Hey everyone! For the next few weeks, I'm going to be doing interviews with some great young artists. This first week, I'm speaking to Dylan Dunlap, a young singer/songwriter from Los Angeles, CA. I was lucky enough to talk with him about his career and what he's got coming ahead. Check it out below!

Elle- Hey Dylan! Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions with me. So, around when did you first get your interest in music?

Dylan- Music has actually been around me ever since I was born! My dad's a film composer, so I would always see what he was up to as a kid. I taught myself how to play the piano at 5 or 6 years old to sign up for the 2nd grade talent show that was going down at the end of the month and have been teaching myself everything else more and more ever since.

Elle- How would you describe your sound, and what artists inspire you?

Dylan- Sound... Oh man. Haha! I would probably say, "uplifting". I definitely like to keep an organic style to my soulful singer/songwriter performances while maintaining a consistent positive message throughout! Chris Martin, James Bay, Paul Meany, and so many more artists inspire me to stay true to myself during this journey.

Elle- What inspired you to do the 'First Take Sessions' while out on tour?

Dylan- I absolutely love talking about this. The "First Take Sessions" idea came out of a thought I had regarding insecurity. As an artist who lives in Los Angeles, there will always be insecurities (no matter how big or small) floating around my head. We all want everything we put online to be as perfect and aesthetically pleasing as possible, right? I certainly do with my severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, but I really want to make a difference here. When I left for tour in June, I decided to ignore every dark thought and create this series with my friends. The idea was to pull over in some random city that we had never heard of and play a song that we had never played before. For most of them, I even had my iPhone out to read the lyrics! It really keeps you on your toes and brings a whole new level of adrenaline-filled excitement to get through the shoot smoothly. And then... It goes online. No matter what. Man, it was awesome.

Elle- Wow! What an amazing idea, and the results are fantastic! How was your most recent tour? What are some of your favorite memories or events from it?

Dylan- Prepare for a very long answer.

Part 1:

The bottom half of my suitcase somehow broke off, I left all of my toiletries in Denver, I left all of my toiletries again in New Jersey, I was given a parking ticket in Manhattan, I lost my car keys in Dallas and had to call a locksmith at 3 in the morning, I got one too many bug bites, I received a "maintenance required" sign in Nashville and thought my car wouldn't be able to take us home, I let go of a ridiculously unhealthy friendship, I cried, I screamed, I missed my mom, I missed my bed, I missed my cats.

Part 2:

People all across the country reached out with open and loving arms to house us, I made so many lifelong friends, recorded a Daytrotter session in Iowa, witnessed fireflies for the first time, consumed deep dish in Chicago, collected the coolest guitar socks, shot dozens of improvised one-take videos with some of my favorite people in the world, released a beautifully directed music video, saw The Conjuring 2 and was genuinely terrified walking out of it, performed at three different Sofar Sounds shows, gained a bassist, rocked out for a huge crowd at Jammin' Java in Virginia, sang at a writer's round in Nashville, met Instagram fans that literally made me want to cry, met a girl who drove seven and a half hours to see my show, traveled the country with my love, woke up to see the blue verification badge on my Facebook page, received a phone call to play for 4,000 people in October, drove a total of 8,000 miles and somehow survived, and after a very long time, I rekindled my relationship with my father. That month truly humbled me. I can not wait to get back on the road.

Elle- So where can we see you next?

Dylan- I literally perform almost every day. I do make sure to update all social media platforms on where I am though! My Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook will always talk about my upcoming shows. I actually think I'll be touring throughout the Midwest this Fall, so that'll be exciting!

Elle- Are you currently working on new music?

Dylan- You bet. I'll be cutting the next project in Boston in late October/early November! Couldn't be happier with the new material.

Elle- I see all the time that you perform on boardwalks and local areas, what do you love most about performing on the street?

Dylan- To me, street performing is such a beautiful opportunity to connect with others. I'm not even just talking about music industry professionals and/or other artists, but just the random people that are walking to their dinners and movies. I may be an introvert, but I really love socializing when I'm singing out in Burbank and Santa Monica!

To keep up with Dylan Dunlap, follow his journey on these platforms!!

Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/iamdylandunlap/

Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/iamdylandunlap/

Snapchat - dylandunlap

Twitter https://twitter.com/iamdylandunlap

Website http://www.dylandunlapmusic.com/

Listen to him here!

Spotify https://open.spotify.com/album/2i9f2O7arSLeQDJJ4Yl...

iTuneshttps://itunes.apple.com/us/album/thoughts-become-...

YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/user/MrDylandunlapmusic