Studio Recordings:
Daniel Folmer - Guitar, Synth, Bass, Vocals, Beats, Piano, Noise
Professor Science, Glen Farris - keys
Aaron White - guitar
Justin Collins, Grady Don, Cody Seals - drums
Concert Band:
Professor Science- keys
Daniel Folmer - Guitar, Vocals, Keys
TV's Daniel - Bass
Cody Seals - Drums
Influences
Tex Winters, Ernest Tubb, Gregorio Allegri, DJ Screw (RIP), John Darnielle, Billy Joel, Faure, Lefty Frizzell, Lil' Keke, Emmylou Harris, Ed Belfour, Isobel Campbell, Will Oldham, Bruce Springsteen, MK Ultra, Bob Wills, John Vanderslice, Sibylle Baier, Gram Parsons, Ruth Etting, David Berman, Fat Pat (RIP), Debussy, Big HAWK (RIP), Pimp C (RIP)
Live Videos:
Daniel Folmer is a 23 year old resident of Denton, Texas who was born in Dallas. He plays (or attempts to play) most instruments, and the instruments on his recordings except for live drums. He don't do drums. His songs were recorded by John Congleton of the pAper chAse or by Justin Collins of Burnt Sienna Trio, Michael Briggs, or by his lonesome at home.
------------------------------------------ Reviews/Interviews:
Last year, Folmer doled out the consistent and satisfying A Leaf, and with his newest offering, The Roaring Twenties, he stays true to his own brand of dramatic, obsessive (realistic, not creepy), romantically spirited lyricism ("Skin & Bones," "Prison Guard" and "Roaring Twenties" are lyrical as well as melodic highlights), while showing even more skill at the musical self-edit—something that many writers never master.
- Merritt Martin, Dallas Observer
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His new album, which will be released this weekend, sees the prolific artist tackle broader themes and poppier arrangements. On The Roaring Twenties, Folmer writes about the tug of war between running wild and settling down.
- Hunter Hauk, Quick
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Folmer occasionally wails like a man trapped with nothing but regrets and all the time in the world to analyze himself. But there’s unaffected pop beauty in there as well; a rolling, vivid blend of life viewed as something like art.
- Preston Jones, Fort Worth Weekly
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Daniel Folmer may have come on the scene in 2006 as a wide-eyed wunderkind, but with 2007's Gloria, and now A Leaf, he's starting to carry himself like a keen observer of the human condition.
- Dave Sims, Dallas Observer
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What is it about Denton that spawns such great lo-fi ballads? A decade after Centro-matic comes Daniel Folmer, another act with a knack for slow, dreamy haunting melodies. The Paper Chase's John Congleton helped produce the CD, but the 21-year-old Mr. Folmer did just about everything else, from singing and playing guitar and keyboards, to writing the tunes. And he's not a happy-go-lucky type (sample title: "Sorry for Being So Sorry"), but his dry humor often creeps through.
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Anyway, his lyrics--about weird, one-off love affairs and things that go bump in a graveyard--are a nice counter-balanced to the pretty classically structured pop instrumentation of his tunes. "Robots," off his new A Leaf (which Dave Sims reviewed in this week's paper), is a perfect example: It's a fairly quick-paced pop-rock ditty that's put together quite well (well done, Echo Lab-ers) and, oddly enough, is about, well, robots. But robots in love with, so far as I can tell, their own dying technologies.
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The Dallas Observer says Denton's Daniel Folmer is "on the precipice of something brilliant," and after spending a few days with his new record Gloria, we tend to agree. Daniel is responsible for basically all of the instrumentation on Gloria, and most of the record was recorded by John Congleton, who has worked with Explosions in the Sky, the Mountain Goats, and produced the Polyphonic Spree's amazing new record, among others. Here is the beautiful and sad album-opener from Gloria, which only scratches the surface of Daniel's knack for crafting plaintive, affecting songs that reward repeat listens with increasingly intense heartache.
-------------------------------------------- Throughout Gloria Folmer forsakes the playfully nerdy aspects of Headphones and instead plunges into a mature examination of relationships and rites of passage. "I don't have the fortitude, and you don't have the time," sings Folmer on "Warmth of a Dryer," looking for answers when he knows none are available. With an emphasis on distorted guitar accompaniment, Daniel Folmer is on the precipice of something brilliant.
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Daniel Folmer’s new album A New Leaf is available now on Gutterth Records. Focusing in and out of a relationship, he uses pop songs to emote distant sentiment, romance, joy and frustration. The album was recorded on quarter inch reel to reel during two sessions with Justin Collins (Centromatic, Doug Burr, Robert Gomez, Record Hop) and mastered by Matthew Barnhart (Shearwater, Baptist Generals, The New Year), at the Echo Lab and Satisfactory Studios.
- Review of "A Leaf" by Cindy Chaffin, The Fine Line
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.. Folmer's been hanging out in his small apartment, delivering pizzas in an un-air-conditioned car and writing about six songs a year since 2002. Inspired by his parents' love for music, Folmer incorporates elements of Neil Young, David Bowie and even old-school country into his minimalist compositions. Folmer's fragile tenor dances across the skeletal backdrops like a resurrected Nick Drake fronting Yo La Tengo.
-------------------------------------------- Sure enough, the 22 songs (that's right, 22 songs) on Folmer's Wear Headphones offer a certain matter-of-factness, and many of them feel like a straightforward journal, née diary, entry...if guys really admitted to writing in diaries.
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Denton folk singer Daniel Folmer puts it all out there with lyrics: fear, insecurity, self-deprecation and regret over love gone awry.
