dylan dunlap — MUSIC — Unclear Magazine

by alex grainger

Dylan Dunlap dropped his latest single “Could Have Been Ours” on August 19th. The second single released as part of a larger collection, “Could Have Been Ours” is the true embodiment of who Dunlap is as an artist. His smooth vocals share the vulnerable story of “one-way relationships in the industry.” Read more about “Could Have Been Ours” and Dylan Dunlap below!

Can you tell us what “Could Have Been Ours” is about?

Dylan: “‘CHBO’ is about one-way relationships in the industry. I’ve had to learn the hard way that no matter how much I believe in the future and longevity of my career alongside the ability to change the way the world sees mental illness through music, I can’t force others to feel the same way. I’m grateful to say that my musical brothers and I have kept our heads down to put in the work and channel all that frustration in the healthiest way possible.”

What was the creative process behind “Could Have Been Ours?”

Dylan: “A majority of my friendship with Kirk Adolph has been long distance. Turns out it’s a state of mind! He has since moved back to LA, but I used to love driving out to visit him and his wife Kiley in Arizona. Last year on one of the trips we tapped into some serious magic over the course of 72 hours. We just couldn’t stop. It was too much fun demoing out our feelings into what felt like the ultimate heartbreak anthem. With the lyrical help of our friend Kevin Griffin via Zoom, the infinite cuddles with the adorable puppies Kirk and Kiley were fostering, and the most satisfying celebratory late-night drive for fast food to listen to the official bounce before my drive back, this might be one of my favorite memories of all time. And it doesn’t stop there! We then recruited our good friend Jordan Sherman (Shaman Sherman as we at DD HQ call him) to co-produce the entire project with us. As producers, our main goal has been to honor the essence of what makes a Dylan Dunlap song, while still finding every opportunity to improve the overall sound and grow it as a team.”

What is the message you are sending to listeners of “Could Have Been Ours?”

Dylan: “Do what you love with who you love.”

“Could Have Been Ours” is about experiencing frustration within relationships. Was this single written in the moment of these emotions or was it a reflection of the moment?

Dylan: “This song was equally written in the moment as it was out of it to serve as a time capsule of an entire relationship.”

Looking back now, has this song taught you to approach situations within your relationships differently?

Dylan: “I just feel so much stronger now. I’m finally able to recognize that the only person that needs to fully believe in me is myself, so I guess I’m approaching my relationship with me differently.”

Do you have a favorite lyric in “Could Have Been Ours” that you feel is especially powerful or meaningful?

Dylan: “It’s all so raw, but I think ‘we both know you could just replace me in a moment’s notice’ is such a cool line. I used to convince myself not to write from an honest place out of fear of sounding disrespectful, but in that I silenced myself and my own experiences. Proud to say I’ve come a long way!”

How would you describe your sound? How has it changed from the beginning of your career to the release of “Could Have Been Ours?”

Dylan: “This is me now. Starting with ‘Still Here,’ ‘CHBO,’ and everything after, I’m finally writing and producing in a way that I feel truly represents me as an artist and human being. If anybody wants to know what it sounds like, feel free to take a listen on the streaming platform of your choice and stay tuned because it just get better and better every five weeks.”

Why did you decide to release “Could Have Been Ours” as the second single ahead of the larger collection coming out?

Dylan: “There are two orders in my brain when I approach an upcoming campaign: the single release order and the tracklist order. Both are conceptualized in their own regard for the listener.”

You are an advocate for raising awareness around mental health. You’ve received the “Fighting Stigma Rising Star” award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness and partner with countless organizations. What does being an advocate for the mental health community mean to you? How do you plan to continue to advocate for the community?

Dylan: “Like so many people in this world, I struggle severely. Every day feels like an absolute nightmare from hell as much as it feels good to be alive, fighting, and surviving. I’ve spent my entire life being treated like nothing ever happened and that nothing’s ‘wrong with me,’ so using my platform to spotlight my experiences with mental illness authentically is the very least I can do. Hopefully we can all try and leave this place 1% better than we found it.”

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by mariah estran

A film score is a significant piece of any cinematography. It elevates the story, just like the actors who recite each scripted line. Tempos race during action sequences, and they wind down during dismal scenes. It is a necessary element due to its emotion-evoking powers. For singer/songwriter and avid film appreciator Dylan Dunlap, he has taken that concept to heart. He’s found the beauty in embracing his music composition and the power behind the words the sound inspires.

“I start with the music first, always,” the singer explains. “It’s a little backward from a lot of songwriter friends of mine.” Jotting down lyrics at the initial phase of a song’s development is commonplace. However, for Dunlap, rearranging these steps has allowed him to work around creative obstacles while ultimately giving attention to each layer of his art. “I’ve always overanalyzed my vocabulary. It’s been so helpful as an artist to put the music first, let it speak for itself, let it breathe, and then determine ‘what do I want this song to be about.’”

He freely recalls a moment of sitting in his girlfriend's closet, recording vocals, after piecing together chord progressions for his latest single, “Follow My Echo." “Honestly, I get satisfied just from listening to the music I create,” he adds. “I sit with that and figure out how to support it best lyrically.”

“Follow My Echo," the heart-warming four-minute jingle, is notably an excellent example of how his attentiveness to the sound has allowed him to find inspiration in numerous places. The track started from pondering on the last time he has seen the Pixar film, Finding Nemo. A blockbuster movie that left an impression on millions of kids, Dunlap being one of them. “I thought of just how influential that film was for me, and I refused to watch it. It has been six or seven years, and I wanted to write from a clean slate of what I had remembered as a kid.”

The song is no story of a fish finding its way back home. It tackles the process of letting someone go while also learning how to support from afar. You could say it is the grown-up interpretation that looks further than two adorable clownfish swimming in the deep blue. Dunlap dove into his memories — the feelings the movie conjured, without re-watching it before completing the song. “It was a grueling process; it was nothing like any of the other songs. It took two to three weeks of just writing a line a day – something that could work in the pop realm, work for my brand (Dylan Dunlap), it could also work for the plot of the film,” the singer shares.

Lyricism might come second in Dunlap’s operation, but it holds high importance. “I have such an obsession with chord progressions and music theory, but that’s not what makes me, me,” he describes. “As much as I like talking about starting music first, I still must take the necessary time to figure out what it is I want to accomplish with this piece of music.” Now realizing those conversations with his family, friends, and girlfriend could find a home in a new track. “I just stopped caring what would sound cool, what would sound like something that would be doing well on the radio. I try to focus on myself.”

Listen to Soldier On on Spotify. Dylan Dunlap · Single · 2021 · 6 songs.

When our lives came to a sudden halt due to the pandemic, Dunlap emphasized understanding himself. The restrictively isolating times had the potential to hinder creativity, but the singer could not stop working. “I’m lucky and blessed to keep finding inspiration,” Dunlap confides. “I guess I’ve looked more inward, and I’ve tried to unpack what makes me an individual.” He has now released his EP, Soldier On, which lays out genuine experiences. The love in his life, making it worthwhile in “Soldier On" to “What We Had,” uncovering the distant relationship with his father. “It’s a lot of maturing," Dunlap says when asked about the EP. “But with Soldier On, and more importantly, with the pandemic. I feel like we fast-forwarded years into the future mentally. I’m thankful I can write about it and make it a pop song.”

Soldier On might be a time capsule of sorts as Dunlap says: “they’re like little diary entries.” Yet, with all this candidness, he's found it’s better to find a balance between sad stories and overly positive ones. His right wrist with “Persevere” tattooed as a reminder, but his music is another. “There have been a lot of experiences that have traumatized me, and there are just a lot of internal struggles that I was born with," he says. “That cocktail of emotions makes it easy to write sad music, but that’s just not how I’ve ever chosen to live.”

Dylan Dunlap has found a way to remind his listeners that having an array of emotions is okay. He’s reminded them through each pop tune. “I want to make music that helps,” Dunlap states. “I’m excited to maintain a sense of realist mentality moving forward. I don’t need to be an optimist or pessimist. I can be real.”

Allowing people to join his journey – as he unwraps his mental snags – simultaneously chips away the stigma surrounding this topic. “Transparency is key – if there’s ever a song that sounds like advice, I make sure to put in there ‘I’m telling myself this too,'" he says. “If I can make a welcoming environment of music that creates a safe space, regardless of the color of your skin or sexuality – it’s important to me to spread the message: ‘you’re more than enough as you are.' I think I can make a difference by doing that because I like that I’m showing that I’m telling myself that along the way.”

The attention to each detail in Dunlap’s process goes without notice. It’s finding the perfect chord that leads to a few lines of meaningful storytelling. It is what paints the bigger picture, almost like a movie. Each ingredient in the concoction he’s created aids the impactfulness, and he hopes it will continue to aid someone else who decides to listen. “I’m just trying to make music, I would have loved to have discovered myself at 14, and that’s it.”

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