Dimitry Wild has grown from his experiences as a band member participating in musical collectives that ping-pong between San Francisco indie-post-punk's and Cali-garage-psychedelia. But it wasn't until re-establishing his roots in The Empire State when the budding producer, mixer, and musician really began to develop his cohesive Garage inspired and Synth-layered musical sounds through the music of his own designing and composition.
With 2020 anticipated to be another breakthrough for this artist's career, his latest release, "Small Afflictions," gives us a sampling of the mid-tempo synth overlaid couplings we can expect to find in his captivating Psychadelic shoe-gaze and synth vibes.
With a soft but steadfast rhythm, "Small Attractions" opens up with the earthy chugs of an acoustic before the mystifying dissolvings of an electric guitar provoke an immediate sense of wonder. It instantly gives homage to Psychedelia when the drums lay in, and the mix's expanse almost doubles in height and width. The tonality of the earthy drums settles us into the amalgamating worlds of two synths: one tediously playing an 80's synth-wave reminiscent melody and the other howling throughout, as if to communicate with the moon.
But while the production quality and cohesiveness of his ideas stand distinctive enough on their own, his real enamoring attributes as an artist are found in his soft-spoken cantor and the way that it channels like an enchanting mantra, while his lyrics buzz with a subtle melancholy. It's the coolest thing reaching our ears this month, and it's suggestive of the sentiment you get after finding a hidden gem, making us feel like we just scored this record from the local Mom-and-Pop record shop down the road.
Hello Dmitry, thank you for joining us at BuzzMusic. What lessons have you learned about yourself as an artist during your time in your previous bands in and around the West coast?
I learned the fact that playing with other people is not easy, everyone has a personality and everyone has their own goals and dreams they are trying to fulfill, it's especially hard when you are not getting paid and are living in a dream mode, but as far as myself I learned to really hone in on what I want and to trust yourself, now it's easy for me to work on music and get stuff done because I know what feeling am I going for and what sound do I want? Also, I learned that I am much more subtle and not so much of a bigger than life rock star person, although I do like to play that part as well, deep within in the silence of your room you start hearing the art in everything around. You learn to really strip away the layers and focus on what's honest about yourself and that's when the good stuff comes. Perhaps, my biggest lesson is to believe in yourself, and if you won't no one else will.
Where does your natural affluence for the synth come from, and who inspired that borrowed sound when you think back on music's past?
For me, it always starts with Ray Manzerek from the Doors. The first rock band that really used the organ and the piano as an art form, but then of course even earlier than that is Bach and his organ compositions are ethereal. Although that sparkly sound is something I really grew to like during the 80's revival era by listening to such bands as the MGMT, White Lies, and the Ladytron.
What were the main feelings and emotions you tried to convey through "Small Afflictions," and is it a story based on your own experiences in life?
This is more of an eternal question, which one can only answer with a question, are our feelings really ours? I watched a lot of period films and the greatest love tragedies are always about the same thing, there is what you want and there is what you must do and there goes the main pretext for the best stories and I feel that I just got a whiff of that emotion, but also there is an analogous allegory present in Small Affliction, is the more you try to own beautiful things the more you become chained to them.
When can we expect a full-length album from Dimitry Wild?
Oh man, actually I recently compiled the list of all the material I have been writing since the pandemic hit and a bit before and I think I have enough for a full album. it's going to be the most diverse and yet the most focused album of mine since I really had the time to hone it. I am working with my drummer from my old band, Weapons of the Future on a few tunes, it's going to be amazing! So I would say before the end of the year for sure.
What has been keeping you inspired throughout 2020?
Really everything, the inevitable nature of the circumstances we have been put through and the awe and the grandeur of our predicament. Yet I think that I as much as a lot of other people were driven to a particular point in our life and dropped off, "Here you are Sire, now do what you wanted for a while, but haven't had the time to, there are no other distractions to steal your focus." Then you sigh and say, "All right fuck it let's do this!" I mean I am having the most productive musical period of my life, and still, I have a job and a family, but it becomes about, "If I don't do it now, when else!?" and we all just went into the creative state of apathy and now we are releasing its fruits. 2020 is about changes, big changes, global changes, one of my songs is called "Wild 21st Century!" I mean how can we move forward without big changes. The train has left the station and we are all figuring out where do we fit, but those that are inspired find inspiration in every waking moment.