Danger Mouse Battles Self-Doubt in the Recording Studio

Posted on Jul 16th 2010 3:30PM by Laura Lanktree
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With his pensive expression and calm demeanor, Danger Mouse (aka Brian Burton), is certainly more mouse than danger. This is not to say that he's meek -- he's just incredibly quiet and surprisingly cautious, despite all of his successes with Gnarls Barkley, Gorillaz, and now alongside the Shins' James Mercer in Broken Bells.

Burton is especially cautious, perhaps even anxious, when working in the recording studio, despite it being the realm where he built his name.

"You should see -- I'm in there with my engineers, going around recording instruments and recording parts, and I get so angry at myself," he tells Spinner. "I get so down. I can't ever decide on anything and I just never know if anything is any good at all. If I were to ever do an album myself, I would definitely get a producer."

For Burton, success has led to a curious amount of second-guessing. While most artists feel empowered by seeing their name in neon lights, the track master has had trouble with the increasing pressure to keep cranking out hits.

"When I first started [making music] that people listened to, it became a pressure and an intensity," he says. "I wanted to continue to do something that [people could care about]." That need to please might explain why he's barely taken a break since 2004's 'The Grey Album,' the project that first pushed him squarely into the spotlight (his most recent album, a collaboration with Sparklehorse, has garnered attention partly for a dispute with EMI that resulted in a posthumous release July 12 following Sparklehorse leader Mark Linkhous' suicide in March).

However, Burton says that working with Mercer in Broken Bells is helping him cope with his self-doubt. Through their friendship and musical collaboration, Burton is learning to believe in himself and trust his instincts more.

"Being a huge fan of [James] as a songwriter, and being able to go through the process of making this [album], and holding up my end to an extent gave me a little bit of confidence that I think is going to last a long time," he says.

And perhaps the biggest lesson he's learned from the Shins frontman: Patience is a virtue.

"I've always been in some huge hurry, but this [Broken Bells] album took a long time to do, and I didn't work on many other things while I was doing it," he says. "I really just took my time, and it didn't affect the music so much as my happiness with it."