FVMusicBlog

Photo: Limb Breaker

We were fortunate enough to catch up with musician Danny Serrano (AKA Limb Breaker) following the superb release, ‘Kills Me’. Enjoy below!

Hi Danny, tell us about yourself.

Hi, I’m Danny Serrano. I was born in Manhattan, NYC. I learned guitar and drums by myself when I was 15 and was forced to move to Puerto Rico due to my mom’s work circumstances. I kept practising and learned to blow out my voice while playing Foo Fighters songs in a condo. I came to South Florida in 2002. Played in several weird bands before I started Hyimn in 2006.

After we lost our drummer in 2012, we decided to start Sorus. A few years ago, in 2022, I joined my friend Jaz Sainze to create Snake Healer, a sludge/doom theatrical band. At the same time, I came up with a few song ideas and created Limb Breaker as a solo project. The idea afterwards was experimentation to see what works.

What is your songwriting process?

Well… that’s a great question. I used to feed off others and try to get cool riffs from whatever we played and created songs off just drunken stupors. This project is very different. I dig a bit deep; I ask what the hell AM I am feeling right now. I come up with a few starter riffs, record them, and see if they hit. This is a long ass process. It’s since I’m going back and forth with myself… really. This is to see whether it sounds good for people to enjoy since I’ve written some crazy stuff in the past.

Then, once I got a good riff, with a cool, steady drumbeat, which always changes later since I have to vary it up and make it sound like a real person, I write a few lyrics to see if they fit and feel good. The rest is just followed by experimentation on vocals and rewrites on what I am able to play on stage. In the end, I think about what sounds cool and fun to play live for me and for everyone else.

Tell us about your brilliant latest single, ‘Kills Me’?

This song was a pet project that came from an old riff I wrote in Sorus, which was rejected. I wanted to revisit it and see what I could come up with without external factors that could probably hinder the growth of the song itself. Overall, the song is about the fight or an argument between myself and my subconscious.

Trying to stop telling myself shit I don’t need to hear, think, or do. The things I deal with are so negative and such crap that eventually, I have to tell it that I’ve had enough, and I’m going to go ahead and push it away. It’s a pretty funny song, but yeah, it’s the never-ending back-and-forth struggle.

Limb Breaker is a new project for you. Can you tell us about its concept?

I had the idea for some time. During 2020, Sorus wasn’t doing any shows due to COVID, so at the time, I was living in Dawsonville, GA, which is 45 north of Atlanta, Ga. I wanted to start an alternative hard rock/grunge band over there to see if I could gain traction and perhaps play, but none of that came about. What happened was I was stuck in my own fuckin head on how I should sound or whatever. That time had passed, and before you knew it, my wife had a baby. She is my everything and my only since during the time of 2022.

I lost my job, so I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Stay-at-home dad and no work. While still playing shows for the band Snake Healer in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Travelling 10 hours to play a show was fun, but it was a lot of stress for me, my car, and my sanity. So when I started Limb Breaker, I had riffs and some ideas, and my friend Jaz Sainz from Sorus/ Snake Healer/Hyimn which he is my fellow right-hand/guitar player, pressured me to push and continue the project because I had some good ideas.

I almost gave up numerous times, but I kept continuing, which I still do. I learned new programs, utilized my HX STOMP XL for extra recordings, and tried to streamline my ideas to what you hear now while maintaining the independence of my own music rather than using and bouncing off others’ ideas, which are nice but not conducive to your own projects and visions.

This release is on the independent label Washed Up Drunk Records. What are the main challenges and benefits you find when releasing music independently?

I think just doing it and figuring out what you can do to release and protect your music and try to treat it as a business rather on your own than “Hey, here’s my project I’m going to put out without thought and play shows because I can” mentally really helps.

So I wanted to create this label mainly for me to push around on my own accord but in the hopes that maybe in the near future, I can help other bands who have potential or who feel they lost their potential to push them up a little and get people to listen to them. I’ve been there at the bottom, so I get it. It’s not easy, and this isn’t any easier, to say the least. What are solutions without problems, haha?

The benefits are more to help the community that helped me so much the last 20 years and how I can help with what little I can give. So, I’m in the process of creating a website for future bands who can sell merch through the website easily without feeling price gouged. Will it work? We’ll see.

What draws you to the alternative rock genre?

I’ve been a huge fan of it since 95. The good ‘ol I started with Nirvana and stemmed from there is pretty much what happened. A friend who runs the Clean Error record label showed me “From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah”, and I wanted to smash guitars and bang on drums. In NYC, that isn’t something you wanna do in your apartment.

What scares you most when releasing music?

Whether people will even bother listening to it, I feel like there’s so much music out there that why would someone wanna listen to my stuff? The internet really changed everything, haha.

What do you think are the biggest obstacles for bands/artists today?

I think personally, trying to get seen or even bothered to get heard is an obstacle in itself. Every person who makes music is stuck in their own bubble. I used to be like, “Oh, I’m in a band, I’m so cool, I play music, please listen to me and my cool shit” It took me a long time, but the mentality is what works and what doesn’t. Who likes what? If it hits, try doing more of that. If not, change and shift directions and try a different approach with the same style because you like it.

A promoter once told me that if you have no friends, you’ll never make it… I feel there’s a little truth to that, but I know that can be overcome with perseverance and just a bit more extra work.

What advice would you give to other bands/artists starting out?

Oh, man… Find a band and play as much as possible. Internet is cool if you have money… if that. Play out often, and try to tell friends and family (hint: they’re not coming, trust me, I tried). When you’re young, do whatever you can to play as many shows as possible. Play a lot and gain some sort of street cred underground.

What are your hopes for the next two years?

I hope to be consistent with this project, which will include upcoming singles monthly along with shows coming next year. I hope more or less to be gigging and creating tangible products that are cool as shit to sell at shows, and hopefully, I will have a culmination of about 1 LP or a bit more by the end of 2027.

I want Washed Up Drunk Records to be taking just a tad seriously as a marketing vehicle. Who knows? Maybe it’ll be something that gives some older bands a second chance. I don’t know; I can always dream, haha. Like anything else, it takes a ton of work and money in the process to make these things happen.

https://facebook.com/LimbBreakerofficial
https://LimbBreaker.bandcamp.com
https://youtube.com/@limbbreakerrock
https://www.instagram.com/limb.breaker
https://www.tiktok.com/@limbbreaker

FVMusicBlog December 2024

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Also! Check out the awesome other artists on the ‘Discovered This Week’ Playlist!