[Interview] Dylan Fox And The Wave

It’s hard for me not to rave about Dylan Fox And The Wave. They’re two brothers making honest rock and roll that just kicks ass. With two EP’s under their belt, they are just getting started, but I assure you, they have a promising future ahead of themselves.

Their new EP, Tunnel Vision, comes out tomorrow. It’s a great EP, and I highly recommend that you guys go snag it. Dylan Fox himself took some time to chat with me giving us a little bit of insight into the band.

Check out the whole thing and grab a mp3 of “Tricks”, a track from the EP:

Will: Can you tell my readers a little bit about the history of Dylan Fox and The Wave?

Dylan: Sean had a drum set from his younger days that he had traded me. One day I said “You should play drums for me,” and he accepted. We tried some other bands and at one point after a musical break, we decided it was going to be just him and I. He came to Oakland and we played and wrote two songs off “Fuzz” that day: “Why Ya’ Speakin” & “Where We Know”. “Where We Know” was literally written and recorded in a few hours and that’s the version we put out. We really didn’t know what we were making and after a number of these we had an EP. It became obvious that we were having more fun with this project and that it was exactly the kind of music we wanted to be playing.

Will: What’s it like playing with your brother?

Dylan: Playing with Sean is great. I’ve played in a bunch of bands and this is the band for me. We hardly disagree, we support what the other wants to try and what’s great is we get in a room and just play. I bring in an idea and we start to work it out and build it that way. No ones messing with a million pedals and sounds. I turn on my guitar, he drums, it’s loud and I think has the biggest impact on the sound working that way.

Will: What would you say influenced your sound? (Any specific bands? How about your location?)

Dylan: Yeah, bands for sure. Bob Dylan, big time. The White Stripes, I guess that’s a given. Arctic Monkeys. T. Rex, The Strokes, The Kinks, The Black Keys. Where we are from, hardly impacted us. That’s the truth, though. My mom and family are from England, that culture has had a way bigger impact on us.

Will: You guys are releasing your new EP, Tunnel Vision, soon. How would you best describe it?

Dylan: It still sounds very much like us to me. Garage rock, with a blues influence. We did want to make a bigger sounding EP while still not sounding over produced though and I think we did that. The big difference to me is “Tunnel Vision” is a little more moody than Fuzz.

Will: You guys have taken the DIY route to get your music heard. What benefits does this allow. What problem does it cause? Any plans for a record label?

Dylan: The benefit of it is releasing whatever you want when you want. I can write an album tonight and release it tomorrow, anyway that I want. That being said, it’s not so simple. It takes a lot of work to promote and spread the word with really just the two of us working on it. It’s also expensive. But we love it, we have fun working the way we do. Sure, help would be nice, but only the right kind of help for sure. I have my eye on some labels, but no offers. If one ever offers the right deal, we are interested. Things like your blog help so much too and if there’s a blog you like to read, it’s great to be on it and have that opinion and support.

Will: In this day and age of music, what would you consider success?

Dylan: Our Idea of something being a success at this point is being able to do music full time. Not have to work and be able to tour and release records that we are proud of. We definitely want a career out of this.

Will: What do Dylan Fox and The Wave have planned for 2011 and beyond?

Dylan: Promoting really. We are really happy with both our EPs and want to promote them and get more live shows and get that going a little bigger. Touring for sure is a main one, vinyl releases and of course new music. Expect more singles this summer and a full length by fall.

Will: What records are playing in the Dylan Fox and The Wave residence?

Dylan: Obviously there are comparisons but I don’t really care, I have been revisiting The Black Keys “Rubber Factory” a lot recently. Kings Of Leon “Youth and Young Manhood, The new Strokes. Some singles, The Kills “Future Starts Slow” Tv On The Radio “Will Do” The Arctic Monkeys “Don’t Sit Down Cause I’ve moved Your Chair”

Will: Favorite beers? (This has somehow become a trademark question for me):
Dylan: I am a beer fanatic so this is great. Anchor Steams Liberty Ale and Porter, Russian River Pliny the Elder, Ale Industries Orange Shush, all local.

Grab a mp3 of “Tricks” below:

<a href=”http://dylanfoxandthewave.bandcamp.com/track/tricks” _mce_href=”http://dylanfoxandthewave.bandcamp.com/track/tricks”>Tricks by Dylan Fox and The Wave</a>

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