We had the good fortune of connecting with Dylan Kishner-Lopez and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Dylan, any advice for those thinking about whether to keep going or to give up?
Honestly it really depends on what you want out of your career in the music industry and how realistic you’re being about those goals. If simply making music is what makes you happy, then you’ll probably never get to a point where you feel so overwhelmed that you’ll want to just up and quit. But if you want to tour, make records, and generally be more “successful” , then it’s going to get pretty rough from time to time (especially as an independent artist). Just be honest with yourself, and take time to re-examine what you really want out of music every so often. And if you ever decide you actually want to quit music entirely, it probably means it wasn’t what you really wanted in the first place.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I think what sets my music aside from others (at least potentially around Colorado) is our versatility. If we get paired up with jam bands, we can jam. If we get plaired up with Country/Rock bands, we can play our Country stuff and turn away from the jam band sound. It really helps when we’re not sure what type of group we’re going to find ourselves sharing the stage with next.
It has not been easy, although that’s due to my inability to learn anything about the industry before I absolutuely have to. The only thing that’s really helped has been to start working in the industry and learning what goes into running live events. That knowledge hasd really helped me level up, so to speak.
I hope the world just enjoys the stories and songs, and hopefully I get to perform them in front of the people who like them sometime.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If a friend was rude enough to assume I was taking an entire week off to entertain them I’d say fuck Colorado, we’re going to Utah.
But realistically I’d take them to Cervantes, the Mission, and the Boulder Theater, The Mishawaka (whether or not there’s a show going on), and Red Rocks (if they hadn’t been before). I’d probably also drag them out camping at some point.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Probably all of the local artists that inspired me to actually want to play music! Jeremy Mohney, the West Water Outlaws (no longer together), just about everyone from the Lazy Dog Tuesday Night Jam that used to happen in Boulder years and years back. My parents both were invloved in music, dad was a musician and my mom worked in record stores, so there was a large influence there as well. And so many more, but those are the ones that jump out of my head right now.
Website: https://www.dylankishnerband.com
Instagram: https://instagrm.com/dkishnerband
Facebook: https://facebook.ocm/dkishnerband
Image Credits
Lily Ezrow