Daniel Leon was born in Odessa where he resided until he was 11.
The singer who recently released his debut album “Soul on Fire” now lives in San Antonio but he never forgets where he came from.
Now age 31, Leon describes his music as being a pop R&B soul “with a little bit of funk blues vibe.”
“It’s been an interesting journey for sure,” Leon said.
Earlier this year, Leon released “Soul on Fire” which has since charted at number four on iTunes’ R&B chart and number 23 on all genres.
He said it took him awhile to realize his accomplishment.
“Man, it was honestly …. I didn’t know that was going to happen so it was a breath of fresh air,” Leon said. “It was good to get enough people behind the project to pushing it, liking it, buying it and streaming it. Really, it was awesome. I’m still in awe of the numbers that are happening with it being number four on iTunes. It hasn’t hit home that it’s all real. I’m still grinding it and making music and getting ready for tours. It’s pretty crazy. I’m super stoked and super excited.”
Since his album’s release, he has kept the project alive by releasing music videos and performing in different venues around the state.
When talking about his time in Odessa, Leon said he went to numerous different schools in the town.
“I went to quite a few schools,” Leon said. “I went to Milam when I was in the magnet program. My parents had me in a bunch of the fine arts classes. My brother and I both were in those classes. I moved around. I then went to Barbra Jordan Elementary. I went to a bunch of schools. I was on the move a lot.”
Leon described his childhood as full of “hardships.”
After going into a home school program, Leon dropped out of high school where he soon started working as a general construction worker and doing plumbing.
“I didn’t graduate from high school. I ended up dropping out of high school and going to work when I was about 15 or 16. My dad had a heart attack. There were some hardships. I had the means to make decent money making concrete. That’s what I did.”
But growing up, music was a big part of his life.
“When I was really young, probably like 5 or 6, my brother (Dillon Hogan), who was one of my biggest influences,” Leon said. “He was like a prodigy when we were kids. He’s about five years older than me. When he was about 10, he just got really good at guitar and was starting to play a bunch of songs and when I was seven, it was the first time I got on stage with my brother and we knew right then that we were going to do music forever. I was seven when I got on stage for the first time and I’ve been performing on stage since.”
When he was in Odessa, Leon said he played drums and soon learned how to play different instruments.
“I started with drums and then moved over to bass guitar and then later found out that vocals were my niche and something that people were going to remember me for,” Leon said. “It’s been a crazy transition but it’s been great.”
It wasn’t until a couple years back when Leon was signed by Davies Entertainment and his musical career started taking off.
He made his debut single “Anchor” which captured an ever-growing audience since its release.
“That was the first time I took the transition into doing music full-time for a living and quit my day job to write music full-time and record music full-time,” Leon said. “It’s been a building process of what my music is today.”
He says the feedback from his fans has been incredible.
“I’m just feeling really blessed,” Leon said. “Fans have been messaging me on Instagram and YouTube. It’s been a lot of positive stuff. They’ve been giving me a lot of positive feedback. I’ve been feeling really blessed. I’m glad that everybody enjoys my music. I couldn’t be more happy.”
His recent single was “Good Day,” a song that Leon claims was recorded in under seven hours.
“We recorded that with one of my best friends,” Leon said. “We called it ‘Good Day’ because it was the fastest song we’ve ever recorded on my album. We wrote and mixed and laid it all down in five hours which is the fastest I’ve ever done. We called it ‘Good Day’ because it was a great day.”
Leon says he has his own studio at home where he engineers, mixes and masters his music including his album Soul on Fire.
“I mixed about 80-85 percent of (Soul on Fire),” Leon said. “Music engineering is my thing. I have a home studio and I work for a commercial studio as well.”
As far as songwriting goes, Leon described the process as sometimes “stressful and frustrating.”
“It plays on emotions and feelings,” Leon said. “You’re trying to put your heart and soul into it. It’s almost like a second wife or girlfriend or a child. It can weigh on your heart and soul a little bit. But when you finally get a song done, it’s one of the most gratifying feelings ever. It’s a hot and cold situation. Sometimes it’s the best experience and sometimes it’s a battle.”
As Leon looks back on where he’s come from, he says the hardships growing up have made him a better person.
“Man, I definitely count my blessings,” Leon said. “I have some guardian angels. I think I’ll be alright in life. I think everything I’ve encountered in life and all the hardships and everything I was supposed to learn was for a purpose. … I have a lot of goals that I would like to reach. I would like to give back to children and the communities. If I had to do it all over again, I probably would because without the hardships, I’d be a different person.”
