Indy electronic dance music pioneer Inga McDaniel celebrated on new album

For over 40 years, Inga McDaniel has been self producing and self-releasing her own eccentric brand of jazz influenced, funky, electronic dance music. Though she attained some notoriety in Indianapolis during the 1980's, McDaniel remains largely unknown to music fans.

But that may soon change with the release of Double Mug, a lovingly compiled anthology of her music from Ulyssa records.

Kyle Long recently spoke with McDaniel. She's 63 now, and a grandmother. She still lives in her hometown Indianapolis, and she's still creating music. McDaniel told Long she began playing music as a child, becoming proficient on eight instruments.

This transcript has been edited for style and clarity.

McDaniel: Actually, I started at the age of 11. It was something that my parents were really, really gung ho about. The more I did music, the more I had a passion for it. That's when I started picking up different instruments.

Long: It was funk that ignited her passion for making music.

McDaniel: Probably like every other teenager, George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, I just love them.

Long: As a teenager, she played keys with prominent local funk groups, but she quickly discovered that she preferred writing and producing music independently.

McDaniel: I was always invited to play with differently formed bands, and either they didn't get along or something. I don't care to be in an atmosphere where there's a bunch of nonsense. So I ended up quitting a lot because I didn't want to be around that.

Long: In 1982 McDaniel experienced her first success in the music business when her demo tape was heard by the Detroit funk stars One Way. That led to her song “Don't Say No” being recorded by the Detroit band Payge. The song was played on local radio stations and mentioned in Billboard magazine.

McDaniel: I was really in a state of shock that it did so well, and it got so much notoriety. It was like a dream come true to me, because I never even thought that anything like that would happen.

Long: In 1989 McDaniel issued her debut solo recording, a self produced and self-released electro funk instrumental titled “Oriental Special.” At that time, McDaniel was one of the few women in the world producing electronic dance music. I asked her if that created any challenges in getting her music heard?

McDaniel: No. I didn't have any problems at the time. I didn't even think about it. I was just more interested in getting my product out.

Long: Since the 1990's McDaniel has steadily continued self-releasing music, expanding her sound to include house and ambient jazz.

Eric Deines: She has a record called The Business, which I think is a masterpiece of outsider funk.

Long: She's created over a dozen albums, most of which can be found on Spotify. That's where McDaniel's music was noticed by Eric Deines and John Williamson, the founders of Ulyssa, an Indiana-based label with an ear for unusual and often under-appreciated music. By pure coincidence, Ulyssa’s Eric Deines told me he lived just a few minutes away from McDaniel.

Deines: We searched around for her, and I kind of realized right away, maybe it was like a LinkedIn profile, and I was like, “Dude, I think she's from Indianapolis.” We got her number, and we just called her. She lives nine blocks from my front door, an unbelievable twist of fate. We just said, “Do you want to meet us at the Pawn Shop Pub?” And she met us at the Pawn Shop Pub. It was totally lovely. We spilled our freaking guts for her and she was all in. I was like, “We're two goofy looking white dudes, but give us a shot.”

Long: I asked McDaniel what her reaction was to meeting Deines and Williamson.

McDaniel: I was just in awe. I couldn't believe it, because I've never had anybody really track me down like that. I was really surprised at what they told me. I thought it was hilarious. It was funny to me, but I'm thankful that I do have people that appreciate my talent and my music. I was surprised that they wanted to re-release some of my products. I thought they really just wanted to meet me as fans, I didn't expect anything like this to develop. But I'm happy, and I'm glad that it did.

Long: The Inga McDaniel compilation album "Double Mug" is out now, and McDaniel told me she has big plans for the future.

McDaniel: I am in the process of trying to put together, nonprofit school for children that may have an interest in the arts, but they're socially disadvantaged, so that's something that's in the future. But as far as releases and putting them out, is it's just like a regular job to me now.

This interview originally aired on WFYI's Cultural Manifesto.