From the lovely Arizona, Dylan Ludwig is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, and producer who has just released a groovy and lighthearted single called “Days Go By.” Having grown up with a strong passion for music, Dylan Ludwig was constantly absorbing music from a wide range of genres. This shows in his music style today – he loves to mix flavors of different genres into his own personal recipe! Dylan Ludwig loves the flavors of old school 70s rock, vintage psych-country, and soulful rock and roll. He embraces the laid back aspects of these music styles into his new release “Days Go By.”
Having a knack for a variety of instruments, Dylan places emphasis on the ability of his instruments to set the tone of the song. “Days Go By” has a carefree electric guitar melody along with a mellow rock and roll drum. With an electric guitar, Dylan Ludwig often uses a vibrato technique, where he alters the pitch of a drawn-out note, giving the song a playful effect. In addition, the effortless vocal harmonies of “Days Go By” are sung with a feel-good drawl. As the song progresses it transitions from tones of vintage rock into its soulful blues with the help of a sophisticated saxophone sound. Dylan Ludwig ensures that everything about “Days Go By” will wind down listeners and leave them feeling relaxed and satisfied.
You can listen to "Days Go By" here.
Welcome to BuzzMusic Dylan Ludwig! You showed us how versatile your music taste is by incorporating aspects of many different genres into “Days Go By.” Can you tell us more about your personal music style?
I’m not sure I would have one specific music style. I started out wanting to be a folk singer, transitioned into an Indie-Americana-esque type band (Shady Grass), fronted a down-home folk ensemble (The Barrio Ramblers), performed “Solo” with various formations of backing bands as well as leading a high energy Honky-Tonk/Country Rock group (Fallen Arrows). I guess I would say my sound is based on American roots music. Blues, country, soul, folk and Rock n’ Roll.
What is the message behind the lyrics in “Days Go By?”
The words are always the most important part for me. The music usually comes pretty quickly, but I spend a lot of time writing, editing, and rewriting the lyrics. My favorites are Bob Dylan, John Prine, Townes Van Zandt, Tom Waits, Neil Young…(I can go on and on) .these guys are the best ever! I’ll spend weeks on one sentence trying to get the same feeling I would get from listening to one of them sing a line. On the other hand, I love how in a good country song, plainspoken words can be sung simply with so much emotion and energy like in a Hank Williams of Ernest Tubb song. I love it when you get more from the delivery of the words that the words themselves.
Once I feel like I've got the words in place, I'm free to experiment sonically. I can always hear the full arrangements when I'm writing, and composing the music is my favorite part. I was always fascinated by sound. Not just the music but the way it feels when it hits you. Hearing a sound and not knowing what it was why or why it makes me feel a certain way. I try to write songs that can stand on their own, but be able to present them in ways that were sonically exciting and intriguing.
I’ve always recorded myself, constantly experimenting with different techniques. Sometimes the songs start as a search for a certain vibe or type of sound before I know what they are going to be about. I developed a fascination with recording when I first heard The Beatles and all the amazing and wild sounds they were recording at Abbey Road with George Martin and Geoff Emerick. It made me think more about the arrangement and how to craft a song into something larger than life. Also, a lot of the instrumentation used in Beatles recordings find their way into my productions. Those are my favorite sounds…Wurlitzers, Fuzzy guitars, mellotron, strings, and horns….
Growing up you had many musical idols including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, John Prine, Tom Waits, The Beetles, and Led Zeppelin. How have these artists inspired your musical style?
Artists like Bob Dylan, John Prine, Leonard Cohen, and Tom Waits are some who inspire me to be a songwriter, and I can go on and on with the list but the truth is that I'm inspired by everything that hear. There was always Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennet playing in my house growing up. My dad loved opera so I also heard a lot of Pavarotti and Adrea Bocelli. I can listen to Louis Armstrong all day long. I played Bass Clarinet all through high school which immersed me in classical, jazz, orchestral, and marching band music.
You have been songwriting since you were a young boy! Can you tell us how your writing style has evolved over the years? What inspired you to write the lyrics for “Days Go By?”
For my 12th birthday, my dad got me Harvest by Neil Young and the Led Zeppelin “Early Days” Compilation. My life was forever changed. Two totally different records but I knew right away that I loved them both so much, equally but totally different. I learned from Neil young that you don’t have to have to be the worlds greatest singer or guitar player to create a sound that is relatable and uniquely your own. You have to tell your story in your own way for it to ring true. On the other hand, the sonics and raw power of Led Zeppelin records are what inspired me to pick up an electric guitar. I am still in search of that perfect riff and massive drum sound!
I would say the biggest change in my writing style over the years has been more of a focus on arrangement and production. I started an actual recording studio in 2015 (https://www.ravensoundstudio.com/) and kind of started from scratch re-learning how to record, trying to redefine my sound. “Days Go By” is the song I used to try out all my experiments. The days definitely went by while I worked on this one! The basic fingerpicking guitar part was my kind of go-to thing that I would play every time I picked up a guitar. It started a simple demo and I would continue to add every idea I could think of. When it was too full I would break it down and start from scratch, only using the best ideas.
I only had the first verse for the longest time but eventually the rest came. It’s an ode to the passing of time. It's about how a moment can last forever and then you blink and it's gone. It's about how you can close your eyes and slip away into your own world, making everything else disappear, that space between being awake and asleep. Just sitting and watching the clouds go by.
What can we expect to see next from you?
There is currently an animated music video in the works for “Days Go By” featuring the artwork of Matt Adams. I plan on releasing a few more singles and videos this year and a full-length record in 2021.