CREDIT: MONSIEUR DANGIE
MIA's own Monsieur Dangie uses his diverse musical background to connect to his audience. He's also working on his own album.

I am not one of those artists who can stick to one thing only: I am always all over the place.

Monsieur Dangie has one of the most unique sounds in the London music industry, mainly because his liberal approach on the art allows him to open up to almost any genre. Over the years, Dangie has been involved in punk/metal/progressive/ rock bands, a hip-hop duo and experimental noise/funk/house/dance bands, and it all branched off simply by a classical singer.

I was trained to sing “properly” by a classical singer. She helped me open up my range and showed me that my voice was capable of taking on other styles of singing other than rock and heavy music. When I tell people this, I am sometimes met with the response of, “Well I would never want to sing like that.”

There is a disconnect where people think that if you are trained in something it determines what you can sing rather than how you sing it.

With a lot of aspiring musicians out there having an enthusiastic but uneducated view of the music industry and what one needs to do in order to survive out there rather than just “making it,” the program seemed fit for Dangie.

“Although I already had a music background before I came to Music Industry Arts, the program really opened my eyes as to what you have to do to make a living in the industry,” he said. “It’s a really well rounded program where you get a taste of everything from composition, engineering to music business and how to market yourself. I am very grateful to the professors that we had, and the education that I gained in my two years with the program.”

“[It] definitely brought my work and attitude to a whole other level.”

Due to Dangie’s diverse background of styles, he can control the audience in many ways depending on the genre he is singing. He is transforming this concept into a album.

“I just want people to enjoy the music, be able to move their bodies and forget themselves and have a good time,” he said. “These new songs I am working on are of a progressive nature. Think of them as being written within the hip-hop genre but with a ton of different elements and minus the giant hats and gangster attitude.”

“There is no sampling on this record. It is all composed and recorded at my home studio. So far each track sounds completely different from one another but when played in sequence sound like they belong together.”

The record will have a unique style.

“Each track is composed in a pop-sensitive style written how you would write a rock tune while still encasing parts that take you right out of the song and then suck you right back in,” he said. “It is very groove based and meant to make you move. My hopes are that the record can be listened to while in the club and streets and when you’re between the sheets.”

If you would like to hear some of Monsieur Dangie’s tracks, you can find him on Facebook at facebook.com/monsieurdangie or you can check out his website monsieurdangie.com.