INTERVIEW WITH J. BYNN - THE ARTIST BEHIND SOLO PROJECT DANDELION HEAD
J. Bynn is an LA/Melbourne musician who strives for amazing things with talent, and vision. His lo-fi folk tunes are decadent, and vulnerable as they tell a stories, drifting through the experiences of artist and also his newer music diving into the world being engulfed by chaos. This is Dandelion Head.
What’s your biggest inspiration when it comes to music?
Life! In general I feel as an artist you have to get out into the real world and have experiences to bring to your process and whatever you’re going to create. Jump in a river, hike up a mountain, sit on a beach, stay up all night, go to that comedy show. Just get out. More specifically though, there’s a lot about the world politically that gets my blood running, that angers me, fascinates me, makes me think about how things could be different and better.
What was it like for you transitioning from being in a band to starting your solo project?
A band is a sort of wolf pack, a family, and there’s the idea of comfort and strength in numbers. You can slip into the shadows and hide if you need to. So while there was so much joy in the process of going inward and making my first record completely on my own, when the moment arrived for it to be released, I felt laid bare and vulnerable like never before. Nowhere to hide, no one to blame but myself if people didn’t like it. So I guess it was a pretty intense cocktail of feelings!
How did you find inspiration during the lockdowns?
At first, I was finding inspiration (and relief) in the experience of having everything come to a halt. I was in LA early on, and it was quiet, the air clearer than I’ve ever seen. We took lots of walks. It rained a lot that Spring and it was green, you could hear birds. There was an eerie magic amidst this horrible thing happening, and it was beautiful, terrifying, confusing and strange all at once. The next lockdown I experienced was in Melbourne the following year with my partner and our newborn baby. So needless to say, that was where I found my inspiration, and also when I began recording my new record. My life had completely changed and there was so much to express.
Tell us about the creative process when it came to writing your track “Sad Eyes”
The intro melody and chords came to me in a hotel room on a tour playing in the band Lucius a few years back. A little while after that I wrote some lyrics, fleshed out the rest of the song and made a demo with a little drum machine. That demo lived with me through another couple years of touring with other artists, the pandemic, having my first child, until I was able to work it up into a fully produced recording in late 2021 amongst the gum trees of rural Victoria.
Where did the idea for the music video come from?
Last summer we made the journey to my parents house in Nova Scotia for a family wedding. I opened up a cupboard one day and found this funny yellow sailing suit with suspenders and a hat. My partner Adrienne had her DV camera, so I rigged up a little sailboat that’s made for young kids, and we started shooting. I had a hunch it would be for Sad Eyes but wasn’t sure. I took the suit with me when we left and we filmed more in Paris, London, and finally Melbourne, where our friends Lewis and Callum Mitchell had the idea for the “underwater” footage. Finally it was all tied together and made sense for the song. It was a really fun, DIY, follow your instinct kind of experience.
Could you explain what “Sad Eyes” is about, and what it means to you?
For me it’s about the challenge of being vulnerable, particularly with the ones we love. I imagined this sensitive character going to a party and bursting to tell someone something, maybe something they’ve been going through or feeling, and just not being able to get it out. It takes such courage. And sometimes, we just don’t have it in a given moment, and that’s ok. The idea is to just keep trying and working at it (at least for me!).
What’s your biggest goal for the year?
I wanna hit the road! I’ve got some things bubbling here and in the US, and I’m working hard to get on tour with other artists. At the moment, I’m supporting Richard Marx on his tour of Australia (I also play in his band). It’s an amazing opportunity for me to play these songs for so many people, and I’m truly grateful to Richard for that. I love playing live, and I think now more than ever I don’t want to take it for granted.