Danger Dan

Daniel Pongratz, known professionally as Danger Dan (born June 1, 1983 in Aachen) is a German musician. He is active both as a soloist and as a member of the Hip hop band Antilopen Gang.

Life and work Daniel Pongratz grew up as one of four sons of Ludwig A. Pongratz in Aachen. His parents came from the left-wing scene, and his father later became a professor of education at the Darmstadt University of Technology. They encouraged his musical talent early on, as did his younger brother Tobias. Daniel Pongratz played in various punk bands early on, but also as a pianist in a funk band, whereas his brother discovered a taste for hip-hop and introduced him to it.

In Munich in 2001, he demonstrated against the Security Conference, where he was arrested and spent twelve hours in prison.

He briefly attended the Viktoria-Gymnasium Aachen, to which he dedicated the very critical song "Ingloria Victoria" on his album Das ist alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt (This is all covered by artistic freedom). Beyond his solo music career, he devoted himself to various music and theater projects; among other things, he was active in 17 different countries on behalf of the Goethe-Institut and organized radio projects, concerts and theater performances for them. In 2012, his second EP Dinkelbrot & Ölsardinen (Spelt Bread & Oil Sardines) and the collaboration album Aschenbecher (Ashtray) with NMZS were released. The song entered the German singles charts on April 2, 2021 at number 69 and was released on the band's own label Antilopen Geldwäsche (Antelope Money Laundering). Within the first two weeks after its release, the music video was viewed 1.3 million times on YouTube. On April 9, 2021, Pongratz, accompanied on the piano by pianist Igor Levit, presented the song on the television show ZDF Magazin Royale. , the original video and the television recording had more than 21 million views.

In December 2021, Danger Dan was the first artist ever to simultaneously occupy places 1 to 3 in the Radioeins annual charts (with the songs Das ist alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt [This is all covered by artistic freedom], Lauf davon [Run Away] and Eine gute Nachricht [Good News]). On July 17, 2026, Danger Dan released the song Keine Angst on all digital platforms. He and Igor Levit were initially invited to perform the song during the airing of German satire show "Die Anstalt" but were denied from entering the ZDF studios on the day the show was set to be recorded. According to the broadcasting station ZDF the song was criticized as "incitement for violence". The music video of Keine Angst reached number one spot at YouTube Trends for music in Germany upon its release.

Awards 2021: VIA-VUT Indie Award in the category Best Act (and Best New Music Business for the label Antilopen Geldwäsche). 2021: Preis für Popkultur in the categories "Favorite Song" (Das ist alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt), Favorite Album (Das ist alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt) and Favorite Solo Artist. 2021: Listen To Berlin Award in the category Most Creative Music Video (Das ist alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt). 2021: Positions 1–3 in the listener charts of the year 2021 of the radio station radioeins for the songs Das ist alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt, Eine gute Nachricht and Lauf davon 2023: Deutscher Kleinkunstpreis in the music category.

Discography

Solo albums 2008: Coming out (EP, Download, Self-production) 2012: Dinkelbrot & Ölsardinen (EP, Download/CD-r, Self-production) 2018: Reflexionen aus dem beschönigten Leben (Jochens kleine Plattenfirma) 2021: Das ist alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt (Warner Music) 2023: Das ist alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt (Live) (Antilopen Geldwäsche)

Singles (Selection) 2021: Das ist alles von der Kunstfreiheit gedeckt 2021: Eine gute Nachricht (#1 of the German Single-Trend-Charts on April 30, 2021 ) 2021: Mir kann nichts passieren (Nothing Can Happen to Me) (with Max Herre; #1 of the German Single-Trend-Charts on October 22, 2021 )

Collaboration albums 2010: Traurige Clowns (Sad Clowns) (with Koljah, Self-production, Download) 2012: Aschenbecher (with NMZS, Download/CD-r, Self-production)

With Sebastian Sturm 2006: This Change Is Nice (Piano) 2008: One Moment in Peace (Piano)

With Antilopen Gang

With Caught in the Crack 2005: Alles vorbei (All Over) (Self-production) 2008: Es wird wie ein Unfall aussehen (It Will Look Like an Accident) (Self-production, Download)

Guest contributions (without Antilopen Gang) 2017: Aua on Alle Liebe nachträglich by Fatoni and Mine 2018: Shitstorm on ICH by Moop Mama 2018: Propaganda on Shibuya Crossing by Juse Ju 2022: Unsere Bank (Our Bank) on Zorn & Liebe (Rage & Love) by Provinz (#7 of the German Single-Trend-Charts on September 9, 2022 ) 2023: Danke dass du mich verlassen hast by Fatoni