By Andrew Catania
Dan Donegan is a prominent name in the present age music horizon who has made a significant mark through his loud and reverberating guitar playing expertise in a short span of time. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he had rarely ever imagined choosing music as a full-time profession and was doing a fairly good job of assisting his father in his construction business.
Right in the midst of routine life that revolved around banging nails and mixing concrete, he put everything at a stop and decided to take the high road. The decision wasn’t actually an out-of-the-blue move on part of Dan, however, it was definitely one immensely risky feat that could have turned out either way. Fortunately, fate bowed down to his plan and here he is – the rock star who is completely rocking his job through the audacious and ecstatic tones that he makes from the chords.
Dan possessed a flair for music right from the start and having mustered a sound knowledge about the intricacies and tacts of strings and chords, he kickstarted his music career with Vandal, an American glam metal band that he cofounded with Bob Johnson, John Sullivan, and Bob Fedderson in 1984. Aside from nurturing his brainchild, Dan also embarked on establishing partnerships and building associations. Dan has set his fingers on the keyboard as well as a variety of guitars and has upskilled his signature techniques by testing his mettle in a variety of genre such as heavy metal, nu metal, hard rock, alternative metal, thrash, and glam metal.
Ever since the launch of Vandal, Dan Donegan has had multiple notable collaborations and associated acts with other bands and music groups. He ventured into forming another association with other Vandal members called Loudmouth where they experimented with their techniques and delivered numerous performances in various shows and concerts.
Meanwhile, Dan had already associated himself with another band called Disturbed that eventually became his prime identity. At a time when Disturbed’s popularity was top of the charts and the band had successfully made it to Grammy’s nominations, Dan’s interest veered off from the stellar performances Disturbed was delivering on tours. He jumbled a couple of lyrics and collaborated with Dan Chandler, Mike Wengren, Jeremy Jayson and Seam Corcoran to complete the lineup and named it as Fight or Flight. The band released its first studio album under the label of Warner Bros in 2013, titled ‘A Life by Design’. In addition to that, Dan has contributed his signature riffs for Art of Dying, a Canadian rock band.
The extensive variety of feats that punctuate his career timeline is also depicted in his preferences. From Ibanez Iceman, Gibson’s SGs and Les Paul Standards to PRS Singlecut, PRS Mark Tremonti, and signature and DD81 models of Washburn in the past, Dan Donegan currently plays a Schecter Solo-6 2010 limited edition and his signature Schecter Ultra Dan Donegan model. His profile entails multiple hit releases such as Better Days (Vandal), Demo Tape (Brawl), A Life by Design (Fight or Flight), and Believe, Asylum, Immortalized, Ten Thousand Fists and The Lost Children with Disturbed. He has bagged multiple nominations, including Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards, Loudwire Music Awards, and Revolver Golden Gods Awards and was ranked as 76th of the ‘100 Most Complete Guitarists of All Times’ by Chop Shop.