Danny Byrd
Drum & bass icon and king of the dancefloor, Danny Byrd was one of the very first to sign to Hospital at the turn of the millennium. With his unique take on the genre with strong hip-hop and R&B influences ever present in his music, Danny Byrd’s signature mixing style and production flair render him one of the scene’s greats.
Upon firing out a number of superb singles, his debut album ‘Supersized’ dropped in 2008, to a thunderous reception. Having spent years honing his craft, this fantastic LP included signature Danny Byrd bangers ‘Shock Out and ‘Red Mist’, the VIP of the latter going on to receive monolithic support on the daytime BBC Radio One playlist, receiving over 6+ hours of Radio One play in 2009 alone!
The only way was up for Danny – he followed the immense success of his debut album with his Liquid-funk edit of the rave classic ‘Sweet Harmony’. A household D+B tune, one that reached Number 1 on the UK Dance Singles Chart and elevated Danny to an entire new level. Swiftly followed up by second studio album ‘Rave Digger’ in 2010, the seminal compendium featured the certified slammer ‘Ill Behaviour’ which rode the hype train all the way into the UK top 40, followed by BBC Radio One plays for ‘We Can Have It All’ and ‘Tonight (feat. Netsky)’.
2011 saw the first ever ‘Danny Byrd Live’ show at Hospitality Brixton, before teaming up with jungle legend General Levy for ‘Blade The Fire (Rah!)’ ahead of his third album ‘Golden Ticket’ which landed in 2013 with an eclectic sound range of UKG, house, hip-hop and of course, D+B. The Bath based bad-boy struck gold once more.
Five years later, after numerous tours across the globe, Danny Byrd’s time buried in his Bath-based home studio has been well spent as he’d cooked up Annie Mac’s ‘Hottest Record In The World’ on her BBC Radio 1 Friday night show with ‘Devil’s Drop’, which featured on Hospital’s ‘Sick Music 2018’ series. Few D+B acts can boast such universal success on dancefloors and on the airwaves, but Danny isn’t just anyone. His 2nd single of 2018, ‘Salute’ which features the legendary MC GQ, was also a hit on the airwaves reaching #3 in BBC Radio 1’s Specialist Chart, as well as garnering support from the likes of MistaJam, DJ Target, Rene LaVice, Julie Adenuga, Charlie Tee and many more.
Danny’s much-loved drum & bass modern classic album ‘Atomic Funk’ landed in 2018, which featured anthemic singles including ‘Salute (feat. MC GQ)’, ‘Hold Up The Crown (feat. Ky Lenz)’ and ‘Just A Step Away (feat. Ownglow)’. Racking up club and radio support from the likes of Sub Focus, High Contrast, Rudimental, DJ Marky, Metrik, Friction, S.P.Y, Brookes Brothers and Cyantific, ‘Atomic Funk’s’ influences from across the electronic music spectrum led it to be one of the most praised bodies of music in contemporary drum & bass. Danny’s contribution to drum & bass extends past his releases, shown by his year-long BBC Radio 1 residency which brought in iconic guests such as Randall, London Elektricity, Degs and Navigator.
2020 marks a decade since the release of Danny Byrd’s seminal ‘Rave Digger’ album, celebrated by a very special album commentary where Danny and Hospital co-founder Chris Goss chat about some of their fondest memories of Danny’s music and journey to success over the years.