Daniel Phounsavan: ‘Shoreline’

The Sunday Music Drop is a weekly radio series hosted by the KQED weekend news team. In each segment, we feature a song from a local musician or band with an upcoming show and hear about what inspires their music.

Oakland-based musician Daniel Phounsavan founded “Held” as a shoegaze solo project with some post punk, metal, atmospheric and hardcore influences. He landed on “held” after working his way through a long list of names, thinking it was cool and would stick with people.

Phounsavan also plays with the band Buddy Junior on Cherub Dream, an independent queer and people of color-led music label based in San Francisco. He draws inspiration from a variety of bands including The Cure, Joy Division, Slowdive, Jezu and Hum.

His parents introduced him to playing piano at a young age. Gradually, his interest in writing his own music grew and he decided to try out other instruments, like the guitar, when he joined the school band and orchestra.

“I definitely didn’t like [piano],” said Phounsavan. “Even though I don’t play it now, I appreciated learning it.”

As an introvert, he struggled at first with sharing his music vocally, but eventually got more comfortable with performing. He enjoys writing heavier-sounding music because of the emotional intensity it captures.

“I think [for] a lot of people, [heavy music] might make them uncomfortable, cause it’s like, ‘oh, why is it talking about dark stuff, depressive stuff, or anger,’” said Phounsavan. “But I feel like I’m not opposed to it because that stuff is real and I don’t think you could neglect that.”

He also likes interacting with the crowd’s energy at shows.

“It’s unmatched when people are moshing or stage diving,” he said. “I think it’s very special.”

Held will be performing at Thrillhouse Records in San Francisco on Nov. 2 as a part of Psyched Fest. Phounsavan is working on an EP that will be out early next year.