ELECTRO POP GOES GLOBAL

‘THERE’S A LOT OF NOISE OUT THERE, AND YOU HAVE TO BE REALLY ORIGINAL TO CUT THROUGH.’ DYLAN DE BONO TALKS ABOUT HIS DEBUT ALBUM ‘LOOSE WIRE’, AND THE ADVENTURES HE HAS PLANNED FOR 2023.

“There’s something so inspiring about just packing your bags, and leaving everything behind to dedicate 100% of your energy to your art, and seeing people’s reaction to it.” This is exactly what Dylan De Bono plans to do in 2023, with musical adventures planned across Europe, and hopefully the US and Asia in the works. Is this something of an impulse, or more a shift in priorities for this qualified doctor and singer-songwriter? With his debut album and its singles gaining recognition, I asked Dylan about achieving balance in his life, and what bought about the decision to dedicate all his time and energy to his music.

“For a long time, I’ve managed to balance work, music, and life. Of course, the more ‘life’ you have, the more inspired you are to do music. So, it’s important to experience life, go out, make mistakes, and have adventures. I love my job and for a long time, I’ve been very dedicated and motivated about it. However, at the moment I have reached the point where it is no longer possible to strike the balance, and music has taken over my priorities. So, this is why I came to the hard decision of leaving everything behind to hit the road for 2023.”

Although Dylan is about to tour as a solo artist, his music career in Malta started as one half of a duo called ‘Royals’. After building something together, his friend eventually moved away from music, so a solo career seemed the logical next step, although it wasn’t an easy one. “To tell you the truth, I was very insecure about starting a solo career and representing myself with my name, but I do feel more comfortable now as a solo artist, and of course, it has its advantages. For example, more artistic freedom to explore a vision which is personally yours.” Dylan may be the one out there on stage, but he freely gives credit to his co-writer, who plays a big part in this solo project. “Though I call myself a solo artist, that does not mean I work in solitude. I work very closely with my partner in this project David Vella. He’s worked with some of the greats, and let’s face it, he’s a genius producer. Everything he touches is golden.”

Dylan says that “there’s something special when two creative minds come together”, and he is excited about the album he created with David, and the response to it so far, particularly when it comes to its first single ‘Feeling So S*** Right Now’. “This was released at the height of the COVID pandemic, so I think a lot of people believed the song had so mething to do with this situation. It’s a track about being down, yet at the same time celebrating with the acknowledgement that being sad is a universal human emotion. Although initially never earmarked as a single, it has been a commercial success and one that has helped Dylan gain international attention. Dylan comments that Youtube and his “curiosity-provoking” music video were instrumental in this, adding that “people from all over the world started commenting on the song and video. You know how Youtube is, you get both good and bad comments, but the bottom line is it started to gain attention. So, from there the radio stations started to take notice. I was interviewed by radio stations in Italy, and the song was put into regular rotation in several European countries.

Dylan loves m usic from the ’70s and ’80s and says listeners can expect to hea r those inf luences throughout his album ‘Loose

Wire’. Artists reflected in his sound include Chic, David Bowie, Marvin Gaye, Prince, and Tears for Fears. Whether you listen to the ‘Loose Wire’ album and classify it as retro pop, or as Dylan says “electro pop, alternative pop, dream pop, dark wave pop, or acoustic pop”, he is just “trying to write the most infectious, c atchy, and hooky pop music while giving so me individual twists”.

202 3 looks set to be an exciting year, as Dylan co nfirms his European and global gig dates, and he may even showcase some of the new material he has been working on with Macedonian m usician Kristjan. In the meantime, Dylan De Bono very much has a home on his mind. “Malta and the Islands are very dear to my heart. I love this place, the people, the scenery, and the lifestyle. I love that Malta is a very international place, and you meet people from all around the world here.”