Hi, I’m David
Performer, music producer, author, and record label president.
Personal transformation through music
Music is a universal language for storytelling, sharing lessons, and seeking more meaning in life.
I am a California-based musician, producer, educator and entrepreneur. My mission is to create music and content that encourages everyone to think and feel more deeply about our connection with and purpose in the universe. To achieve this, I will be releasing 10 albums in 10 years, playing live shows, sharing musings, and producing projects for multiple artists on my record label, Underground Sun.
I perform as a solo artist, lead the band Dang Tiger, play bass/sing/co-write with TD Lind and The Aviators, write with Stephanie Lynn and Sophie Holt, and write and play shows with Iyeoka and Justin Paul.
As record label founder and president, I have co-written, produced, mixed and mastered countless songs, produced music videos, and toured the world. Underground Sun’s music has reached 100’s of millions and has been featured in movies, TV shows, and campaigns worldwide. Learn more about those projects here.
As an educator, I have written several books on music production and Pro Tools, taught and authored college-level courses for Berklee College of Music, and created hundreds of music-based courses for Lynda.com and LinkedIn Learning.
Into The Unknown
Feature Music Documentary
In the music industry, people don’t usually start a career as an artist in their fifties. Into the Unknown is a feature documentary about musician/producer David Franz, who shares his origin story, the struggles of building a music career later in life, and a message of inspiration for anyone ready to write their own next chapter.
In 2020, at the start of the pandemic and just after calling off an engagement, Franz set an audacious goal: record ten albums in ten years, and finally commit to a lifelong dream he'd long buried - becoming a successful performer.
Franz's longtime friend and collaborator, Jeff Uzzel, makes his feature film debut with Into the Unknown, which began as a short documentary about the making of one album and grew into the story of a life-altering journey. Beyond interviews with several contributors and a final audio mix by Jason Mariani at Carbonite Sound in Ojai, CA, the film is a two-man production: Uzzel filmed, edited, and color corrected it, while Franz produced and pitched in behind the camera between his own on-screen appearances.
Most documentaries tell the story of people who've already made it. This is not that. This film captures the beginning of a journey aimed at changing what's considered possible. It’s a true story about following your inner voice and stepping into the unknown.
It's never too late to do what you love.
Music Videos
David Franz - Upcoming Shows
Dang Tiger - Upcoming Shows
TD Lind & The Aviators - Upcoming Shows
Music
Latest Musing
Separation is an illusion
Einstein saw the deep connection on the particle level between each of us and the entire universe. Paraphrasing, he said “a human being’s experience that they are separate from the rest of other humans is an optical illusion of their consciousness. Only overcoming this illusion will give us inner peace.”
I wrote the song Floating about the feeling of euphoria when we realize that we’re all so interconnected. When I’m floating, I’m connecting to the energy of the world and not keeping myself separate from it.
Quoting Einstein again: “When something vibrates, the electrons of the entire universe resonate with it. Everything is connected.” We’re all part of the same song, vibrating together.
The lyric “I’m still driving, striving towards a shared dream horizon” encourages embracing our connection and not our separateness… our similarities, not our differences. If I can increase my happiness and peacefulness, then that literally increases the world’s happiness and peacefulness. There are no limits on these feelings. We can literally choose to increase the happiness and peacefulness of the people in our sphere of influence, and not at the expense of our own. We can all raise the positive energy level in the world just by being happy ourselves. When put on a global scale like this, it seems like we owe it to our fellow humans to seek happiness. It’s science, and it’s powerful.
Read about the making of the “Floating” music video on the Insta360 blog here.
Floating - audio file
Floating (instrumental) - audio file
Previous Musings
