Inside Danny McGuire’s “Won’t Let Nobody Hurt You,” Where Cities Become Characters
Punk Head: When did you realise Won't let nobody hurt you wasn't actually a love song anymore, but a conversation with a city?
Danny McGuire: Since the very start. I’d been reading Ada Calhoun’s book, ‘St Mark’s is Dead’, which is all about St Mark’s Place in NYC and how it’s lived through so many eras - some grim, some iconic, but all incredible.
By the end of it, I had a sense of the street as a person or a character and it got me thinking about the ways that I’ve held onto the cities that I’ve lived in, grasping too tight and resisting its change like some kind of clingy lover!
Punk Head: You've called this a relaunch rather than simply a new release. What made this feel like the right moment to begin again?
Danny McGuire: Since releasing ‘A Scottish Meditation on Feeling Better’ in 2021, I’d focused on a band that I was in with my friends called Seriously Thoughtful People.
When that came to an end in 2024, I threw myself into writing new music, refining my sound and really going for it - I’ve been working on the project almost every night since.
‘Won’t let nobody hurt you’ is the first release in a collection of new songs and it felt like a relaunch, building on my past work and experiences, but definitely feeling like a new beginning. Lots of exciting things to come, I hope!
Punk Head: Was there one moment in the studio where you thought, "This is the sound I've been looking for"?
Danny McGuire: I’m not sure there was one specific moment. This song has been a journey and more like lots of chapters of hard work and experimentation amounting to little victories along the way. Those little victories make up the final version.
I wrote and recorded the song in my home studio before my lovely friend Stuart Firth joined to record the bass. I then spent a couple of months poring over the recording by myself.
Once I was feeling excited about it, I went into 123 Studios in London and collaborated with the brilliant Brett Shaw on production before Brett mixed and mastered it.
I love working with Brett, his studio is great and we had loads of fun processing tracks through tape and his collection of vintage gear.
Punk Head: You describe cities almost like living people. Which city has shaped you the most creatively?
Danny McGuire: I’ve been so grateful to live in some great cities so far - Glasgow, Brisbane, Toronto, Amsterdam and London. They’ve all been amazing in their own way but I’ll go for London as it’s where I’ve launched this new solo project and built my life.
Punk Head: If someone discovers your music through this single, what do you hope they understand about the world you're trying to build across this new collection of songs?
Danny McGuire: I think the songs carry a hopeful, determined spirit within their dreamy, analog world and I’d hope that they’d become the soundtrack of helping the listener connect with these qualities in themselves.
