Article by: Quinn Nelligan

Photos by: Julian Donaldson

This week, MonkeyGoose Magazine had the opportunity to connect with NYC’s latest indie pop-rocker D.K. Lyons to discuss his latest EP, Darling Kiss Louder and his songwriting inspirations. 

QN: Darling Kiss Louder explores the theme of true love, and whether it exists in real life or only in fairytales. What’s your take on this?

DK: It’s certainly the question I’m asking throughout the EP. Overall I think it does exist, but not truly in the rose-colored-glasses-fairytale-ending sense and that’s not necessarily a bad thing at all because you don’t grow or learn when everything is pristine and perfect. True love challenges you and pushes you in the best ways and that’s what I’ve come to realize throughout this whole process. And I’ve since found true love, and it’s brought me more joy than I ever could have imagined, so I’d like to think I manifested it through writing this EP. 

QN: Love in the 2020s looks a lot different than it did even ten years ago. What do you think a modern-day fairytale would look like?

DK: To be honest with you, I think I’ve been living one! I met my girlfriend at a bar in the most movie-like fashion at a point when I was more cynical about love than I’ve ever been. And for me it was love at first sight, immediate connection, and everything I’d ever hoped it would be after really struggling with love and my place within modern dating culture for years. And I’m not trying to gloat by any means, but I think this kind of story is obviously still possible. While I think dating apps and social media may have their place for some, there’s nothing like connecting with someone in the real world. I think the rise of social media in tandem with the pandemic really stole a lot of our ability to connect in real life and it’s our responsibility to take it back by pushing ourselves to go out in the world, not be afraid to be vulnerable, not hold back from emotion, and really put an effort in to connect directly with other people. 

QN: You’ve drawn inspiration from current female popstars like Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter in some of your latest music videos. What are some female stars from the past you’d see yourself paying tribute to?

DK: Well, I’ve got some more present day artists to pay tribute to with the other songs on this EP, but I think you’ve just inspired the music videos for my next project (a companion EP I’m writing right now!) The obvious names that come to mind are Stevie Nicks, Whitney Houston, Pat Benetar, Joan Jett, Missy Elliot, Alanis Morrisette, Dolly Parton and the like. Just the true female icons of music who pioneered the spirit that Chappell and Sabrina are continuing to champion. So we’ll have to circle back next year and give you a producer credit if I actually do it!

QN: There is a big theme of an upcoming renaissance that goes along with this EP. When it does come, what are you hoping gets left behind for good?

DK: I hope I leave behind all the cynicism that was clearly building up over time within me and released through this EP. I feel a level of freedom and clarity now in certain parts of my life that this EP helped exorcise a little bit and I hope that sustains through my future projects and in my life in general. 

QN:What does your mantra ‘laugh + dance + cry + repeat’ mean to you?

DK: I think it represents a first impression of myself perfectly. A little cheesy, but I consider myself to be someone who just loves evoking emotion because I love feeling emotion. I love laughing until I cry. I love when I let myself relax and dance to my favorite songs. And I love cathartic releases of sadness, anger, pain, because it’s healthy to let that all out. And it’s as much a calling card to get people to dig into my music as it is a mantra for myself. I love having deep layers to all my songs for the people that choose to dig down past the surface, but at the end of the day I want to evoke those 3 things with everything I put out. 

QN: Each video has a Saturday Night Live skit sort of feel to it, so I have to ask, what is your all-time favorite SNL skit?

DK: There are so many to choose from but I love me some Ryan Gosling. So either Papyrus because it hits so close to home with my day job in content marketing or Close Encounters because Kate McKinnon is so unhinged and he can’t keep it together at all and it’s so pure and magical. 

QN: What does the songwriting process look like for you? What gets your creative juices flowing the best?

DK: Songwriting for me is one of those things that comes in waves. I’ll go 5 months without writing a song because I’m locked into producing or promoting what I have out, but I’m always collecting ideas, snippets of words, song inspo, etc. And then suddenly I’ll write 10 songs in a week. It’s the best feeling in the world, almost drug like, where I’ll sit down with my guitar or with an instrumental demo and it just pours out of me and within minutes I’ll have a complete song that makes me want to jump for joy. I’ve written over 1,500 songs in my life dating back to when I was 5 years old, and I’m just grateful that it keeps coming and I keep pushing myself to hone the craft. 

QN:I know it’s like asking a parent to pick their favorite child; but if you had to pick one song off of your latest EP as your favorite, what would it be and why?

DK: It’s so hard because every song is so different from the next and has a special place in my heart. I want to say “cause baby, that’s life.” because it’s the most “me” and is such a beautifully melancholic closer, but “stop” just gets me too hyped up to not be my favorite. I still have no idea where that song came from so it’s the one I enjoy listening back to the most. 

QN: What do you have coming up that you’d like fans to know about?

DK: Well, we are planning our last big show of the year at Mercury Lounge in NYC in November and working on the next music videos, but I’m really excited about the new material I’m working on that I hope to have ready for another release cycle sometime next year. Continuing to grow as a songwriter, producer, and artist is my favorite part of the entire thing. 

You can stream D.K Lyons on spotify here, where you’ll find his latest EP Darling Kiss Louder. 

https://www.dklyonsmusic.com