If you ask a crowded room what the American Dream means to them, everyone will likely have different answers. As for Sylas Dean, he’d rather explain through his music! The pop newcomer is on the pursuit to make you happy with his debut EP American Dreeming, while he continues his journey of self-discovery.
Sylas Dean grew up in the small town of Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and drove all the way to LA to relocate and focus on launching his music career. But who is Sylas Dean, anyways? What does he stand for? He’s breaking it all down for you below!
What is the absolute most important thing you want listeners to know about who you are as an artist?
It’s vital to me that listeners can catch a sense of the artist when they listen to the music. If there was one element I’d love for a listener to take away from “American Dreeming” it’s authenticity. I’m the sole writer for every lyric and melody on the record and I’m incredibly proud of that work. I’ve always connected with artists when I can follow the thought behind the work and hear their point of view through the writing. When you listen long enough to start to learn about them as a writer, how they build a chorus, which themes do they always go back to, how do they push themselves? To me writing on your own records is incompletely integral to that connection with the fans.
Around what age did your love for music start to develop?
As young as I can remember. We grew up in a Stones household so some of my earliest memories are us blasting Mick Jagger on the TV (we owned the reunion tour VHS set) which we’d play over and over again and dance on our coffee table in the living room. We used to listen to Aretha and Tina Turner all the time and I think those sort of powerhouse voices left an impression on some young ears. Music was always a part of my life from those moments on.
When was the exact moment you decided to pursue your “dreem” of being an artist?
I don’t know that I fell in love with this idea of being an artist as much as I fell in love with creating. I studied voice growing up and was always involved in music or theatre or art in some way. Eventually I studied acting through college and kept writing music and gigging through it all. So for me, it’s always felt innate to be involved rather than something that came from a turning point or an epiphany.
What does the title American Dreeming mean to you?
American Dreeming is about dissecting the definition of the “American Dream”. It means something different to everyone and it’s completely imperfect in how we achieve it. To me, the “American Dream” is about self creation in any way you split it. This music and this alias of “Sylas Dean” was about recreating myself but also sharing myself as a writer and a pop artist in any way that I chose. The sentiment is about reclaiming the imperfect parts of achieving your version of an “American Dream” and owning the power to recreate that dream into something vibrant and beautiful. I kept the imperfection of the spelling of “Dreeming” to nod to this idea that imperfections to it all might be visible but what matters is that the dream itself is there.
Did your choice to move from Connecticut to California influence your creative approach in any way?
It completely shifted my drive towards this music. I think I’d reached a breaking point where I didn’t want to feel afraid to go after my future so I quite literally packed my car with everything that I could fit and hit the road to Los Angeles. I drove alone straight across the country to LA in six days and I’d never felt more excited and ready to put in the work and make something happen for myself. It’s a completely fresh start and you can be and create anyone you want, it’s hard not to chase something like that.
Were there any significant challenges you faced while putting this project together?
Rejection for sure. When I first started to shop my writing around as a demo I got pushed out of every conversation. It’s either too camp or folks in the industry just didn’t see the vision for the music or understand the audience for it. It took a while to find a team of producers that could fit the musical arch of what I wanted “American Dreeming” to sound like. But the real challenge was crafting everything leading up to the debut. I put myself into every creative aspect of this project. I booked every session, planned every shoot, tracked down every journalist, and spent every single day and night leading up to it just pushing for as much exposure and content as I could. Part of the benefit to rejection is the opportunity to deliver in spite of it.
What’s your favorite track on this EP, and can you tell us the story behind it?
Shine is easily my go to favorite. I think what I fell in love with about it was that I set out to capture this specific feeling within a song and every time I listen to it it takes me to that exact mindset as when I first played it in the room. The story behind it is a little more ironic though. When I first cut the earliest version of the demo and shopped it around it was by far everyone’s least favorite, like unanimous hatred. I got told to drop it as an option or give it to another artist but I knew there was something about the hook in my head that felt special so I went back and rewrote it maybe three times over and then passed around the studio cut. Without fail it became everyone’s favorite off the EP so for me I keep it in a place of pride. It was this idea that I had and pushed for it despite the criticism and I’m happy I got to see it through to it’s final form.
What is something you learned about yourself while creating the EP?
I learned just how capable I am of approaching music from more than just the creative aspect. That’s the part that doesn’t get romanticized, it’s about coming to the table with a business sense about the industry and pushing to get your music heard. I learned that there’s no reason to wait for anyone to hand you anything when you can design the entire world in which your art exists. I kept creative control over visuals, music, and even marketing. Artists are capable of mastering their work in every way they’re willing to exercise, you just have to want it.
What kind of impact do you hope American Dreeming will leave on your listeners?
I think it’s more than just this debut introduction to “Sylas Dean”. I’m hoping for the sentiment of the EP to land with listeners who are just like me. I’d hope for the emphasis to be on how this project was built out of a need to create my own space for this dream. I’m a kid from a small town who had dreams and I wrote to that, created this image out of that, and put out this music. If I could do something like that why couldn’t anyone? It’s about reclaiming your own agency to make art and put it out into the world without caution.
Finally, which song are you the MOST excited to be able to perform once we’re all able to reunite in a venue again for concerts?
I’m a fiend for dance records so I’m stoked to start hustling with songs like “Say My Name” and “Two of Us”. Those tracks were written wholeheartedly with a dance floor in mind so it’s well overdue to play those live.
American Dreeming is out now, so you already know what to do! Give it a listen below, and also give Sylas Dean a huge virtual high five on Instagram and Twitter @sylasdean.
