San Diego modern rock/electronic artist PHIL DANYEW weaves songs of hope, yearning, and redemption into deep soundscapes. His Sparrow Records debut CD, Danyew, released in 2009, includes the tracks "Closer We Are," the sunny "Nothing Without You," and the haunting "Beautiful King," and is testament to the breadth and depth of his talent and musical ambitions.

Danyew, a native Californian, has been crafting songs since he was twelve, learning a passel of different instruments along the way, and over the past couple of years immersing himself in the electronic side of the music creation equation.

"Long story short, I was going out to Nashville and working with a guy named Pete Kipley, who produced the record. This was way before the label was involved," Danyew says. "We started working, I got in contact with the label, began doing showcases, my producer ended up moving out here. There are a lot of things that prolonged the recording process."

So when he went into the studio in early 2007 to start piecing together his debut recording, Danyew got his first glimpse into the dedication it takes to make music come out just right. Something many new artists can’t imagine in this current "record today, release later today" musical atmosphere.

"I’d come up with all these parts – all the bass, all the guitars, all the synths, all the vocals – to the best of my ability, then take them to Pete, and we’d talk about what I was thinking for the songs," Danyew says. "That’s the great thing about technology, that a kid could start making a record in his bedroom closet, then take it across town to a producer who turns it into finished product. It’s amazing."

The creation of art is supposed to be about personal revelation and expression, right? This process often includes learning that what you do creatively can be easily subdivided.

"I feel like there’s almost three personalities to my work,” Danyew says. “I write so differently on guitar than on piano or when I’m programming right into the computer. Yet somehow it all works together to produce the songs themselves."

"I see songwriting as like a library filing cabinet." Danyew says. "The songs you’re gonna write are there, you just have to sift through a lot of other things before you get to the good ones. I feel like anybody who’s a songwriter needs to be writing all the time. I definitely feel like I’m in the floppy-eared, big-paw portion of my career, that I’m just waiting to grow into it."

And in the midst of learning how and why he’s an artist, Danyew finds himself listening intently for that indication of where and to whom he’s supposed to speak.

"I have songs on this record that aren’t necessarily about God, right alongside the worship songs." Danyew says. "I felt like God was saying to me, ‘Why do you have to choose one side or the other? Write the music that I’m giving you, and don’t be partial about where you’re playing it. Everyone needs to hear this.’"

He continues, "the simple truth is that God wants us to love each other. Love is such a powerful thing, and God is shaping my desires to show His love through music...of all kinds."