Photo Credit: Jim McKay
After years of playing in punk rock bands around the country, frontman Dylan Disaster found mental clarity when he began working solo. The Austin-based musician brings his own brand to the singer/songwriter genre with intelligent, stripped-down songs that still drive the energy and presence of a punk band. Today, you can watch the music video for his new single “Milestone” from the upcoming album Remission, due August 31.
Like other blue-collar punk troubadours Brian Fallon and Dave Hause, Disaster isn’t afraid to wear his heart on his sleeve while chronicling some worrisome topics. The heartfelt track is the musical equivalent of a chimpanzee in a leather jacket, spastic and anxious with a heavy amount of grit and sneering attitude.
“It’s about losing control, spinning into a state of panic, or even having a full on anxiety attack,” says Disaster. “When you’re dealing with depression and trying to pull yourself back up from the ground, you can slip real easily and when you do, it can get real dark real quick internally and you kind of panic because you don’t really know if you’re going to be OK again.“
“Milestone” emphasizes these emotions through calm, soothing verses that soon burst into a tumultuous, hook-laden chorus. It’s an all out spiral with the lines “my heart is racing I can feel each beat / the sound is pounding in my head on repeat / if I’m not choking I can barely breathe / the worst is over or so it seems.“
Remission is Dylan Distaster’s second solo record and is a tale of ups and downs, heartache and recovery. The journey to and from, past and present, giving up and fighting back. The album features punk rock bangers (“Sun Came Rising), a ukulele song about desolation (“Restless Heart”), and tracks of woe (“Precautionary Tales of Self Destruction” and “Can’t Keep Up”). There’s hints of nostalgia (“South Long Island”) and hope for recovery (the title track). Through bouts of depression, mania, personal struggle and of course, remission, Dylan’s sophomore album is more focused and intentional than anything he has done in the past, which in turn has created a sound that truly represents the man behind the music.
Listen to “Milestone” on Spotify
CONNECT WITH DYLAN DISASTER:
WEBSITE // FACEBOOK // INSTAGRAM // TWITTER