Alternative rock singer-songwriter Danny Coda releases Involuntary Anonymity, “a greatest hits collection no one asked for”.

Chances are you haven’t heard of Danny Coda, but that hasn’t deterred the Portland guitar pop producer from releasing Involuntary Anonymity, “a greatest hits collection no one asked for.” 

Coda has released a digital single every month since January 2024, each containing additional remixed, unreleased and/or live tracks as well as accompanying visual and/or short form documentary content.

Coda (born Daniel Jacobs) grew up in the sleepy yet menacing suburbs of Sacramento. When he was four he begged his parents for a guitar, so they built him one with heavy-duty fishing line. One of his earliest memories involves manically pummeling the toneless instrument while a group of pasty men sang in a bubble bath. Coda didn’t realize it at the time, but those men happened to be The Rolling Stones performing in their loosely conceived but undeniably sudsy “It’s Only Rock’n’Roll” music video.

Coda continued his deep dive into music and the awkward teenager regularly sequestered himself in his room, emerging from time to time to perform at midtown open mic nights, only to be asked to wait outside for being underage.

By his early 20s Coda had traded his timidity for bombastic self-confidence and moved to Eugene, Oregon where he formed The Skyline, an energetic four-piece garage rock band with grand ambitions of world-wide acclaim. When their first producer asked them what their future goals were, Coda answered, “to be the biggest band in the world.” Everyone in the room laughed. Coda wasn’t joking.

The band gigged relentlessly around the Pacific Northwest, playing everything from an “anything but clothes” commune party to late-night bar slots for indifferent crowds. They even snagged a gig at LA’s notorious Whisky a Go Go on the same night NBA one-man freak show Dennis Rodman was filming his reality TV show.

Within 18 months The Skyline had recorded two EPs, played over 100 shows, and decided to relocate to Portland and rebrand themselves as AM Exchange. For the next five years the band went through a series of lineups and failed to make a substantial impact despite heavy gigging and a burgeoning interest in their meticulously-crafted indie rock release Similar Tendencies. The band finally imploded after years of strain. 

Coda considered starting another band, but with a newly-pressed EP and an unreleased music video, he decided to adopt AM Exchange as his moniker and move to Los Angeles. Coda performed regularly at songwriter showcases and began recording and releasing new material. He started to generate some buzz and within two years had signed with music licensing agency North Note and received some glowing press with Baeble Music hailing him as an “alternative pop-rock vocal savior.” 

In 2015, Coda set off on a national tour performing as a power trio, jammed into a minivan between cities and sleeping in cheap hotels. Despite its best efforts, the tour failed to capitalize on the momentum he had kindled in LA. On a drizzly summer night in Houston, the band found themselves in a particularly forlorn flophouse where Coda contemplated his future as he watched the paramedics roll out four separate overdose victims throughout the night. That fall, he returned to Los Angeles broke and depleted. Coda decided to disappear for a while. 

By 2019 he had dropped the AM Exchange alias and (not wanting to compete with professional boxer Daniel Jacobs) officially adopted Danny Coda as his stage name. Equipped with new recordings produced at a hideaway Hollywood Hills studio, Coda decided to move back to Portland in 2019, not exactly a conquering hero, but as a substantially evolved writer and performer with recharged ambitions. 

Then COVID hit. At the height of lockdown, Coda pivoted and began composing a concept project in real time, eventually releasing Generation C: Part I, a continuous 15-minute piece consisting of 10 “micro songs”…none of them containing guitar. Coda also launched Quarantine Sessions, a series of stark live video performances, mostly of reimagined covers.

As the intensity of the pandemic waned, Coda once again found himself adrift, so he decided to build a studio in his garage. A humble but effective space tucked away in his nondescript southeast neighborhood, passersby oblivious to the sonic sculpting taking place behind the double-doored fortress of drywall.

While old school listeners and former fans may recognize some of the material released as part of Involuntary Anonymity, there are exceptions. His latest song “Make Tonight” is an unapologetically jaunty piano piece and Coda’s latest attempt at perfecting the three-minute pop song. It’s also Coda’s first release fully produced and engineered in his home studio, with aural adjustments courtesy of mixing engineer Brendan Dekora, best known for his work with the Foo Fighters, Nine Inch Nails, and mega producer Greg Kurstin. 

As with many of Coda’s songs, there’s a subtle sense of melancholy percolating beneath the ebullient sheen of indie pop production and “Make Tonight” is no different. With poignant, concisely-crafted lyrics layered over vibrant, syncopated piano chords, it’s almost as if Earnest Hemingway and Elton John sat down to compose the title track for an off-Broadway musical. 

Involuntary Anonymity is the latest chapter in Coda’s ongoing reinvention and continued attempt to carve out a space for music he feels is underrepresented in today’s musical landscape. However, this latest initiative is just one aspect of the alt pop auteur’s multifaceted journey and Coda plans to focus most of his time on sync licensing as well as writing and producing for other artists.  

Coda’s story is dualistic, if not somewhat divisive. A tale of inspiring tenacity or one of delusional intransigence depending on how you look at it. The self-admittedly temperamental Gemini feels both versions are accurate, it just depends on what kind of mood he’s in. After reflecting on the pantheon of artists that have preceded and inspired him (including those bubbly Brits from Dartford), Coda concedes that only time will tell. 

Story by Ivan Victor in conversation with Danny Coda during the fall of 2023 and summer of 2024.