Dylan Owen - D.O. Blog

NYC: Webster Hall with Mac Lethal

Mon, 21 May 2012 22:09:04 GMT

Photos by Liz Maney

Webster Hall with Mac Lethal was a killer time.

My entire team was with me at the show holding it down, and my set was joined with performances by Grace Kelly for "Dreams" and Kinetics for "In the Corner." So sick having them up there ripping it with me. Grace brought her energy and melted mad hearts with her voice, and me and Kinetics (first time performing live together) traded rhymes back and forth with doubles and adlibs in each other's verses. Going to have to bring the family around more often. I could look out into the audience and see people from my hometown and 845 area, my lovely people from nyc, and a ton of new faces. Much love to everyone who came out, whether you were traveling across multiple states, all the way down new york state, or across the neighborhood. It means the world to have had so many people rock out, shout the lyrics with me, and smile at all the moments we shared. Yup, that's right. Shared some moments.

Photos by Liz Maney

Started off with Bookmarks and ended the story with Keep Your Friends Close. As a clap-a-long. Sold the brand new shirts that you see to the left (designed by Tom Flynn) that'll be for sale online shortly. I'm excited for my next nyc show and I hope to make it back to Webster Hall in the future.

I've been a diehard Mac Lethal fan since early high school, and sharing the stage with him on his east coast tour was wild. Uncle Mac. He gave the crowd some therapy for gangsters during his set if you know what I mean. Also, if you haven't heard our track together from Senioritis, get on that!! It's called "Kiss My Ass Goodbye."

Check out some more photos from the show below as well as on the new tumblr -

Mac Lethal

Kinetics

In The Corner, Video Release

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:54:35 GMT

It's finally here.

"In The Corner"
Keep Your Friends Close (2012)
Dylan Owen feat. Kinetics
Directed, shot, and edited by Jon Kilmer Studios
Starring model/actress Meredith Travers
Produced by Nico Marchese
Filmed at Cornell University and in New York City

Denver, Colorado

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:29:11 GMT

The Denver, CO trip was insane. I closed with "Keep Your Friends Close" as the audience called for an encore of one more song, which was an indescribably good feeling. Really really fun jetting through the airport to catch a plane out west with DJ Tom, and ultimately getting my foot in the door of the Colorado music scene. Shoutout to everybody who came out to the show, I got a chance to chat with a lot of you which was a huge pleasure. My peeps who came from Wyoming -- props! Dope chestpiece. "Burn This Whole Place Down" and "Garden of the Angels" (note the latter's geographic reference) were definitely the highlights of the night. Sick crowd, sick times, sick state. Cervantes is a sick venue.

We'll be back. I promise.

Shoutout to Souls In Action and CEO LuLu Clair for putting together the show (note Comeback Home reference). As well as Tayyib Ali, Dealz, and Black Actors for rocking their sets. Tom for holding it down as always. Cervantes for having us. And all my Denver/Colorado friends who I got to connect with. It's really crazy how things come back around. I suppose I can thank music for intensifying that ability..

We made it back to New York late Saturday night with a newly three wheel suitcase, some fresh SIA t-shirts, one golden hour of sleep, no black eyes or lost wallets, a copy of the post to your right (I was pumped to be among the 50 show posters on the wall), and a refreshed mentality after traveling. Maybe it was that rocky mountain air?

Wanted to share a few thoughts while bouncing around. Love,
Dylan

Upcoming Shows!!

Wed, 02 May 2012 04:26:27 GMT

Flying to Denver, Colorado to play at Cervantes May 11th. With Tayyib Ali. Flying out to a show? Without exaggeration, this is something I've always dreamed of..
If you live in CO I better see your pretty face there. Grab tickets and find all the details here: http://www.cervantesmasterpiece.com/show/detail/57261

A week later, me and DJ T Flynn will be back in NYC and playing with Mac Lethal, one of my idols and a guest on "Senioritis" from back in the day. Come see it at Webster Hall, http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=4434135&pl=webstudio

Love love love for all of you. Keep your friends close.
D

Now Available: Keep Your Friends Close

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:23:47 GMT

Download Keep Your Friends Close at the above link or on the homepage of this website!!! Wooooo, finally available. For free. For you. So happy to be able to say that.

Included in the .zip folder which should directly begin downloading is all songs from the record, a full lyric booklet, the front and back covers, special thanks inside panel, and creative credits inside panel.

The responses to the EP thus far have been incredible. I honestly can't thank my listeners enough. Please keep letting me know your feelings on it, please keep spreading it, and most of all, please keep listening to it. You rock for being here.

Keep Your Friends Close on Goodmusicallday
Keep Your Friends Close on Freshnewtracks
Keep Your Friends Close on The Kollection
Keep Your Friends Close on Camelbackmusic

With love, and onto the future.
Dylan

Official Release Date: January 22nd!

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:00:00 GMT

Sunday, January 22nd. Keep Your Friends Close comes out, for free, right here.

I'm laying on a cot not much higher than the floor, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, writing this blog instead of sleeping. Today I climbed a mountain with my friends. Up on top, we saw this city from a once-in-a-lifetime perspective, and watched the sunset. It was raining, but it was beautiful. We're in a good place.

A million miles away, there's a team of people working hard on a project that's been a long road in the making. Some in Goshen NY, some in Miami FL, some in Ithaca NY, some in Long Island, NYC, Colorado, Rhode Island, New Zealand, etc. The list goes on and on. Because I don't have a working phone here, I hustle back to my computer. Check updates on mixes, coordinate the release of a new promo video, continue blasting "January 22nd" on every social network I've got, align urgent audio files and bounce them, send text to a designer, etc. The list goes on and on. I finally fall asleep at 6am New York time and get up a couple hours later to do it again. Every night getting more and more excited.

Thematically, I'm not even surprised at myself. Ever since I first dedicated myself to creating and completing the Keep Your Friends Close EP, I feel like I haven't stopped running. From laying on the floor of Nico's basement this past summer to spontaneously recording at 5am over winter break, to heading out on a mini-tour to promote during my weekends at school, to adventures and new discoveries all throughout the course of KYFC. Juggling three semesters of college while making this badboy was intense, and I bet you did something similar, and have been on your own journey too. Well, deep breaths, coffee fixes and focus. Just mad focus. Thank god for my friends, my team, and every single one of you for listening, or else the conclusion of this wouldn't have been possible. I can't wait to hear what you think about these songs. January 22nd, it's coming. So then, be there. And be ready.

I'll be posting a link right on the home page of this site for you to directly download the EP on Sunday afternoon. There will also be a link on my facebook fan page. The download will consist of a .zip folder containing all associated files. You can also click Keep Your Friends Close facebook event and join this as a FB reminder the day of the event, if you'd like..

In addition, I will be posting all lyrics from songs on the EP on the LYRICS tab of this site sunday night as well. You can read along as you listen and even nod your head if you're feeling really wild. You can make a huge impact on the effect of this release by simply spreading this free project to your friends, your family, to a stranger that you've met, or anyone in the world that you'd like to. That's why it's free, for you to have that ability. Word of mouth really does make a big difference. And I will thank you and love you forever for your support. Promise.

The inside artwork will contain a list of the tremendous people who helped with this thing, but I'd like to give a special thanks to Nico Marchese, Devin Arne, Mike Falb, Tom Flynn, Joe Owen, Kia Rogers, DJ Grumble, Pat Capriglione, and Eric Ko for their help these past couple weeks with finalizing the project. You guys killed it. In a really good way.

With love, see you guys all Sunday night.

Till then,
Dylan

"Dear present time, this is it."

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 17:46:21 GMT

If I could put the past year and a half of my life into the form a letter, it wouldn't be something I could simply write and deliver. Here's a sneak preview of those thoughts, as I journey to mail them to an old friend. It's been a long and dusty trip, but I'm glad I can finally say the "Keep Your Friends Close" EP is on its way. Much love and thanks to everybody who has supported me thus far, this is just the beginning.

Around the same time a fake doctor cured me of my senioritis...

With love,
-dylan.
http://www.facebook.com/dylanowenmusic

Directed by Isaac Green
http://www.facebook.com/isaacshoots
http://isaachughes.com/

Keep Your Friends Close

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 21:06:04 GMT

"Keep Your Friends Close"
The first release off my upcoming new EP.

Click the picture and download free:

Written and Performed by Dylan Owen
Produced by Nico Marchese
Music by Nico Marchese, Joe Owen
Engineered by Devin Arne
Keep Your Friends Close EP, 2011
Inspired by the coldest breakup season of my life

Bailey Hall. Cornell!

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 01:04:41 GMT

This time last year, I took my red velvet seat in Psychology 101, held in Cornell University's Bailey Hall, along with 1200 other new students.

This Friday night, September 16th, in Cornell's Bailey Hall, I'm performing on the stage that I watched from my red velvet seat, and closing the evening for the A Cappella United concert. If Psych 101 didn't teach me better terms to articulate this: I'm incredibly stoked, slightly nervous, and also, incredibly stoked.

The A Cappella United concert of last year featured the "winning team" performers (and writers of hit song, "Airplanes") Kinetics and One Love, who closed the show with an energetic and unforgettable set.

This event is open to the public, starts at 7pm on Friday night in Ithaca, New York, and is only $8 for entry. Tickets and more details are available at the following links:
Bailey Hall 9/16, A Cappella United & Dylan Owen event on facebook!
Purchase Bailey Hall Tickets Bailey Hall tickets for sale!

Huge shoutout to all of Cornell's incredibly talented A Cappella (researched the official spelling of that word to write this) groups that will be performing, and props to Bailey Hall for hosting us. Me, Kia Rogers, and DJ Earmuffs are back at it again. Rock on rock on rock on. Hope to see you out there.

Much love,
Dylan

p.s. I'm performing a new song off Keep Your Friends Close called "Ghosts".
p.p.s. Updates, very very soon.

@dylanowenmusic

Coming Soon: Keep Your Friends Close

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 01:03:55 GMT

Things have changed since we last spoke. And as of over 6 months ago, I decided it's time we talk about these things, on record.

This time last year, I was packing my bags to be a freshman in college, leaving behind my hometown, a slew of warm teenage memories, and my perspective on the world at seventeen. I was jumping headfirst into an entirely new place in my life, as I'm sure many of you can relate to from one direction or another. Senioritis had both prompted me on my way, while forcing me to reflect on everything I was detaching from. Change is a part of life, and we know this, so we adapt, adapt, adapt, and carry on.

Weeks later, months later, and as I sit writing this a year later (in fact, at each step of the way), I recognize that my life has fallen subject to turbulence. It feels like I haven't stopped traveling. My relationships have changed, my mind and my goals have lost and since rediscovered themselves, I've met a million and one strangers who I may never get to know as well as I'd like to, and I've learned some valuable lessons, in and out of positive, negative, positive, negative, inevitable moments. One or two of these moments big, a lot of them small. Some lonely, some fulfilling. All of them redefining.

You could say I'm a perfectionist, but let me honestly admit that the first documentation of this new collection of songs occurred around last November. It didn't dawn upon me to begin writing a new CD, the inspiration didn't come as a result of researching the modern music industry or observing that other rappers release material a lot more frequently than I do, but rather, it struck me, in response to writing off quite a few thoughts I had bottled up inside. Since that first moment, I've been carefully putting together what I'm going to present to you a little over a month from now. So, over half a year and over 30 rough songs (including beats..) later, I'm settled enough to share the biggest lesson from this past year, whatever you take it to mean, with you.

Keep Your Friends Close.

In technical terms, this is an EP. Between me and you, this is a lot more than that. In fact, the number of tracks alone is controversial in the "EP" (EP = half-album) world. So we can call it what we will. In terms of content, these are my most personal, most honest, most sincere and most heartfelt songs to date. I really really hope you like them, and I really really cannot wait to share them with you. I love and am so beyond grateful for anybody and everybody who supports my music. And I feel for anybody and everybody who shares their emotions with others. Rock on. While many of you may have heard some of these songs at live shows, I promise they've all been revamped and I promise there's quite a bit you haven't heard. Even better, perhaps the best news of all, is that this is going to be a FREE release. My first, at that. So you can show your friends who can show their friends, and.... you get the point.

In a funny sort of way, things haven't changed since we last spoke. I'm still writing my story with confident hope that you will relate to it. So my purpose now, now that I've written this story down on paper, is to share it with you. Keep Your Friends Close.

Don't forget:
1. I've got a new, free EP coming out a little over a month from now.
2. There will be an advance version on iTunes.
3. More information coming soon.
4. Keep Your Friends Close.

Thanks for reading. Much love.
Dylan