INTERVIEW with DYLAN INNES

This piece was originally published in the LowDown Issue No. 2 by WSOE 89.3 FM.

Hailing from Boone, North Carolina, singer/songwriter Dylan Innes (pronounced ‘in-ness’) is a rising member of North Carolina’s mountainous folk scene. His newest record Taste The Tide (via UNRECORDINGS) is a cozy exploration in introspection by contextualizing relationships and experiences in rich pastoral imagery.

While the folk-y sounds on the new record seem to be a comfy fit for Innes’s style, it’s actually a new look for the artist. His debut EP Unglued! shows him singing over refined bedroom pop beats, complete with chugging hip hop rhythms, rich effects, and glittery production. Before his debut record Taste The Tide even dropped, he was displaying a wide palette of sonic influences from his adolescent musical interests and upbringing.

“My parents were into a lot of music and I just always liked what they listened to,” says Innes, “My dad liked a lot of Johnny Cash and Bob Marley.” Innes grew up in a household of music fans, and they made him get involved early with piano lessons and theatre. “And I did this [play] years ago, where my character had to play guitar,” Innes says, mentioning his assignment in the theatre rendition of Grease. Him picking up the guitar was mere coincidence in the demand for the role: “Yeah, and I guess in the stage version, one of the greasers plays guitar.” This inherited music taste led to the kind of music Innes would make, but his own obsessions would be arguably more important.

“My favorite artist of all time is actually Kanye West, even though it doesn't relate to my music at all,” says Innes, citing how the bravado and determination of Mr. West inspires him as an artist. Innes mentions a magical concert in 2016 on Ye’s tour in promotion of The Life Of Pablo where the stars aligned, and Innes had a euphoric concert experience. “I had nosebleed tickets to see him and I ended up paying like a security guard to let me down in the pit area,” Innes says, “It was basically like watching Kanye West’s greatest hits.” After lengthy tangents on Kanye’s discography and whether Dylan thinks Donda is still coming out (he does), we finally came to talking about Taste The Tide.

“I came back to visit my parents’ house and I was just playing for them, “Innes says, “And it just felt so simple--I was just like ‘Wow, I just want to make an acoustic album.’” The quarantine brought Dylan back home where he became fascinated with solo guitar pieces in an effort to keep himself busy. “I feel like I've been trying to do the most with music and just make every song like maximialistic-sounding, not just like letting music be organic,” Dylan was worried with his songwriting process, and in an effort to fight that messiness, he stripped it all away.

“I just wanna return to when music was just fun,” Dylan says, “when I first started playing guitar, there was no intention behind it--I was just playing for fun.” With Taste The Tide, Innes tears back the layers of anxiety and overrefinement to get to the core of what his pursuit of songwriting is for--fun. And this sense of self-autopsy is present in the immediacy and intimacy all throughout the album.

Innes cites two main influences for the sound of Taste The Tide: the aforementioned outlaw country legend Johnny Cash and indie underground darling Jason Molina. Innes draws the intensity of Cash, the closeness of Molina, and the work ethic of each on Taste The Tide: “I've tried to sit down and write as long as like, ‘Alright, I'm gonna write about my window sill or a mountain or something that doesn't work.’” By forcing these writing sessions, Innes pushes his brain to write poetry of even the most boring things, and because of that, his lyrics have a notably observational perspective.

Even though Taste The Tide is still relatively fresh, Innes has plans on what his next release is going to sound like: “My plan is since I brought it back to how simple [Taste The Tide] is, I feel like it's like a good, organic place to grow from now.” Innes is happier approaching with this more personal side of his, and he doesn’t want to distract from the simple atmosphere he’s trying to make. “Maybe [I’ll add] a synth or something...I would love to have a brass section or a big string section to add upon.”

While Innes is happy with how Taste The Tide came out, the release cycle has been less than satisfying. “I mean it’s been brutal,” Innes says, “it's like my singular focus, and everything else is really on the sidelines, but then I'm like, ‘dang, like, I hope I can make a living out of this one day.’” The economic turbulence brought about by the pandemic has hurt the chances of indie artists like Innes, who need active music scenes to be able to sustain a music career.

But the pandemic has had its silver lining too. Innes is a naturally anxious performer and he’s had this extended period at home to work through the stage fright that he feels holds back his performances. “And now I've been playing a ton of shows and getting through sort of trying to intentionally work through that anxiety,” Innes says “so, I mean, I'm having a good time playing now.”

Dylan Innes’s debut record Taste The Tide is available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp and is also available for purchase on his website. The extended audio interview is available to listen here and if you’re in the Boone area, be sure to catch a show of his.