The Dylan Emmet Band is a local band from New Paltz working towards their big break. Dylan Emmet was originally a solo artist who spent all of his college savings on recording equipment so he could do what he really wanted to do with his life.
“I’ve known that performing is what I wanted to do since I was a baby doing NSYNC performances with my Lego mic,” Emmet said.
He began performing as a solo artist and recording his own tracks, but soon realized it was time to bring in a band to finish the first album “Lost in Transit, Lost in Translation,” which came out in January of 2011. The Dylan Emmet band was formed and the lineup is Emmet (guitar/vocals), Ben Basile (bass), Eleni Reyes (violin/vocals) and Steve Olenski (drums). However, it took a while to get a solid band formed.
“The first album was really a mish mosh of different New Paltz bands,” said Basile.
How they all met seems to be just as much of a mélange of circumstances. Emmet found Olenski on Craigslist, who later brought in Basile. Emmet had referred his music teacher to Reyes previously because he was looking for someone to work with. Emmet then brought Reyes into his band once she was finished with that project.
Their sound is quite diverse, taking elements from numerous genres such as jam and hip-hop. Various types of music influence each musician. Reyes is a classically trained violinist and opera singer. Basile gets much of his influence from ska.
“I could be listening to Dr. Dre one minute and something completely different the next,” Emmet said.
This band really puts forth an effort to connect with its fans. They produce their own weekly YouTube videos that are posted on their website and all of their social media every Monday. The videos are recordings of their shows and in-studio footage. They also use it to showcase cover songs, one of their most recent being Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie.”
“We’re bringing fans into the band experience so they can see we’re real people,” said Emmet.
The band is also focusing on their future endeavors. Their main focus is their second full-length album, “Here and Now,” which has a prospective summer release. They anticipate putting out a single in a few weeks.
They are constantly hard at work to go where they want to go. They have their own recording studio called Hands Like Gold Recording where they record and produce all their material.
“Most of the stuff we do when we get together is business stuff. We may play a set for two hours, but we put in 30 hours a week of phone calls,” said Basile.
All of that work is paying off as they have great opportunities coming their way. Aside from releasing their second album, they are working on putting together an East-coast tour. They are in talks about using their music for television and possibly getting on bigger festival billings.
To check out the Dylan Emmet Band, you can head over to their web site at www.thedylanemmetband.com or search for them on Facebook. Their second release, an EP titled “Collide,” is available for free download on the website.
If you want to catch them live, they are playing at Snug Harbor in New Paltz on Feb. 28 at 10 p.m. for the Forest Fest Benefit Concert. ++
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