Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 35 minutes ago
Prior to the release of 'Goldfeels' (out September 6), Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips spoke to Dan Kelly via zoom about the creation of his fabulous new album.
Dan Kelly is essentially a storyteller. He’s a guy who grew up peering out of school class windows with his active imagination pondering the creative possibilities outside rather than digesting the practical information being delivered in front of him. As an adult living in rural Victoria he still gazes out the window, looking at and thinking about the world. In fact, as he tells us in our interview about the creation of his new album Goldfeels, an early morning contemplative coffee and cigarette outside the backdoor set the scene for his daily impending songwriting sessions.
Listening to a Dan Kelly song immediately conjures visions of places and characters. His music can be so expressive that it negates the need for explanatory video clips … although he creates those too (See the clip to the track ‘Golden Shoes = Country Blues’ below). From the evocative banjo intro to the album, Dan draws you into the world as he sees it. On Goldfeels, he illustrates both a harsh and beautiful perspective of his country. The album was created after a devastating period in Australia’s history of flood, fire, and covid lockdowns. Adding to Dan’s heaviness of heart was the deep personal grief he was suffering due to the passing of his father. It took the encouragement of his mate, musician and producer of this new album Dan Luscombe (The Drones) to press Kelly to write his way out of his funk and return to creating music.
The resultant recording, Goldfeels is a triumphant emergence from the dark. As Kelly tells us, he didn’t know if he was even capable of creating music anymore. Most of the record was written on a seventies-era wooden Yamaha piano, an instrument he was learning to play as much as he was attempting to summon songs from it. Rather than attempting to play intricate notes, Dan was more concerned with chord shapes and as you’ll hear from the album, those chord structures contain a tremendous amount of feeling.
#australianmusician #dankelly
Prior to the release of 'Goldfeels' (out September 6), Australian Musician editor Greg Phillips spoke to Dan Kelly via zoom about the creation of his fabulous new album.
Dan Kelly is essentially a storyteller. He’s a guy who grew up peering out of school class windows with his active imagination pondering the creative possibilities outside rather than digesting the practical information being delivered in front of him. As an adult living in rural Victoria he still gazes out the window, looking at and thinking about the world. In fact, as he tells us in our interview about the creation of his new album Goldfeels, an early morning contemplative coffee and cigarette outside the backdoor set the scene for his daily impending songwriting sessions.
Listening to a Dan Kelly song immediately conjures visions of places and characters. His music can be so expressive that it negates the need for explanatory video clips … although he creates those too (See the clip to the track ‘Golden Shoes = Country Blues’ below). From the evocative banjo intro to the album, Dan draws you into the world as he sees it. On Goldfeels, he illustrates both a harsh and beautiful perspective of his country. The album was created after a devastating period in Australia’s history of flood, fire, and covid lockdowns. Adding to Dan’s heaviness of heart was the deep personal grief he was suffering due to the passing of his father. It took the encouragement of his mate, musician and producer of this new album Dan Luscombe (The Drones) to press Kelly to write his way out of his funk and return to creating music.
The resultant recording, Goldfeels is a triumphant emergence from the dark. As Kelly tells us, he didn’t know if he was even capable of creating music anymore. Most of the record was written on a seventies-era wooden Yamaha piano, an instrument he was learning to play as much as he was attempting to summon songs from it. Rather than attempting to play intricate notes, Dan was more concerned with chord shapes and as you’ll hear from the album, those chord structures contain a tremendous amount of feeling.
#australianmusician #dankelly
