Dylan Brady
Singer/songwriter/producer Dylan Brady unveiled his new single “I Hate California” on August 2nd.
Produced by Brady, Andy Sheridan, Joe Don Rooney and co-written with Jared Scott, “I Hate California” paints a personal record portraying the feelings of nostalgia and heartbreak.
“I’ve written hundreds and hundreds of songs about this girl alone. She’s the only girl I’ve ever loved and I wrote about her to find closure and get over it,” says Brady.
With this new release, the Nashville-based artist offers a remarkable country record displaying timeless melodies and emotional vocals.
“I Hate California” follows the single “Over Us” released in May, which reached over 970k streams on Spotify. Inspired by his personal experiences, Brady expresses his musical identity through an honest songwriting and storytelling.
In addition to his artistic projects, the 20 year-old artist raises Tourette’s awareness and encourages younger generations to accept and embrace who they truly are, despite their differences.
“I Hate California” is now available worldwide.
Introduce yourself - what's your story?
My name is Dylan Brady, I am a 20-year-old singer/songwriter from Long Island, NY, and I now live in Nashville, Tennessee. I grew up on country music (Rascal Flatts, Tim McGraw, Dixie Chicks…) even though a few years ago country there wasn’t that popular, so at the same time I grew up on Bruno Mars, Justin Bieber, Maroon 5, etc. I have Tourette Syndrome but when I’m performing, it virtually goes away and I’m honestly addicted to Cinnabon… it’s bad… but it’s so good.
You've just released your new single "I Hate California" - what's the story behind this song?
There’s no short story to this song, but if I were to attempt to make it short it'd be this: I fell in love with my best friend and I told her a month before I moved to Nashville 3 years ago. She told me she loved me back the night before I moved to Nashville and life became incredible and all I ever wanted. But she ended up moving to California to chase her dreams that I wanted so bad for her and because of that I never heard from her again and we grew apart. This song is down to-a-T what my heart needed to say and what it wanted to say to her.
You worked with Jared Scott, Andy Sheridan and Joe Don Rooney on this song, could you describe us the songwriting/production process?
What makes this song so special is that it was just Jared and I in his apartment one-day writing. We couldn’t land on a title we wanted to write to for 30 minutes or so and then out of nowhere, Jared was just strumming his guitar and flat out said “What if it’s ‘I Hate California,’” because he knew my whole story with that girl. When he said that, that title alone struck something in me I can’t explain and the song virtually wrote itself that day. When I went in to do final production with Andy and Joe Don, Andy started playing that beautiful guitar riff you hear start the song and to be honest the riff alone got me emotional because it took me to the exact place the lyric took me to somehow. With Joe Don kind of molding the sound Andy and I start creating, it brings a whole new level of musicality to the table. I could not be any happier with how the production ended up.
What did you feel when writing this song?
I’ve written hundreds and hundreds of songs about this girl alone. She’s the only girl I’ve ever loved and I wrote about her to find closure and get over it. With this song, in particular, it said what none of the other songs could say because it’s so incredibly real. I felt pain, nostalgia, love, and closure all at the same time while writing it and I feel it every time I sing it or hear it as well.
At what point did you know "I Hate California" had to be a single?
Honestly, there's no other word to describe the song to me other than “special." I knew it from the second we put our ink to paper, so I knew it had to be in that exact moment we poured our hearts out.
What do you like the most about this song?
Sonically my favorite parts are the guitar riff, the vocal “oo-wah” part and the BIG drums at the end. But all together most of all it’s the raw emotion I feel in it.
What do you want people to feel when listening to this song?
That they can connect “California” to anything that lets them feel okay in their heartbreak. I don’t actually hate California, I love it out there, I just hate the circumstances and California is what I saw as the reason for my heartbreak.
As an artist, what do you want to accomplish?
As an artist, I want to change people's outlook on "fitting a mold” and show that when you find your own lane and challenge the “norm” then there’s no one in front of you in that lane. I want to make people genuinely happy and show them no matter what you have, you can achieve and follow your dreams.
How do you want to be remembered for?
The biggest goal in my life is to let other people see that there’s opportunities within our differences. I have Tourette Syndrome and I took my difference and wanted to find the good in it. So I began speaking in schools across the country spreading awareness of Tourette’s and people’s differences in general. Which led me to working with Disney Channel, then to working with Zac Brown Band, which led me to working with Rascal Flatts and now here. And I can’t wait to see what’s next. I want to show people that differences are something to embrace and run with, mine is at the core of my own artistry and people can find the opportunity in theirs as well. I want to be remembered as a good person, that’s all.
In your opinion, what would make the world a better place?
Accepting ourselves and in turn accepting others. If you can’t accept yourself, how can you accept others. The basis of all hate in the world comes from insecurity and not accepting others, once we change that, the world changes.
What biggest life lessons have you learned so far?
The first night I met Joe Don he told me a story about the first time he met his hero, Vince Gill, when he was a kid. Vince wrote on Joe Don’s concert ticket, “Keep on pickin’”, and Joe Don told me that night no matter what “Keep on pickin.’” Not just pickin’ guitar but picking’ through life in general. Life can be hard but you gotta keep on pickin’ through it.
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