What's going on everybody? You guys still out there? I've been a little too lazy on my blog posts these past few weeks. Had to pack up my mind and hit the road up to Cornell. As of now, I'm still in the settling in process, mentally at least... It's surely rocking though.

The first day of shooting Old Armor went amazing. We got some sick on-the-spot shots involving shopping carts and bleachers and road signs, and really got down our concept of the video. It's going to be finished before you know it. I've got some awesome updates for ya... Been hard at work this past week. Took some model shots of these hotties and created a merch store for the site!! Check it out, and get that fresh back-to-school attire now: DYLAN'S MERCH IS THE FRESHEST Also, you can order the album right here on the site! Through me! Comes with a few D.O. stickers and any special requests, just let me know. Also this week, I've been hard at work on some collab verses and some sick new solo stuff. keep your eyes out for more free stuff on the way!

My last local show before college is this friday night, at Doc Fry Community Center (an elementary school converted into a concert hall) and it's FREE. All my friends are gonna be there. So you'd better be too. We'll chill. Fo real. And you can pick up any merch you want, and kiss me goodbye.

Here are some sickkkkkk photos from the Sam Adams show at the Chance in Poughkeepsie on July 15th, by my dude Paul Kingston. Huge shoutout to all the new fans who have hit me up about this show. My dude in Foot Locker today who recognized me from the "Sammy Adams show" and said good job. All the good work and networking that has come from it. Also, big shout out to everyone who grabbed the album! The show was really quite a blast...

View the entire album here.

Follow this link! "IN IT FOR THE LOVE (SON SOUND REMIX)" free download, get it and bump it now!! Maybe I secretly wish this was on the album, I just love it so much. So you and all your friends will too ; ) I'mma have to send this over to Symmetry as well..

Produced by my boy Markos, check out his beat tape that was just released on bandcamp.com, called Timberland Music! This kid is too sick. It's a dark concept beat tape. Rare to come by for sampling hip-hop producers. His first official release, I believe. Also, rappers who are interested in beats, grab some off his sound click here.

dope dope dope stuff. enjoy the free download! The beauty of the internet, death of the record label.

So I'll be catching you all friday night, hopefully. Be sure to stay tuned as I head off to school. I'm getting more and more pumped for it every day.

Gonna be playing some upstate shows for sure.

You guys are the best.
the end
-dmac

Hey guys,

Here is a link to my live performance of "Old Armor" at the Bowery Poetry Club in Manhattan on July 23rd. Shot by Justin Scutieri, Syracuse University film student, and the man who is filming the OFFICIAL OLD ARMOR MUSIC VIDEO (coming soon). See for yourself:
http://vimeo.com/13869935

Thanks, and enjoy! More coming soon...
-D.O.

August already, wow. The summer always seems to blow by, but this one beats 'em by a long shot.

There's a ton of information in this blog, so if by some notion you are so inclined to not read it all, I'm going to sum up the really important parts.
Here's what's good for you, coming soon in the near future:
-OLD ARMOR OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO, by Syracuse University film student Justin Scutieri. Beginning filming this week in Goshen, ny, what up friends! Later filming will take place in Nyack, ny, and some filming will surely take place in between.
-BRAND NEW SENIORITIS T-SHIRTS FOR SALE ONLINE through me directly on this website. Check the homepage in a few days. The album is already available there.
-Tons of collaboration work and new solo demos, including production by Son Sound ("In it for the Love"), Adam Ford, Devin Arne, Nico Marchese, and tons more. Many people have been hitting me up for collab verses, and a few of these will also be released. These downloads will all be free online, through this blog! Just keep your eyes open.
-SAM ADAMS AT THE CHANCE OFFICIAL PROMO AND PERFORMANCE VIDEO coming soon, by Anthony Zaccone and buddy Branden Heinz
-BOWERY POETRY CLUB OFFICIAL PERFORMANCE VIDEO coming soon, by Justin Scutieri

Now, onto the juicy stuff. Here's what's been good with me:
I've been keeping busy. Selling/promoting Senioritis online (reports of sales come about a month and a half after the first month, so I'm pumped to see the initial outcome!) and selling Senioritis out of my house to local followers and friends, drug dealer style. All the sweet reviews and ratings on iTunes have gotten me so stoked, thank you to everybody who took the time to do that (or on any website, Amazon, CDBaby, Digstation, anywhere). I really appreciate it. I recently posted a shopping cart merch tool on the homepage of this website for you to order merch directly from me online, for the cheapest prices possible. The new official Senioritis T-Shirts (designed by Tom Flynn!) will be available through this website this week, as soon as I get some hotties to model for me and hit up a photographer to shoot them striking poses.

Sam Adams at The Chance rocked, I gratefully gained a TON of new fans from the Poughkeepsie area and beyond, and had a blast chillin at the backstage/merch area on a leather couch with my buddies, DJ ID, Jesse Denaro, A-Game, Adam & Emily, Paul, and my videomen Anthony Zaccone and Brandon Heinz. The place was packed to capacity (literal capacity, not legal capacity). If you've ever been to The Chance, the entire upper level was flooded with bodies (as was every staircase, it was impossible to move in there). I sweat my balls off but loved it nonetheless, and my buddies Anthony and Brandon cut a video of the WHOLE THING. Before the show and all. This will be coming real soon. I also got to hang once again with Sam Adams, who rocked his set, and talk to his manager Alex and his DJ J. Cash a bunch of his other dudes. Learned some things and did some high-fives.
Here are some RIDICULOUS pictures from the show by Charles Clay Photography, check 'em out!!

Bowery Poetry Club was an awesome experience, playing in Manhattan had a great serious vibe to it. I learned a lot and got to meet some really interesting people and absorb a new and thought-provoking performance atmosphere. I also got to watch some sick live freestylers rip it up before me on stage. Huge shoutout to Norvin Tron for throwing the show and huge shoutout to Lynk, DVD, Jake Palumbo, Rappers Anonymous, and all the performers!! Also, Justin Scutieri who is the man filmed the enitre show and supposedly it looks so good it's borderline cinematic (right Norv?). So this video will also be posted VERY SOON.

Mad collaborations are in process, a ton of people have been hitting me up for verses and such, and I've been putting in serious work and teaching myself to accelerate my writing process and increase quality while doing so. Practice makes perfect. I plan on releasing the good ones of these online in THIS BLOG so keep your eyes open for that. Also, I've been writing solo work more than ever and will surely have some free give-a-away new tracks for you to download through this blog and elsewhere.

Now for the biggest news of all... the OLD ARMOR OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO is in the making, right now, so be pumped. Me and Justin Scutieri and a ton of others who are involved are going to start filming later this week in Goshen, then film soon after in Nyack NY. We're gonna get some sick local shots at places like Amore's Pizza in town, Erie Street Skatepark, the train station in Campbell hall, and a million more locations. Hit me up if you'd like to be involved. It's gonna feature my friends, naturally. A huge shoutout to Justin for doing this, he goes to Syracuse University for film and does very serious work, has cut some awesome music videos before. GET READYYYYYYYYYY, you'll be kept updated.

Thanks so much as always for staying tuned. For everyone who's been asking, I've got my last local show before college starts on August 13th at Doc Fry in Warwick, a free show and you're all invited. Come rock with us one last time before the fall!!!

I'm off to my first voice lesson right now... ha! Maybe I'll tweak those singing skills.

Keep doin work y'all, love ya much
-dylan

How you guys doing? I haven't found the time to blog too much lately, but here we go...

The Senioritis CD Release show (July 3rd) at Sounds Asylum in Goshen was SICK!! So sick, I think personally it was definitely my best show yet. The crowd was close-knit and intimate, making the whole experience so personal and that much more awesome to me. There were approximately a hundred people at the show, all my closest friends from all different areas (including people who I haven't seen at my shows in almost a year....it meant a lot to see you there, you know who are you), and EVERYBODY there was so loyal. They knew the words to songs I haven't even released yet. The chanting/crowd participation was like never before, ever ever before. It made this show as amazing as it was. Tom rocked with me on backup vocals for the first time ever. I think me and Jesse literally broke the stage during the chanting at the end of Postcards....In place of Symmetry's verse, we all got to say "Fuck the cool kids, we're the cool kids!"....and at the end of Senioritis, we chanted the last line "I need roses so that I can bid farewell to what's passed away..." a couple more times after the music faded out, bringing the house down.

I had a fucking blast. Let's put it that way. Finally got the album out, finally got to tell some genuinely interested souls about the new album and what it means to me, and got to explain every song's writing process/inspiration in detail. It was the Goshen Sounds' last show, and they absolutely peaked off on a positive note. Shoutout to you guys.

Also, Senioritis has been selling GREAT (I can't wait to see the online sales reports after this month is done). Shout out to every body who has gotten the album, everybody who has reviewed it on iTunes or elsewhere and all those people who instantly gave it awesome ratings. Please continue to let me know which songs you like the most, which songs make you cry, which songs make you laugh at me....any feedback is truly appreciated and considered. Last week, SENIORITIS WAS RANKED THE 198TH TOP HIP HOP/RAP ALBUM ON ITUNES!!! So be sure to grab it if you haven't yet, on iTunes, this website!, CDBaby, or anywhere your little heart desires. And check out the two NEW SONGS, "The Book Report" and "Postcards" up on my myspace!

Here are a couple sweet shots by Paul Kingston from the show (more on facebook):

.......and there will be some videos coming soon! I promise. (trying to get my video swag up, feel me?)

SAM ADAMS AT THE CHANCE (July 15th, 2010) is tomorrow night, and it's going to be literally insane. Clinically insane. I sold out all my tickets. The Band Eclypse (opening) sold all their tickets. And the Chance (as of yesterday morning) had sold around 700 tickets. Tonight and tomorrow will be their biggest selling dates....so upwards of a thousand people will be there for sure. This place is going to be the sweatiest, hottest, stuffiest, most awesome party zone ever, and we're gonna fucking rock it. We've been practicing non-stop, doing a mix of old and new songs, and I look forward to seeing how many lyrics the crowd knows of songs off Senioritis. We've got new Senioritis themed t-shrits designed by Tom Flynn (will be available through this website very very soon! I'm gonna get some hot female friends to model 'em), we've got the new hardcopies of Senioritis for sale, some stickers, some posters, a videographer, a photographer; we're loaded and ready. Our entourage is set. Jesse and Austin will BOTH be making guest appearances, and DJ ID will do it again on backup vocals. Rocking with Sammy for the second time after Boozle? I think so!!

And then we've got a SOLD OUT GRAMERCY THEATER SHOW in Manhattan with SAMMY ADAMS on Saturday night. Rocking with Sammy again?!? I believe it's true... Two packed-to-capacity Sam Adams shows in a row? this is going to be a great weekend. This is also my first New York City show, and I'm extremely excited for this new experience.

It's gonna be bonkers. Be there.....or be left out.

Just kidding. but seriously, come rock with us and Sam Adams! That is, if you like to party...
D.O. WORK

After months of strenuous work, countless rough drafts, endless dedication and a strangely paradoxical (so busy, yet supposed to be so free) close to my senior year of high school, I present you with Senioritis. My first full length LP? Well, it's thirteen tracks. You decide for yourself. It's a collection of new songs, most written in the past two or three months, some stringing from the past 6 months, fancily produced by Nico Marchese and Devin Arne. The album is my biggest release to date, not only in terms of production and writing quality, but in terms of its length, its album art, its everything. Ah talking myself up too much? Perhaps. But judge me once you hear the album.

Maybe you'll find it appealing because you can relate to the concept being discussed. Maybe you'll find it appealing because you can relate to the broader concept being discussed. Maybe you'll find the long list of guest artists appealing, including Mac Lethal (one of my favorite rappers, and I mean that), Symmetry (has appeared on Grieves' albums, recently released an album with Ryan Lewis), DJ Prime (has worked with Asher Roth, Jay Z, LMFAO, anyone you can name), A-Game (of course, you thought I wouldnt? Pshhh the track gets ripped again. A little differently this time), and Jesse Denaro (the much loved, local singer/songwriter hailing from Monroe, NY). It also features many behind the scenes, such as Nicole Frederick on a violin interlude, all the friends who helped me in Postcards on the group vocals and so many other subtleties, and everyone who helped on songs that didn't make it to the final batch being released. You're all thanked in the wonderful digipak paneled section, designed by Eric Ko..

And maybe you don't find it appealing. But if that's the case, you're fucking missing out.

July third. July 3. Julio tres. July THIRD. Bitches it drops. July third Senioritis will be available at the CD Release show/party at Sounds Asylum in Goshen, NY. (thought my hometown would be appropriate for this one ) And you'd better be there. Opening artists include Jesse Denaro, Evazan, and A-Game, my commonly affiliated local team, whether it be in shows or in featuring. Nico Marchese WILL be making an appearance with his beautiful producing face, and so will DJ Intelligent Design. COME PARTY WITH US, doors at 6pm, 8$ only.

It will also be available on iTunes, CdBaby for hardcopies or digital download, Amazon, Napster, all that jazz, etc etc etc. In addition, in the upcoming weeks I'll be posting a promo track on the myspace. I'm thinking The Book Report, knowing that a few of you have heard it already through various outlets. Then, right around the date of the show, I'll post a second promo track. I'm thinking....well, let's keep that a surprise.

The official track listing is as follows:

So. I hope you're as pumped as I am about this release. The album starts with The Book Report, a childhood experience, and ends with Senioritis, where I am now in my life. However, it can be seen in a broader sense as well. If you can't tell, this is my child, my heart and soul, and something I've worked very hard on and am very proud of. As a result, I cannot wait to show YOU.

Thank you a million times to the endless list of people who helped me release Senioritis! You make my life possible.

D.O. Work and get the album on July 3rd, or as soon as you possibly can. Also, ask me questions about it. I love to hear that you're interested.

I love ya,
Dylan Owen.

I just got booked with Sam Adams at The Chance in Poughkeepsie on July 15th, it's going to fucking rock! Do you understand how my friends feel about Sam Adams? They listen to Lil Wayne and Sam Adams. And that is it. Also, his crowd at Boozle was ridiculous, cannot wait to rock with him again, especially locally. Almost too good to be true...

But that's not it. I play with him AGAIN two days later on July 17th at the Gramercy Theater in New York City. And even that is still not it, because little did I tell you, this show is already SOLD OUT. Which is dope, playing in front of a packed huge theater at my first official new york city show, run by John D Esposito (founder of Bamboozle, Lincstar, all that jazz).

Sam Adams, if you aren't familiar, is an upcoming Boston party rapper, college soccer star, and the freakin' man. He got blamed for buying his own album, Boston's Boy EP, on iTunes the day of its release because he sold such an extraordinarily large amount of copies and instantly became the #1 selling artist on iTunes. He got big off covering asher's I Love College with his I Hate College (Remix). Now he runs shit when it comes to music for the high school/college party scene. So come join the party! I'll have tickets this week (17.50$ adv) for The Chance on July 15th and you'd better be there!

Here's a video of him performing at Bamboozle two slots after ours:

Ralph Garcia, who I am so grateful for, is the man for being so persistent with booking me. This is the guy who got me on Asher Roth, got me in The Break Contest, and now got me on with Sammy Adams. Check out his band evazan at myspace.com/evazan

Jeff Menig, I also can't thank you enough. Everyone check out Killercool Entertainment's shows, such as Forever the Sickest Kids June 30th at the Chance, Streetlight Manifesto July 31st at the Chance, and a ton more.

Him, me, and Flynn will most likely be buds by the end of this, after Bamboozle, the 15th, and the 17th. I'm totally kidding.

But seriously, SAMMY ADAMS. MATTY TRUMP. LAZY BOY. Let's do this.

DO work and BE THURRRRR
<3 dylan

Alright, here's the deal. I've been living, breathing, eating, and sleeping with this album. Without much sleep. And eating Marchese family leftovers at midnight. Sometimes I don't even have time to breathe. Or blog. Or live normally.

There's a funny paradox that exists within the making of my new Senioritis album: I can't do work in school, or basically in any area of life besides music, but am so weirdly motivated when it comes time to create/record/discuss album art/listen to mixes/give feedback to Dev/et cetera. Perhaps I'm moving on from one aspect of priority to another, at least for the time being.

Tangibly, here's what I've got for ya. I am so close to being finished. Nico and I have recorded 8 of 13 songs that are waiting to be mixed (1 if which needs slight additions). 2 others are interludes, one of which needs to be written and recorded (probably will do by Monday) and the other is strictly instrumental and Dev has it covered. That makes 10 tracks. Then we've got a half-recorded song with Jesse Denaro, I just gotta add my vocals. A collaboration song with Symmetry that I need to finish writing and record. Then a verse in my collab song with A-Game that I need to just add my vocals to. That makes all 13 tracks.

So, basically, I should be done by the end of this long weekend/mid next week with writing and recording. Devin will mix the remainder of the tracks (he has completely finished two, and three others are very near finished) within the week and we will then send them to a mastering engineer named Frank. We are planning to order copies on Wednesday the 9th at the absolute latest. The graphic design is underway as well, and it's going to be dope. Wait until you see the cover shot...

So everything's coming together, as far as the album goes. I'm looking to release it July 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, and am planning to have a basher-cd release-party somewhere locally. It'll all be announced. Check your facebook for my spam in the next few days, as I'll announce track listing and everything. Maybe I'll post new the information blog by blog on here....

As far as my life goes, I need to make sure I don't fail out of senior year and gotta get my ass back on track after I'm done writing and recording. Even though I love it too much.

I hope you're looking as forward to this release as I am. Let me be completely honest, it's a whole ten levels above anything I've ever worked on.

Viva la senioritis, students. But at the same time, d.o. work.

PEACE

Awesome, so awesome. I think Bamboozle is the best show, overall, that I've ever played. Mad fans came out from home and mad new fans gathered around to watch. There was a huge, receptive crowd, and not to be cocky, but we totally rocked it. Let me tell you about the day from start to finish, if you've got a minute..

Wake up mad early. I'm talking 6:00 am early, and arrive in NJ a few hours later. We're behind the scenes, in artist parking, driving Nicole's motherly baby blue mini van that says "Seniors" on the bumper and trying to find a spot among MGMT, Girl Talk, and Ke$ha tour buses/trucks. Not intimidating, but exciting, and quite hilarious. We get Artist Passes, really awesome Artist Passes, that get us into Bamboozle before it opens, and we walk around and see the empty stages and other band members, which was quite the thrill.

We take a momentary pause from artist-mode to go flyer the shit out of people, and prompt 1,000 lucky strangers to see me at 1:50 pm on the Lincstar B-Boy stage. We give out a free Bamboozle mixtape with each flyer, hopefully spreading my music around a bit.

Back inside, time starts to speed up. The Lincstar B-Boy stage is sick, and we have a sick merch booth (thanks joey, conor, chels, dennis!). We hang backstage and talk to John D., the founder of Bamboozle, who wants to rock one of my newly ordered black-and-white "I'm not a Hooker" shirts. Sam Adams and his crew and Grieves and his crew both arrive, and I talk to/exchange cds with everyone I can. All my friends are waiting to see me and Tom and I start to get real amp'd up. It's already been a long morning but the day is just starting.

Our performance rocks. We use the house DJ set up (what up DJ Prime! << He's the man, check him out, he will be scracthing on my album) and play The Book Report (with Nicole on violin), Treehouse Music part 2 (with A-game, newly tatted up), Old Armor, Spirit Week, Garden of the Gods (with Nicole on violin), and Kite Flyers, respectively. I drink actually a thousand waters on stage and am more tired than I've ever been when I walk off, ready to collapse from the combination of my adrenaline crashing and the hot (really hot, like 90 degrees) weather. Spirit Week, a new song off my upcoming record Senioritis, is a huge hit. People love to drink beer, apparently. Well, who doesn't? (man I can't wait to release this track)

Talking to a ton of new fans, a couple artists and security guards backstage, and directing everyone to the merch table fills up the time for awhile. We watch Grieves and Budo rock it, watch Sam Adams rock it, and can't wait for Spizzyspose (actually the nicest guy I've ever met). I get some really genuine, interesting advice from Grieves---and we discuss my track with Mac Lethal and my track with Symmetry (grieves' buddy)---and I'm already so stoked for how great the day has been, hoping that some of the day's new contacts come in handy in the future..

Tom and I branch off to watch some of our other favorite acts, such as Kevin Devine, MGMT, and Girl Talk from a backstage view. There are like a thousand different levels of press passes, and we're on the bottom of the food chain. But we make do with what we've got, even if we can't stand on the k104 high rise or anything stupid like that. I mean, we got into the "Red Bull VIP Tent," whatever that was, and got some free buffalo wings.

Time to head out, so physically exhausted and so aware of my out-of-shapeness. But super satisfied. More than satisfied. Viewing the work ahead as a positive reality, and the work behind me as a major accomplishment. Two local shows coming up, schoolwork to catch up on, sunburn to Noxzema the shit out of, and mad people to get in touch with. Sounds like Music to me.

Once again, my blogs run too long. I'd be surprised if anyone reads them all the way through. Regardless, here are my updates:
-the album is going to be bigger than I thought
-perhaps I'll rock a NJ show sometime soon
-I've got a ton of merch left over. I'm going to sell you it. Hit me up.
-my myspace is now officially updated, thank you Adam!!
-THANK YOU to all my fans, my family, and my friends who helped me attack this Bamboozle show to death
-I'm back on the map. Life back in track again. Okay, go.

Y'all do work, and look forward to Senioritis, as well as a few articles about Bamboozle in the local papers.
Thanks
Love you
Dylan Owen

SO. The Break Contest at The Chance has finally come to a close after about 5 months of hard work---pestering people to see me, flyer-ing strangers, losing track of ticket money, laptops falling, waters spilling, the list goes on---and the end result is in: We're playing the Hip-Hip stage at Bamboozle on May 2nd, bitches! We'll be sharing the stage with Grieves, Sam Adams, Wiz Khalifa, Wale, and so so many more. Also performing that day (I chose to play sunday over saturday, obviously!) are Kevin Devine, MGMT, Weezer, Ke$ha, Minus the Bearrrr, Devil Wears Prada, etc etc etc.!! It's going to be so dope. So. Dope. I know I don't need to say this, but I better see you all there.

Although momentarily I only know as many details as you do, I'm going to explain exactly what happened: