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On a warm summer day in 1995, Daniel Swartz decided to learn the theme song from Super Mario Bros on the piano in order to impress his peers. Little did he know at the time, this was a major turning point in his musical career: the themes and variations he created while attempting to learn the Mario theme would eventually evolve into “Tomorrow”, his first original composition. After a performance of Tomorrow unexpectedly won him the school talent show, Daniel realized that the composition and synthesis of music was his true calling in life.

As you may have gathered, video game music has been the primary influence in Daniel’s music since day 1. Many of Daniel’s songs are reminiscent of the highly thematic video game music genre, and some even contain bits of video games themes (if you’re savvy enough to catch them, of course).

Although video game themes are definitely a major influence in Daniel’s music, Daniel is also a classically trained pianist, and thus classical and romantic musical styles inevitably play a large role in the composition of many of his works. Daniel was particularly inspired by the music of Beethoven, as Daniel found the famous romantic composer’s forceful, dynamic style to be very similar to his own.

Daniel has been playing the piano since 1990, and has attended programs at numerous musical institutions including The Crane School at SUNY Potsdam, The Walden School, and the National High School Music Institute (NHSMI) at Northwestern University. Daniel attended college at the prestigious University of Rochester from 2003 through 2007, and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in music. During his time at U of R, Daniel worked closely with many professors and students at both U of R and the affiliated Eastman School of Music on various musical projects. He was also developed an interest in production and sequencing of music during his later years at U of R, and soon acquired an Mbox2 system with Pro Tools software and began teaching himself the art of recording and mixing his own tracks, the first results of which can be heard in Inevitable.

During the summer of 2007, Daniel composed an original score for the short film “Funny How the Seasons Change” as part of the Edwood Film Festival. Daniel has recently released several collaborative pieces, including Cross the Line and Stride, with many more in production. Stay tuned for more updates and new music!