Dan Grayson

Dan Grayson (born September 8, 1980) is an American visual artist, singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. His painting styles are known for incorporating elements of abstract expressionism, impressionism, and Art Nouveau. Musically, he is best known for composing and producing "Maximum Fun", the theme song for nationally syndicated public radio program The Sound of Young America.
Life and Work
Early Life and Education
Born in Stanford and raised in Foster City, Grayson attended high school in San Mateo, at San Mateo High School, from which he graduated. In 1998, he received the Bank of America award for outstanding achievement in the field of art. After graduating, Grayson attended UC Santa Cruz, where he majored in computer science and worked for the college radio station KZSC. In Santa Cruz, Grayson met Jesse Thorn and was a frequent collaborator on Thorn's radio program, The Sound of Young America, including creating the program's theme song, Maximum Fun, with Thorn. Grayson also met Jesse Davis at UC Santa Cruz, and formed the alternative-rock band The Moops.
After graduating from UC Santa Cruz, Grayson moved to Los Angeles, where he currently resides.
Musical Projects
The first musical project for Grayson was the 2001 self-produced solo LP Zauberbar, recorded in the UC Santa Cruz dorms under the band-name DG8K. DG8K (standing for Dan Grayson and his Amazing Eight Thousand Dollar Guitar) would also release the LP Winter Sessions in April of 2004. Grayson was the lead singer for The Moops, which would later be re-named to Fan Fiction. After dissolution of Fan Fiction, Grayson played drums in The Karabal Nightlife, and produced their 2006 debut LP The Other Shore. Though no longer playing drums for The Karabal Nighlife after 2007, Grayson continued with the band as a percussionist. Grayson guested as keyboardist for Robotanists from 2007-2008, featuring long-time friend and Moops/Fan Fiction bassist Keith Boyarsky. Grayson also created a multi-media solo project called Yes Means Yes. Grayson is known for incorporating home-made lighting installations into musical performances, including components that were controllable by him during performances, as well as components that were reactive to the sound of the musical performances. These lighting installations have been used for his Yes Means Yes project as well as Ema and the Ghosts.
Artistic Development
Grayson began painting seriously in 2005, under strong influence of Art Nouveau artists such as Alphonse Mucha and Gustav Klimt. Grayson's primary process as an artist was to open himself up to witnessing exceptional beauty, and communicating that enthrallment through his art. Experiencing synesthesia by perceiving color through music-listening, Grayson also experimented with abstract expressionist painting under the influence of Wassily Kandinsky. Eventually, Grayson sought to merge techniques, and utilized abstract expressionism as a shading and coloring tool for Art Nouveau style female portraits. Abstract expressionist technique was also used to portray an aura of radiation around the subjects of the portraits, attempting to represent the experience of perceiving the beauty of the subjects. Grayson was also a proponent of manipulating his emotional states for the purpose creating more inspired art, and used elevated artistic drive as a contingency plan to escape personal pain through cathartic creation of art.

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