The story behind Dylan Chamber's creative intuition mirrors those of many dreamers-alike who look to Los Angeles for a shot at breaking through the music industry's ceiling. This R&B and Funk amalgamating soulster traversed from Arlington, Texas, and over the Western Rocky-mountains, to land in the City of Angels under that same determine, in order to dispense some of his timeless soul-centric sounds to the masses. He's come a long way since his debut in 2016, and this year, his newest musical renderings draw unparalleled from the bouncy vibes you wouldn't be hard-pressed to find amongst the gyrating dance floors of a Vulfpeck or Jacob Collier show.
With a bombastic drum beat drawing energy from the Funk gods of the past, and a bass-line that burns with an unrelenting modern vibe, Dylan Chamber's "I Can Do It Myself" swoops-in with the grace of a tip-toeing crooner. Here, the Texas-native sings with a buzzing distortion that colors his harmonic textures with a more embellishing vintage-hue, mirroring the earthy crunch behind the riffing guitars that diffuse dopamine from the bumping party-room dance floors of this modern mix.
The sense of wanting to sway and jive to the beat of the constant clap-track in the background, which surprisingly never gets tiresome to hear—is inescapable. There's also no shortage of horns and synergizing harmonies that bounce between church-gospel resoundings and those invigorating call and response interludes you'd find at a Night Club. The most enticing aspect behind this track is how Chambers maneuvers over the meticulous articulations behind his swooning vocal melodies as he swings between serenade in the verse and uproar over the hooking chorus.
The unwashable after-glow that wreaths your vision after Dylan Chamber's "I Can Do It Myself" shouldn't come as surprising by now. Dylan is already colluding over his new sonic concoctions with notoriety producer Stefan Litrownik. And after this scintillating funk-fussed track, it's exciting to about the next Soul and R&B blending escapades anticipated to come.
Where do you draw your inspiration from for the hot-hearted performances you always manage to capture on your records?
It’s sort of a two-fold thing. Before I cut the vocals for a song, I do what I need to do to get in the same headspace I was feeling when I wrote it. I feel that every part of my needing to be involved in order for what I’m emoting to come across genuine and truthful. It also
comes from studying the history of the artists who’ve inspired me. A common thread with them is that they all fully embodied what they were singing about. I don’t want to be any different.
When you think about the narrative behind this track, what do you feel? And was that emotion something you wanted your listeners to grasp?
I feel proud that I have this story to share. It’s a coming of age realization that I seriously needed to have in order to move on into this next chapter of my life. I definitely wanted the listeners to feel that I was passionate about what I was saying because I meant every
word. It took a lot of experience to get there. I think especially now is a great time for people to understand the power they hold within themselves and that they have the ability to do whatever it is they feel they’ve been sent here to do.
What have been the most enjoyable moments behind the recording process of "I Can Do It Myself?"
What definitely sticks out in my memory is recording the group background vocals in the chorus. After I had sung all the lead parts, my fellow co-writers, Stefan Litrownik, Sean Fisher and I turned on one mic, spread out into different parts of the studio, and chanted “DO IT MYSELF”, “NEED NOBODY‘S HELP”, out into the open. We did this many times
with different pitches and just kept stacking the vocals. At one point, I was laying on the floor, Stefan was under the producer’s desk and Sean was in the kitchen chanting the words while the mic picked it up. We all had a great time giving it our best “macho man” voices to sound like a bunch of really tough guys (which we’re definitely not). There were a few times when we had to take a break because we were laughing so much. After that session, I went home and slept for 14 hours.
If you could give us a few words that would act as the Prologue to the experience behind this single, what would you say and why?
After years of waiting for the perfect situation or hoping someone would come around and change my life, I realized that I was the only one who was gonna do that and that I could all along. I say this because it’s the absolute truth.
What has been keeping you inspired in 2020?
My fellow artists have really been keeping me inspired during this time. Since the live music industry has pretty much stopped this year, we’ve all had to discover new ways to be creative and I’m seeing some amazing examples of this out in the world. I’ve also taken a much deeper dive into self-exploration this year. I’ve been learning what it means to
truly be vulnerable, to go after what you want, to not be so critical, to be a good ally, and so forth. Even though this has been such a crazy year for everyone, I’ve felt more inspired than I ever have. This is truly a transformative time for all of us on the planet.