Dan Bryk
| Dan Bryk | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Mississauga, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres |
Indie Rock Pop Singer-songwriter |
| Years active | 1996-Present |
| Labels | Urban Myth, Firefly Music, Pop Up Records, Scratchie, Teenage USA Recordings, Avex |
| Associated acts | The American Flag, Down By Avalon, Bull City (Band) |
| Website | www.bryk.com |
Dan Waldemar Bryk (born September 23, 1970) is a Canadian-born singer-songwriter and recording artist. Originally from Toronto, Bryk is currently based in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. A critically acclaimed songwriter and keyboard player, Bryk has released five full-length albums and a handful of singles, EPs and tracks on compilations.
Dan Bryk grew up in suburban Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, 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 was a fixture in 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. 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.
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