D.K. Lyons is a songwriter seeking to turn heads with lyrical creativity and intrigue. Pulling influence from the likes of Tom Petty, Third Eye Blind, Jason Isbell, Goo Goo Dolls, and The 1975, D.K. is dressing up alternative rock to fit him perfectly.
Born and raised in MA and based in Brooklyn, D.K. values authenticity above all else, creating characters and imagery that produces genuine human feeling and connection. You won’t find too many cliches or vagueness with D.K. Growing up without a father and raised by a triad of powerful women, D.K. takes pride in the unique way he writes about the traditional subjects of love, hope, loss, and fear. His backstory pulls heavy influence from the badass women who raised him and comes through in the female characters featured in his music.
His debut album, The Past (Romanticized) was released independently on June 26th, featuring “Danger”, “Shades of Amber”, and “Sleep With the Lights On”. This is a record that romanticizes old flames, adulthood transitions, and dealing with loss, dressed up in a familiar yet varied sound. A cohesive 12 song effort with a prime focus on storytelling touches genres from classic rock to modern synth pop and everything in between.
Combining his musical obsession with his passion for content, D.K. will be releasing a new music video each month through April 2021, furthering his depth as a storyteller by creating accompanying visual worlds to pair with the stories, characters, and emotions that define his music.
WEBSITE
http://dklyonsmusic.com/
INSTAGRAM
https://www.instagram.com/d.k.lyonsmusic/
SPOTIFY
https://open.spotify.com/album/0Ho4l0ql76M0cMPOhyJuaG?si=_ixBf3rkSYKFuZ2lsRQftA
YOUTUBE
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7m8MT4n35oX2sik9amIy8w
1.) What elements and/or characteristics made you say to yourself that you wanted to do music for a living? Who are your influences/heroes/role models?
Music has always been something entirely out of my control in terms of what drove me to it. From telling my mom at age 5 that I wanted to be a rock-star, it has consumed my mind on a daily basis. Even going to college and getting a job in marketing, I’ve spent every free second in my life thinking about songwriting, production, and live music and getting better at all elements involved in order to take the next step to a more professional level. My heroes are many, but Tom Petty and Matty Healy are certainly in my personal Mt. Rushmore, Petty since my first memories of music in life. My dad was a massive fan and I have memories of driving around in his Chevy Impala SS listening to Wildflowers, Full Moon Fever, Into the Great Wide Open, and Echo on repeat in the 90s. He died when I was very young, so Tom ended up becoming a massive male figure in my life, and when he died I went through an immense grief period, but his music continues to inspire and influence me.
2.) If you could compare yourself to an already established artist, who would that be and why? If you don’t like to compare yourself, then music-wise, what separates you from other musicians?
Comparisons are so hard because you want to think of yourself as unique while also not coming off as egotistical if you compare yourself to the massive artists that have come before. I pull influence from a lot of places, so you hear shades of Tom, Third Eye Blind, The 1975, Goo Goo Dolls, Jason Isbell, and the like in my music. And I like to think that touching as many genres as possible while making a record feel cohesive and believable through my lyrics and voice makes me stand out. I also have a “no cliché” goal. I work really hard to avoid generic phrases or imagery when writing about very cliché topics like love, loss, and other themes of the past. Now, I may let a cliché or two slip through the cracks, but it’s definitely something I’m constantly vigilant for because the music I tend to gravitate to tends to really stand out in the lyrics, evoking unique imagery vs re-using old and tired phrase that have been done thousands of times before.
3.) Everyone in life goes through adversity of some sort. Is there anything in your life that has any influence on the kind of songs you write? What is the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure on your path to becoming a musician?
As I mentioned before, I lost my dad at a very young age and it’s something that’s been with me my entire life, along with a number of other family deaths that all occurred before I was 12 years old. So, there’s an inherent sadness in my music that results from that, but because I was raised by some incredible women, I also tend to create and paint these female characters that embody the confidence, intelligence, and ambition that I grew up around.
4.) How do you prepare yourself to write certain songs? What is your song-writing and recording process?
Songwriting for me used to just be: sit down, come up with a guitar chord progression or riff, and then write an entire lyric right there and then and build the production. But over the last 5 years I’ve fallen so in love with other types of production that it’s much more varied now. Now it’s usually building a full track and then diving into my endless iPhone notes with song ideas to pull from or listening to a melody and scatting the vocal part until words appear, which they always tend to do. But I do still sit down with just me and my guitar and continue to discover new inspiration there from time to time as well.
5.) Unfortunately the music industry is full of talented individuals who just don’t get any recognition for their talent and/or hard work. What do you plan to do to make sure you stand out and get noticed? Would you rather be on a major label or would you rather stay independent? Why or why not? In regards to the music industry itself, do you think that the traditional music industry model as we know it is dead?
This is a great question because I think my goals have continued to shift as I’ve continued to build my brand and my following. I think I have the benefit of a ton of years working behind the scenes and failing a bunch at certain elements of the art so that now the music I’ve put out and plan to put out will continue to define me as a writer and producer, but I also have the benefit of working in content and social media, so making music videos and a really powerful visual identity has helped and hopefully will continue to help me stand out.
In terms of the industry, it’s easy to become disillusioned by major labels and all of the horror stories. Artistic control is the most important thing to me because I know my intuition and voice have lasting power and I’d rather stay independent, sign with an indie label, or even start my own label before compromising that at all. I think the traditional model will always be there for certain artists simply because marketing is king, branding is king, and large labels have the money to put artists into that next level of stardom to this day. But with streaming and social media, there’s never been a better time to be an indie artist because you can be a successful musician without a label if you’ve got a savvy team around you and are willing to put in the work to content and social promotion.
6.) Are you able to make a living with your music? If so, how were you able to attain a career doing what you love? If not, what do you do in order to fund your music career? What advice would give to someone who’s interested in pursuing a career in music?
I’m still really only 6 months into making music my 2nd job, so we have a 12-18 month plan to get us where we are now with music as my 2nd job to my 1st and only job. Hopefully this is going to come from continuing to put out content, optimize paid strategies on social, collaborations with other artists, and rebooking live dates once the pandemic is over and it’s safe for live music to regain its former glory.
7.) How do you think the internet and social media affected the music industry and how musicians are able to market themselves? Social media is obviously an extremely important element in today’s world, especially when it comes to business, branding, marketing, etc. With that being said, do you think an artist will be able to survive in today’s music industry if they’re not social media savvy?
I am a massive proponent of social media savviness simply because I’ve been able to promote my music, gain followers, and reach thousands of views and streams during a pandemic from my home. Now that being said, as an artist all I want to focus on is making good art, so my biggest advice to an artist who isn’t socially savvy or doesn’t want to commit to it on their end is to find someone to partner with to do it together. Social media strategy isn’t a buzz word, it’s an industry full of talented professionals, and I have no doubt that there are plenty of hungry individuals willing to help artists just to gain their own experience. From paid media strategy to content calendar building to capture and coordination, having someone to work with who knows the space can be a massive asset to an up-and-coming artist looking to survive and thrive in today’s climate.
8.) Artists who try to make music for the general public and make more money are usually seen as “sell-outs.” Do you see it that way and if so, what do you plan to do to make sure your music stays true to your brand and make a good living at the same time without having to “sell out”?
This is a great question. I think as an artist, it’s 100% okay to want to be paid for your work, because fans don’t see just how much work goes into creating the art they consume and love. And I think the current era of music is somewhat safer from “Sell-outs” than any other time simply because, as I mentioned before, artists can survive and thrive without labels, whether through touring (pre-Covid), merch deals, or brand partnerships, which have become very important as well. But for me, I intended to retain 100% creative control over my music, I’m confident in my music and my brand, and I have the right people around me to ensure that eventually I’ll achieve my monetary goals while never compromising who I am and what makes me D.K. Lyons.
9.) There are multiple ways of attaining fans and building up your fan base, so what are some ways you acquire fans?
Like I said, I think social and digital provide an amazing opportunity to build a fan base if you’re willing to be patient with trial and error when it comes to targeting. If you’ve got music to share and content to go along with it, it doesn’t take much money to run targeted ad campaigns to find out who your music resonates with. From there, optimization is the name of the game. But again, people becoming fans of you will all come down to whether or not they relate to you, your voice or image, and the music you make. So focus first on yourself and shaping your identity and brand, and then use social for the tool that it is.
10.) What are the positives and negatives of the music industry? What is it about the music industry that makes some artists push forward? What do you think makes some artists quit?
The positives are ultimately that music brings people together for a catharsis more so than any other art or medium on the planet. The negatives, however, are that humans have created “stars” and the pursuit of that lifestyle and image makes people do things that give the industry a bad name. But as much as I hate that “star” culture, I think the benefits of streaming and social have allowed some incredible artists to have careers outside of the big label model who may not have broken through in prior times. As an artist, you have to be incredibly pliable with taking blows and staying grounded when the industry becomes disillusioning and vile, which is what I think makes some artists quit. But if you truly love and believe in your voice, it’s really about building around that with your team, the opportunities you want to focus on, and the fans you want to impact, because they are all out there, you just need to be willing to grind and keep your eyes on the long-term prize of making a living off your art and not so much being a “star-chaser.”
11.) What trends do you see staying or going?
Streaming is here to stay. Social is here to stay. I hope live-music post-Covid has a massive swell, and I think it will because it’s such an irreplaceable moment of human connection that hasn’t been replicated as well virtually, which makes me happy. I think “influencer” culture will continue to fade and return in new forms, but again, I think major labels will continue to decline and good independent art will rise up and have a voice.
12.) With so many people online who are expressing their opinions on any and everything under the sun, how do you know when to take something as constructive criticism or when to see it as trolling?
It’s all information, and you as the creator give power to what information you take in and decide to acknowledge and learn from or what information to leave in the dust. That being said, it’s impossible to not get that gut-punch feel when a troll says something negative just for the sake of being negative, which is why mindfulness and positive coping habits are so important for artists. The psyche is like a muscle, and I spend a lot of time training that muscle through various methods to make sure I can brace for and rebound from negative online attacks, which are unfortunately inevitable.
13.) If you were to advise an up and coming musician on how to get more fans, what advice would you give them?
It’s so cliché, but be yourself. The people you want to be your fans will gravitate toward the real you, so don’t try and change your voice to try and pander to the largest common denominator. And from a more tactical perspective, there are so many automated tools to help with social paid promotion that won’t break the bank. It’s a lot of trial and error, but all you really need is 1 good, professional single, and you can start to build a fanbase using the plethora of online tools out there.
14.) Professionally, where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
5 years from now, I see myself releasing my 3rd or 4th LP full of music that continues to push the envelope of who I am as a writer and producer, touring and filling up venues with fans who love and appreciate my music because I’m still as believable and honest as I was when nobody knew who I was, and using my platform to inspire and promote social change.