game With New Releases|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hggEAAAAMBAJ&dq=dan%20bryk%20scratchie%20billboard&pg=PA19|magazine=Billboard|pages=19}}

Once again independent of major label distribution, Scratchie released Bryk's Lovers Leap CD in October 2000,{{cite web|title=Critical Mass-acre|date=April 17, 2018 |url=http://www.bryk.com/press/|publisher=Dan Bryk artist website|accessdate=July 31, 2018}} and it received a positive review from Robert Christgau{{cite web|last=Christgau|first=Robert|title=Consumer Guide Review|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=302&name=Dan+Bryk|work=Lovers Leap|publisher=The Village Voice|accessdate=December 13, 2012}} and meagre sales. Lovers Leap (which charted in CMJ) featured cameos from the odd assortment of Canadian musicians Bryk had befriended via Asshole: Danny Michel, Howie Beck, Chris Warren, Kyp Harness, Jacksoul frontman (and Guelph college roommate) Haydain Neale, outsider chanteuse Kathleen Yearwood and a cappella harmonists Moxy Früvous.{{Citation|title=Lovers Leap - Dan Bryk {{!}} Credits {{!}} AllMusic|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/lovers-leap-mw0000101300/credits|language=en|access-date=2021-06-14}} Bryk was pictured shirtless on the back cover of Toronto third wave Ska band King Apparatus' Hospital Waiting Room EP{{Citation|title=King Apparatus – Hospital Waiting Room (1992, CD)|date=October 4, 1992 |url=https://www.discogs.com/King-Apparatus-Hospital-Waiting-Room/release/9907671|language=en|access-date=2021-06-14}} 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 Popular Songwriting grant in 2002.{{Cite web|date=2004-07-01|title=Ontario Arts Council - Popular Music|url=http://www.arts.on.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_1_752_1.html|access-date=2021-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040701053037/http://www.arts.on.ca/userfiles/HTML/nts_1_752_1.html|archive-date=July 1, 2004}}

Bryk toured to support Lovers Leap throughout Canada and the US, and also toured Japan in 2001 with Stephen Malkmus for Lovers Leap's release by Avex Trax Japan{{cite web|last=Eldredge|first=Kristy|title=GLONO Interview: Bryk by Bryk|url=http://gloriousnoise.com/2007/dan_bryk_by_bryk|publisher=Glorious Noise|accessdate=December 13, 2012|date=March 1, 2007}} (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 and wide video play in Japan. Bryk's music has been mashed and remixed by The Kendall Mintcake{{cite web|title=Nova Social Biography|url=http://www.littlefieldnyc.com/event/98231/|publisher=Littlefield|access-date=December 13, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116003901/http://www.littlefieldnyc.com/event/98231/|archive-date=January 16, 2013|url-status=dead}} 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.{{Cite web|title=Bums (2006) Soundtrack|url=https://ringostrack.com/en/movie/bums/13186|access-date=2021-06-14|website=RingosTrack|language=en}}

Bryk moved to Durham, NC in 2003 with his life partner Erin McGinn, settling in neighbouring Raleigh. 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.{{cite web|last=Howe |first=Brian |title=Track Review: We Don't Care |url=http://pitchforkmedia.com/article/track_review/39115 |publisher=Pitchfork Media }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

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) and regional college radio airplay.{{cite web|last=Currin|first=Grayson|title=The Bryk House|url=http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/the-bryk-house/Content?oid=1200167|publisher=Independent Weekly (Raleigh)|accessdate=December 13, 2012|date=December 2, 2006}} 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, Schooner and Nathan Asher.{{cite web |last=Menconi |first=David |title=Holiday Album In The Works |url=http://www.newsobserver.com/707/story/478379.html |publisher=News and Observer (Raleigh) |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071018054853/http://www.newsobserver.com/707/story/478379.html |archivedate=October 18, 2007 }}

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.{{cite news|title=Ode To Cherie Berry Redefines Elevator Music|url=http://www.newsobserver.com/114/story/629647.html|accessdate=December 13, 2012|newspaper=News & Observer, The (Raleigh, NC)|date=July 7, 1997|author=Beckwith, Ryan|agency=NewsLibrary|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081022071501/http://www.newsobserver.com/114/story/629647.html|archivedate=October 22, 2008|page=A1|url-status=dead}}

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 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.{{Cite web|last=admin|first=UMrecs|title=FAQs|url=https://www.umrecs.com/category/faqs/|access-date=2021-06-14|website=Urban Myth Recordings|date=October 7, 2005 |language=en-US}}

Bryk is allegedly the inspiration for and subject of David Celia's song "Cactus"{{cite web|last=Owen |first=Sian Claire |title=Interview {{!}} David Celia |url=http://www.americana-uk.com/joomla/interview-archive-pre-2011/interviews-2007/178-inteviewcelia07 |publisher=Americana UK |accessdate=December 20, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321144852/http://www.americana-uk.com/joomla/interview-archive-pre-2011/interviews-2007/178-inteviewcelia07 |archivedate=March 21, 2012 }} 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{{cite web|title=REVIEWS:: DAN BRYK POP PSYCHOLOGY|url=http://www.herohill.com/2009/09/reviews-dan-bryk-pop-psychology.htm|publisher=Hero Hill|accessdate=December 13, 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222231305/http://www.herohill.com/2009/09/reviews-dan-bryk-pop-psychology.htm|archivedate=December 22, 2010}}{{cite web|last=Howe|first=Brian|title=Pop Psychology|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13357-pop-psychology/|publisher=Pitchfork Media|accessdate=December 13, 2012}}{{cite web|title=Dan Bryk – The Next Best Thing|url=http://bowlingstone.com/dan-bryk-the-next-best-thing/|publisher=Bowling Stone|accessdate=December 13, 2012|url-status=usurped|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121111122112/http://bowlingstone.com/dan-bryk-the-next-best-thing/|archivedate=November 11, 2012}} but Bryk went into hiatus soon after the birth of his child Henry and the record languished in obscurity.{{cite web|last=Delarue|title=1000 Best Albums of All Time: Album of the Day|url=http://lucidculture.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/album-of-the-day-72611/|publisher=Lucid Culture|accessdate=December 13, 2012|date=July 2, 2011}}

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.{{Cite news|title=Just Wait Until Your Mother Gets Home|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/12/fashion/dads-are-taking-over-as-full-time-parents.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|author=Williams, Alex|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 10, 2012|accessdate=December 13, 2012}}

{{Cite news|title=Stay-At-Home Dads: The Future Family?|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/10/stay-at-home-dads_n_2271940.html|date=December 10, 2012|accessdate=December 13, 2012|newspaper=Huffington Post}}

Bryk scored and contributed original songs to the soundtrack of the as-yet-unreleased 2011 indie short RIPE.{{cite web|title=Applecare|url=http://www.ourstage.com/media_items/LUQXZQRIZKPY-applecare|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131022250/http://www.ourstage.com/media_items/LUQXZQRIZKPY-applecare|url-status=usurped|archive-date=January 31, 2013|publisher=OurStage.com|accessdate=December 13, 2012}}

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.{{cite web|title=Free Download: A Typically Entertaining Dan Bryk Show from 2009|url=http://newyorkmusicdaily.wordpress.com/2012/02/23/danbryk/|publisher=New York Music Daily|accessdate=December 13, 2012|date=February 2, 2012}}

Bryk relocated to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in 2013.{{cite web|title=Schmello World!|date=August 7, 2013 |url=http://www.bryk.com/2013/08/hello-world/|publisher=Dan Bryk blog|accessdate=August 19, 2013}} In August 2013 he publicly announced an expanded reissue of his best-known recording Lovers Leap{{cite web|title=Lovers Leap Deluxe Reissue|date=August 10, 2013 |url=http://www.bryk.com/2013/08/lovers-leap-deluxe-reissue/|publisher=Dan Bryk blog|accessdate=August 19, 2013}} and another recording possibly titled Lies of Girls and Women.

At the end of 2013, Bryk moved to Washington, DC.{{cite web|title=Whatever Happened To Dan Bryk?|date=March 31, 2014 |url=http://www.bryk.com/2014/03/whatever-happened-to-dan-bryk/|publisher=Dan Bryk blog|accessdate=March 31, 2014}} He later moved back to Durham, NC towards the end of 2016.{{cite web|title=All Wikidding Aside|url=http://www.bryk.com/2017/08/remember-me/|publisher=Dan Bryk blog|accessdate=August 1, 2017}}{{Cite web|last=Howe|first=Brian|date=2020-04-14|title=Dan Bryk's Misadventures in the Music Industry as Told by Wikipedia|url=https://indyweek.com/api/content/731678d2-7dcb-11ea-a53e-1244d5f7c7c6/|access-date=2021-06-14|website=INDY Week|language=en-us}}

• [http://listen.umrecs.com/bryk_WCR-FM_interview_061308.mp3 Interview with Matthew Revell of WCR-FM Wolverhampton, England] June 13, 2008
• [http://listen.umrecs.com/bryk_DNTO_WBEZ_091507.mp3 Interview and performance of "Discount Store" with Sook-Yin Lee of CBC Radio 2 "Definitely Not The Opera"] September 15, 2007
• [http://listen.umrecs.com/bryk_CBC_SLC_090307.mp3 Interview with Shelagh Rogers of CBC Radio 1 "Sounds Like Canada"] September 3, 2007
• [http://listen.umrecs.com/Bryk_WPTF_070721_128k.mp3 Interview with Bob Langford of WPTF News Talk 680, Raleigh NC] July 21, 2007
• [http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/22104 Interview with Pseu Braun of WFMU, Jersey City NJ] February 16, 2007
• [http://listen.umrecs.com/BRYK_WKNC.mp3 Interview with Steve Salevan of WKNC, Raleigh NC] October 20, 2006
• [http://www.wfmu.org/listen.ram?show=4524 Interview with Pseu Braun of WFMU, Jersey City NJ] January 19, 2001

{{Reflist}}

• 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 Bryk [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927101824/http://www.bryk.com/oldsite/html/faq.html FAQ]
• Dan Bryk [https://web.archive.org/web/20070511234534/http://www.bryk.com/oldsite/html/press.html Press Archive]

• [http://www.bryk.com Official Artist Website]
• {{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p446815|label=Dan Bryk}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061230143615/http://www.umrecs.com/ Urban Myth Recording Collective] (Bryk is a founding member)
• [http://www.avexnet.or.jp/avexdb/danbryk/ Avex Biography (Japanese language)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923180841/http://www.avexnet.or.jp/avexdb/danbryk/ |date=September 23, 2015 }}
• [http://www.reverbnation.com/danbryk reverbnation site]

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Category:1970 births

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Category:21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters