07th Aug 2010
Brian Burton, the man better known as artist/producer Danger Mouse, was born to a schoolteacher father and a social worker mother in White Plains, NY, but spent much of his childhood upstate in Spring Valley. When he was 13, his family moved to Stone Mountain, a suburb of Atlanta, where he was introduced to the hip-hop sounds of the South and Midwest. Though Burton had always wanted to be a cartoonist while growing up, the opportunity to attend college on a full scholarship appealed to the 18-year-old, and he went to pursue a degree in telecommunications at the University of Georgia. While in school, he was introduced to Nirvana, Pink Floyd, and Portishead, as well as the burgeoning indie rock scene in Athens (he even remixed songs from local band Neutral Milk Hotel) and also began making his own electronica music under the namePelican City, releasing The Chilling Effect (1999) and Rhode Island(2000) on the December First label while still a student.
More success followed in 2006, when Danger Mouse joined Goodie Mob‘s MC/singer Cee-Lo in forming Gnarls Barkley. The duo’s debut album, St. Elsewhere, went double platinum on the strength of the smash single “Crazy,” which topped the U.K. charts and peaked at number two in America. A second release, The Odd Couple, followed in 2008. Late the next year he announced a new project with the Shins’ singer/guitarist James Mercer dubbed Broken Bells. Their self-titled debut album followed in 2010. Meanwhile, Danger Mouse continued producing and/or remixing material for a number of artists, including Sage Francis, Beck, the Black Keys, Bright Eyes,Dinah Washington, and Joker’s Daughter.
