Danny L Harle on passing his wisdom to new artists for the Amex Unsigned Initiative
The acclaimed producer tells us about teaming up with American Express for their Unsigned Initiative and what we can expect to hear from him next...
Acclaimed producer Danny L Harle has spoken of the importance of passing his wisdom on to a new generation of unsigned musicians as part of a major new initiative.
Harle, who produced Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism, has teamed up with American Express for its 2025 Unsigned initiative, which is now in its third year.
It provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for unsigned music artists to work with Harle and to record at London’s iconic Metropolis Studios. Six acts will be selected by a panel of industry experts, while the final six unsigned artists will receive a half day of studio time with Harle, where they can work on a track, adapt arrangements, sample or explore new music concepts and instruments.
In addition, the artists will receive mentorship from industry experts, the chance to submit their music to potentially feature in an Amex ad campaign, as well as the opportunity to perform at Amex sponsored events.
“I don’t do much collaboration, but I felt I could definitely do this. A skill I have is sitting in a room with new artists and new producers and maybe helping them distill a direction,” explained Harle.
“There is a lot of value in sitting in a designated space and listening to all of your work through a really good system and take stock of it and think about how you wish to communicate it to the world. Now’s an especially interesting time for that and this initiative was something I felt I could fit into quite well.”
Harle also spoke of his excitement to work with acts outside of his comfort zone.
“I think there might be some things out of what I’m used to where I could contribute, so I’m interested to work with people outside of my usual wheelhouse,” he said.
“I do love helping people because there’s been times in my career where I’ve been guided and it’s been so useful. I personally feel it’s one duty to pass it on. If someone does a really nice thing for you, you have to pass it on to someone else. In that way, I felt like I might learn how to increase my ability to do that!”
As for his other work, Harle interestingly noted that he’s taking receipt of a custom made Tenor Viol – an instrument dating back to the Elizabethan era.
“I’ve always been interested in very old music, very new music and bridging the two somehow,” he said.
“I’m obsessed with it now and the thing it’s particularly good at is arpeggios and that’s something I really like in music. It has an old sound that harks back to four five hundred years ago in a way that’s so evocative for me” he added.
“I’m in an amazing place where I can focus on the projects I want to work on and make my dream projects come to life.”