Drawing musical influence from rock, country, folk and heavy metal, Amigo The Devil (Danny Kiranos) is a singer/songwriter who also draws inspiration from dark subject matter like serial killing, crime and death and combines them into a style often termed “Murderfolk”. Ahead of his appearance at this year’s 2000 Trees festival we cornered this unique artist for a unique chat.

You’ve just arrived at Trees. What’s your impression?

Danny: It’s great. Everyone’s walking around gleefully, which is kind of rare at a festival.

You’ll be hitting the Forest Stage late afternoon. It’s a strange time to go on stage. How do you gear yourself up for such a slot?

Danny: I prefer playing truly daytime or truly night-time, not that time in between, because my body doesn’t know what to do with it. It’s nothing to do with the crowd; I’m hungry, it’s right before dinner so all I can think about is everything I’m not getting in that moment.

I imagine coming of stage at that time you have a lot of energy to burn off.

Danny: Lately I’ve been realising that I leave the high in those last moments on stage, and then I’m just drained afterwards. It might be age, or it might be general exhaustion form touring, but it is beating the hell out of me.

Your appearance at Trees is in the middle of a tour with Nate Bergman. How do you feel you compliment each other as musicians and personalities?

Danny: I think there’s a lot of humour in both of our general spirits, but our songs are a bit more morose and bleak than that, so it’s nice to be on tour with someone who has the same sense of humour. Vocally, he outshines us by a lot, he’s incredible. But I’d say we have a lot of the same temperament in the songs.

Several dates in the UK have sold out, so that must be very flattering.

Danny: It’s exciting. It’s nice to know what you’re getting into! [laughs]

Do you find it easier to play to a full hall as opposed to when there’s just a few people there?

Danny: No, it doesn’t really bother me any more. I used to let it get to me, but as soon as I dropped the ego…it got to the point where my ego was effecting everything and I got to a point where I realised that I didn’t want to feel that way, especially because of my own ego, so I got rid of that, and no things are OK.

I found the artwork to your new album rather striking. How involved were you in its production?

Danny: Very, although I’m not visually capable, the conceptual nature of it is all me, then I pass it over to capable hands who make the actual art and they realise the vision.

So what were you trying to convey with that cover?

Danny: There’s a lot of familiarity to me, I wanted something that seemed slightly grotesque, not a gore fest or anything, and kindness in the eyes…that was the point I kept mentioning and I think the artist did a great job.

How have the songs from the new album been going across live?

Danny: The one’s that we have been playing have been, in my opinion, better than on the record. It’s strange, but as we play them we really nail them down and they feel better to me now.

You have your own studio in Nashville. What was the reasoning for setting up there? Was it something to do with the whole country vibe?

Danny: No, I ended up moving to Nashville on a sort of whim, out of frustration. I was living in Austin, Texas, and the prices were just skyrocketing and I couldn’t find what I wanted so I ended up finding a piece of land 15 minutes outside Nashville and not because I was dying to be there but just through serendipity, and just because we had the land there, that’s where I built the studio. I don’t go too much into the whole Nashville country scene, they do their own thing.

So does country music influence you at all? Sometimes it can have a dark underbelly.

Danny: I’d say that in general country music does influence me, but not so much the modern stuff that makes the radio playlists. I assume it does influence me in some way because it’s “around”, but not directly.

I was going to ask you how you leave those dark songs on stage, but it seems you live this stuff 24/7 with your serial killer memorabilia and crime scene photographs. Are you worried all this might tip you “over the edge”?

Danny: I’ve kind of lived it my whole life. Since I was young I’ve associated with, let’s say, the grim side of life. I’ve always loved the macabre and I wouldn’t say depravity…but the dark side. So for me it’s a comfort zone, I’ve always been there.

I understand you were a metalhead in your younger years which is also another genre that gets a band rap, but it can often be a safe outlet. Would you say that’s the same for you?

Danny: I think it can be an incredible community, how many heavy metal shows do you go to where everyone is looking out for each other? Most of them. There’s obviously pockets of metal that have become less sharing but on the whole metalheads are the nicest people in the world. I think beyond that, it’s soothing and comforting, and beyond that I think it is very, very therapeutic.

Your sound transcends different genres in a genre they term “Murdefolk”. How do you bring all these styles together into a cohesive whole?

Danny: I think it took a while to learn how to navigate my multiple influences, especially with how far they are from each other. I don’t go into it trying to cross-pollinate anything, for me it’s what the song requests, what the song requires; what do I instinctually pull from where, and then I usually find the reference after.

I’d say you have a very original sound and I can’t pick out one definite influence. Who is your main musical influence?

Danny: I think especially on the new record Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen are two really big influences, oddly enough Godspeed You! Black Emperor was a huge influence in my life, and although our songs aren’t 20-minutes long, I do tend to reference a lot of that ambient soundscape, that neo-classical element when I’m think of certain parts of musical instrumentation. There’s a lot of Spanish and Greek music that my parents listened to…but I also have a hard time picking out one influence! [laughs]

I also find your sound very visual and cinematic. Have you ever written film soundtracks, or is that something you’d ever consider?

Danny: I would love to. I haven’t yet, but I would love, love, love to. For me, that’s the dream.

Finally, if I had a magic wand and could make any musical wish come true for you, what would it be?

Danny: I’d want to play with a full philharmonic orchestra.